Palm Beach house that sold for $5.6M in late 2020 fetches $12.5M after extensive remodel

Last sold for about $5.6 million in late 2020, a since-renovated house has changed hands for $12.5 million on the North End of Palm Beach, according to the prices recorded with the deeds for the transactions.

The buyer in the 2020 sale extensively remodeled the 1961 house, according to Douglas Elliman Real Estate agent Gary Pohrer, who handled the seller’s side of the sale recorded May 22. He declined further comment about the off-market deal.

The seller was a Delaware-registered limited liability company named after the property’s address, the deed shows. Property records list that company with a mailing address in Englewood, New Jersey. The company is managed by West Palm Beach real estate attorney Maura Ziska, who declined to discuss the transaction.

Jeffrey T. Newton and Marie-Louise Palandjian, a couple with ties to Greater Boston, bought the house as tenants in common, according to the deed, which lists their address as the house they just bought. She bought a condominium in Midtown Palm Beach in her name in 2019, property records show.

The four-bedroom house on West Indies Drive has Palm Beach Regency-style architecture and a separate one-bedroom guesthouse by the pool. Combined, the one-story buildings offer 4,841 square feet of living space, inside and out. Several streets south of the Palm Beach Country Club, the lot measures about a third of an acre and is the third property east of North Lake Way.

Newly renovated houses in move-in condition are prime properties in Palm Beach, real estate observers have consistently told the Palm Beach Daily News. The supply of available better-quality homes has yet to recover from the pandemic-sparked housing boom, although sales on the island have slowed since the height of the real estate rush.

Jeffrey Newton is a managing director of Gemini Investors, a private investments firm with offices in Wellesley, Massachusetts and in Fort Meyers. Palandjian's professional resume includes tenure as director of marketing and communications for Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. in Brookline, Massachusetts.

“We are excited to be purchasing a home on West Indies, as we have owned a (Palm Beach) condominium for several years and wanted more space to host our children, now that they are married and having children of their own.” Newton told the Palm Beach Daily News. “We like the quiet beauty of the north part of the island, especially the lake trail for walking our two dogs.”

Agent Dragana Connaughton of Sotheby’s International Realty handled the buyers’ side of the sale. She also declined to comment.

The exterior of the main house reflects many of the architectural signatures of the Palm Beach Regency style — a flat roof with a cornice, quoins at the corners and a porch with simple columns. At the front of the house, a central triangular pediment punctuates the roofline.

Pohrer had previously listed the property for sale with an initial price of $15 million in February 2023. By the time his listing dropped out of the multiple listing service in late July, the price had been reduced to $13.5 million.

His sales listing described the “reimagined” house with “soaring 13-foot ceilings” and “no expense spared on upgrades.”

Photos show the interior of the house today has a much more contemporary look than it did when it sold in 2020. Among its features, the layout has an open floor plan with a family room along with a formal dining room. At the rear of the property, a covered loggia looks out to the pool and tropical gardens. The guesthouse doubles as pool cabana.

Other details include a full-house generator, a two-car garage and an outdoor shower.

The seller bought the house for a recorded $5.592 million in December 2020. That deal saw Sotheby’s International Realty agent Christine Gibbons, who also goes by the name Tina Roberts, negotiate for the buyer, according to records in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. The trust on the seller’s side of the 2020 deal was represented by Elliman agents Cara McClure and Lisa Wilkinson, MLS records show.

This story was updated from a previous version. This is a developing story. Check back for any updates.

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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: After major renovation, 1960s house fetches $12.5M in Palm beach