The largest homes in Palm Beach County

This county has been known for extravagant mansions, almost since Henry
Flagler took his first steps in what is now the Town of Palm Beach.
Some of the richest homeowners on earth hang their hats here, like real
estate mogul Donald Trump, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer,
author James Patterson, radio host Rush Limbaugh. Golfer Tiger Woods is
still
building his Jupiter Island mansion.

Of course, infamous Ponzi
schemer Bernard Madoff also called Palm Beach County home. Of all these boldfaced names, it’s
Sydell Miller, the beauty products mogul, who owns the largest home in
Palm Beach County, an 84,626-square-foot estate at 1415 S. Ocean Boulevard
in Palm Beach. She purchased the site for $4.9 million in 1995, and
built the home. (See below for a list of the 10 largest homes in Palm
Beach County).

“Palm
Beach is unique,” said Jonathan Duerr, a realtor at Fite Shavell &
Associates. “Obviously you’ve got a lot of old money here — beginning
with the Flaglers. It’s hard to describe — some of these homes go up
to the $200 million range, compounds that extend from the Intracoastal
to the ocean.”

Six of the homes on the PropertyShark-created
list are in the Town of Palm Beach proper, while two are just outside
it; one is outside Boca Raton and the last is in Boynton Beach.

Brokers
now at Duerr’s firm had the three largest sales in Palm Beach last year
— $23 million, $18 million and $13 million, along with the recent sale of Patterson’s home. Betsey Hall, now at Fite Shavell, was involved in two of the sales while at Brown Harris Stevens last year.

Second
on the list is no surprise; it is Trump’s former 81,738-square-foot
property, which he purchased in 2004. It was once listed for $125
million and eventually sold in 2008 for $95 million to Russian
billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. It is currently valued at $71.3 million
on Zillow.com. The home is at 515 N County Rd. The house was originally
built in 1990, and Trump oversaw its massive renovation and expansion.

Third
on the list, also in Palm Beach, is the home of James Clark, the
founder of internet company Netscape and who has been featured on the
Forbes list of billionaires.

Clark purchased the home in 1999
for $11 million. It now has an appraised value of $52.83 million, with
an assessed value of $40.6 million as of 2009, according to the Palm
Beach County Property Appraiser. The annual tax payment to the county
was $627,724 in 2009.

Duerr said finding buyers for these
kinds of super-sized mansions takes a bit of luck, along with a
personal touch or a personal connection on the notoriously close-knit
island.

“It’s all about who you know and getting them at the right time,” Duerr said.

The
largest home in Palm Beach County not on the six-mile island of Palm
Beach is 6307 N. Ocean Boulevard in Boynton Beach, which is fifth on
the list.

Also notable on the list is the home at 6011 Clint
Moore Road in Boca Raton, which belongs to Red Sox owner and former
Marlins owner John Henry. Compared the higher-ranked homes, Henry’s
house is somewhat modest, with 39,429 square feet and five bedrooms. It
was built in 1995, and has a current assessed value of $7.09 million,
with an annual tax hit of $134,794.
 
Correction appended:
an earlier version of this article did not fully describe the firms
involved in three major deals in Palm Beach last year. Betsey Hall was
involved in two of the sales, the $13 million and the $18 million,
while still at Brown Harris Stevens.

Note: Homes with Lake Worth addresses are on the barrier island of Palm Beach, not in Lake Worth.