Two generations of same Palm Beach family linked to home that just sold for $15.25 million
The $15.25-million sale of a four-bedroom house on the North End’s Seagate Road has closed a real-estate chapter for an extended Palm Beach family with ties to Michigan.
The sellers — aircraft sales executive Michael W. McDonald Jr. and wife Megan Saur McDonald — bought 156 Seagate Road in October 2020 from her parents, Lisa and Mark Saur, via a deed recorded at $4.136 million.
The Saurs, in turn, had commissioned the “island-colonial”-style house, which was completed in 2017. When the Architectural Commission reviewed the plans for it, the panel learned that the Saurs intended to use the new residence as a guesthouse for their children on visits, town records show.
The Saurs, meanwhile, had built themselves an oceanfront home across town, where they still reside.
The Saurs deeded the house on Seagate Road to their daughter and son-in-law several months into the unexpected real estate boom that followed the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in Palm Beach in March 2020. Palm Beach home prices climbed precipitously over the next two years to record highs. And although the housing rush appears to be over, overall prices haven’t yet receded, especially for newer, move-in ready homes such as the one on Seagate Road.
The “island colonial”-style house, is on the south side of the street. Its quarter-acre lot is the second one east of the Sailfish Club of Florida.
The house has 4,450 square feet of living space, inside and out.
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Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate represented the McDonalds in the just-closed deal, with agent Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties handling the buyer’s side.
Brandt declined to discuss the sale, and Angle could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.
The McDonalds and the Saurs also could not be reached.
The sale closed Thursday, the multiple listing shows, but a deed for the transaction had not been recorded as of Friday. That means the identity of anyone on the buyer’s side isn’t yet available in public records. It’s also unclear if the $15.25-million sale price reported in the MLS will match the one expected to be recorded by the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office.
Palm Beach home’s living room has vaulted ceiling, fireplace
The sale came together quickly, the MLS shows. Angle listed the house at just under $17 million on Sept. 22 and had it under contract about two weeks later.
Angle also orchestrated the sale in 2014 when the Saurs bought the property on Seagate Road for about $1.64 million.
The McDonalds had their house homesteaded as their primary home in the latest tax rolls.
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Angle’s sales listing described the open floor plan, which includes a living room with a vaulted-and-beamed ceiling, a brick fireplace and wall-to-wall, pocket-style sliding-glass doors. The dining room is near the kitchen, which features Bianco Superiore quartzite countertops and a work island with seating for five.
The primary bedroom suite is on the ground floor — a prime selling point for many buyers today — and features an office, built-in cabinetry and an “oversized bath and closet,” the listing said.
The two-car garage accesses a mudroom with a bench and built-in cabinetry.
Facing the backyard, the open-air loggia has a vaulted ceiling and motorized screens to cover its openings. The outdoor amenity list includes a built-in grill, a shower, a whirlpool spa and a 40-foot pool.
Architect Roger Janssen of Dailey Janssen Architects designed the house. Benitz Building was the contractor.
Residents of Seagate Road have access to the neighborhood’s North Shore Beach Club, which includes a beach cabana with a dining area, a waterfront patio and hammock area.
Saurs’ custom home faces beach in Midtown Palm Beach
Mark McDonald is a sales director for JetEffect, which buys and sells aircraft. The company has an office in Jupiter among its six locations across the country.
Fourth-generation fruit growers, the Saurs co-founded Old Orchard Brands, a Michigan-based fruit-juice company headquartered in Sparta near Grand Rapids. The company offers more than 100 varieties of bottled and frozen juice products, according to its website.
The Saurs’ Palm Beach residence is an island-colonial-style home they completed in 2014 on nearly an acre of oceanfront at 102 Seaview Ave. in Midtown. It was also designed by Janssen and built by Benitz Building.
Angle acted on the Saurs’ behalf when they bought the Seaview Avenue lot and an adjacent one for about $9 million in 2012 from Donald R. and Irene Dizney, who was represented by the agent Jim McCann, then of Corcoran Group but today with Premier Estate Properties.
FROM THE 2012 ARCHIVES: Saur trust pays nearly $9 million for oceanfront lots on Seaview Avenue
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This is a developing story. Check back for 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: House sale on North End of Palm Beach tops $15 million. Here's why
