A century-old Palm Beach waterfront palace, pulled back from the brink of irreversible flood damage, hit the market again this week for $157 million.
Though nine figures high, that’s a hard $18 million haircut from the $175 million ask it debuted with back in December, according to Mansion Global. The price cut lands at around 10%.
The estate sits on South County Road along the Intracoastal Waterway, less than a mile from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
At a massive 21,534 square feet across 1.4 acres, the mansion packs in 15 bedrooms, a performing arts theater, an infinity pool, a tennis court and a dock equipped with a 40,000-pound boat lift.
Two hundred feet of Intracoastal frontage comes with it, along with a boathouse converted into a guest house and a six-car garage.
The property was designed in the 1920s by Addison Mizner, the architect who essentially invented the aesthetic identity of South Florida. His Mediterranean and Spanish Revival vocabulary, terracotta rooflines, arched loggias and ornate tile work became the visual language of the region’s Gilded Age boom.
This particular commission was built for New York businessman Arthur B. Claflin. The landmark designation came in 1980. But it nearly didn’t survive to see one.
Repeated flooding from Lake Worth Lagoon, driven by king tides and seasonal storms, had battered the low-lying property for years. In 2020, Ann DesRuisseaux — owner of Le Bar wine bar in Palm Beach — paid $24 million for the wreck of it, acquiring the estate through a trust.
What followed was a years-long, expensive and architecturally delicate rescue operation. The centerpiece of that effort was lifting the entire structure to 11 feet above sea level.
At a 2021 Palm Beach Town Council meeting, Maura Ziska, a representative for DesRuisseaux, made the stakes plain.
“This is the only shot we’ve got. It’s the one time that we can do it right and save this house for another 100 years.” They did it.
The home is now listed with Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties. Brandt was not immediately available for comment.
