SoFla insurance magnate sells waterfront Fort Lauderdale home for $8M

The five-bedroom Harbor Beach house was built last year

Julie Jones-Bernard and 19 Isla Bahia Drive (Credit: Pintrest)
Julie Jones-Bernard and 19 Isla Bahia Drive (Credit: Pintrest)

South Florida insurance magnate Richard Hull sold a second Fort Lauderdale house for $8.1 million, a month after selling a waterfront estate that marked one of the city’s most expensive residential real estate sales of the year.

Hull, who founded Fort Lauderdale-based Hull & Co., a wholesale insurance brokerage, sold the 7,221-square-foot property at 19 Isla Bahia Drive for $1,121 per square foot, records show. Robert and Michele Powers bought the waterfront home.

The five-bedroom house is in the gated Harbor Beach community and has a large poolside loggia, outdoor living room fireplace and summer kitchen. It also features a downstairs master suite, a library, and a second-level guest suite.

Both the buyer and the seller were represented by Julie Jones-Bernard with Florida Luxurious Properties, according to realtor.com.

The house was built in 2018. Hull had purchased the land for $2.8 million in 2014, records show.

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Jones-Bernard said the sale is indicative of growing demand for new construction of Britiish West Indies and Coastal Indies-style homes in Fort Lauderdale.

“For some people, Miami is becoming very busy and a lot of families realize they can have the same lifestyle in Fort Lauderdale,” Jones-Bernard said.

In July, Hull sold a 11,169-square-foot home at 2401 Del Lago in Fort Lauderdale for $13 million to a former CEO of a software company.

This year, Fort Lauderdale has seen a slew of high-profile deals. In June, the founder of Pet Supermarket bought the Fort Lauderdale estate of the late H. Wayne Huizenga at 1575 Ponce de Leon Drive in Fort Lauderdale for $14.3 million.

In May, used car dealer Mark and Eileen Fisher paid $17.4 million – including the buyer’s premium – for the 27-room, 17,000-square-foot mansion at 534 Bontona Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

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