William Lauder buys Limbaugh Palm Beach estate for $155M

Another week, another major Palm Beach real estate move for billionaire William Lauder, the executive chairman of Estee Lauder Companies.  

On the heels of listing two adjacent, oceanfront vacant lots for $200 million, Lauder bought Rush Limbaugh’s compound for a record $155 million, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Early last week, Kathryn Adams Limbaugh, Rush’s widow, sold the homes at 1495 North Ocean Boulevard, 1501 North Ocean Boulevard, and 108 Mediterranean Road to a Delaware entity named for the address, 1495 N Ocean Blvd LLC. The buyer, however, was not immediately identified.

It was Lauder’s second big real estate move in as many weeks, first listing the two parcels — at 1063 and 1071 North Ocean Boulevard — that total a little more than 2.3 acres with 360 feet of beachfront. If Lauder fetches that price it will be the most expensive sale for vacant land in Palm Beach history.

The compound that Lauder bought last week for $155 million was first assembled by Rush Limbaugh and his then-wife Marta Fitgerald in the late 1990s through the purchase of three separate properties. He bought the two North Ocean Boulevard homes, and she bought the Mediterranean Road home.

The estate spans a total of 2.7 acres, and has three homes: a main 16,600-square-foot mansion, a 2,900-square-foot house, and a 2,200-square-foot house. The homes have a combined 13 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. The mansion at 1495 North Ocean Boulevard was built in 1992. The house at 1501 North Ocean Boulevard was built in 1951, and the 108 Mediterranean Road house was built in 1934.

Rush Limbaugh died in 2021. Kathryn Adams Limbaugh, Rush’s fourth wife, began shopping the compound last summer for between $150 million and $175 million.

— Ted Glanzer