Kate Ford’s Palm Beach estate sells for $55M

The waterfront Palm Beach estate that belonged to the late Kathleen DuRoss Ford sold for more than $55 million after just two months on the market.

Property records show the estate at 300 North Lake Way sold to David and Constance Littman. It hit the market in October for $58 million and sold for $55.2 million.

The closing marks the third most expensive residential sale in South Florida this year, behind two others that closed in Palm Beach.

David Littman founded Littman Brands, which owns a number of lighting companies. The Littmans financed their Palm Beach purchase with a $30.3 million loan from UBS Bank.

Christian Angle

Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate represented the seller, while Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates brought the buyer.

Ford, who was married to Henry Ford II, assembled the 1.5-acre property in the late 1990s, and built the seven-bedroom, two-story mansion in 2002. She died in May.

The waterfront property, with nearly 27,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, was designed by Palm Beach architect Jeffery Smith and includes a temperature-controlled wine room, four-car garage, exercise room and library.

The sale closes out an incredibly active year for luxury real estate in Palm Beach.

In June, private equity investor turned maple syrup magnate Robb E. Turner and his wife, Lydia, sold their lakefront Palm Beach estate for nearly $72 million. That same month, the Kennedy family’s former Palm Beach compound, where President John F. Kennedy worked on his 1961 inaugural address, sold for $70 million.