Priced at $19.9 million, house near Mar-a-Lago has ‘a very traditional Palm Beach feeling’

As happens to many Palm Beachers, Lori and Michael Bernstein are embarking on a new chapter in their lives, having raised their family in a house they built more than a decade ago at 153 Kings Road in the Estate Section of Palm Beach.

Over the years, the Bernsteins have enjoyed their home. But time has moved on, and their two children are headed this fall to Villanova University — and the Bernsteins are buying a home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to be near them.

And that means downsizing in Palm Beach, so they have listed their home for sale. Corcoran Group agents Dana Koch and Paulette Koch have it priced at $19.9 million.

Competed in 2009, the house replaced a Georgian Colonial-style house the Bernsteins had purchased in 2004, in part because they liked its architecture.

Architect Thomas Kirchhoff used that preference as the starting point for the design of their five-bedroom, six-bathroom house, which has three half-baths and 6,789 square feet of living space, inside and out.

The Bernsteins plan to travel regularly between Pennsylvania and Florida. Michael works in finance, and Lori runs two Palm Beach shops — under the moniker Lori Jayne — on South County Road that specialize in monogramming, home goods, stationery and apparel.

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The lot on Kings Road measures a little more than a quarter acre, and is a couple of streets north of The Mar-a-Lago Club. The house has a symmetrical layout, with the foyer and stair hall front and center. There’s also an elevator.

To the north of the foyer is a gallery and the living room, flanked by the combination family room and enclosed loggia — with a wet bar — and the breakfast room, all overlooking the pool area.

To the east are the kitchen and two-car garage, and on the opposite side is a library.

Upstairs to the west are the main bedroom suite — comprising two walk-in closets, a dressing room and two bathrooms — and an office. On the east side are three guest bedroom suites and a staff bedroom suite.

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The house is similar in many aspects to the old one, which was severely damaged during hurricanes in 2004, necessitating its replacement.

“One nice thing (was that) we were able to customize the spaces and we were allowed to maintain the same square footage,” Lori says.

The house was built by the late contractor John Mitchell, and the Bernsteins worked with London-based Colefax and Fowler on the interiors.

Many of the rooms feature faux-painted walls with stippled or strie details, often dressed up with moldings. There are marble, limestone and wood floors throughout, although the bedrooms are carpeted.

The house “has a very traditional Palm Beach feeling, and lends itself to formal entertaining, with a great chef’s kitchen. It’s a great family home,” Lori says.

That kitchen is fitted with white cabinetry, tile backsplashes, stainless-steel counters, and professional grade appliances. A butler’s pantry is nearby.

The home also lives large, she adds, with roomy interiors and high ceiling heights.

“It also has a decent attic, which the air-conditioning maintenance people tell us is a pleasure to work in,” Lori says.

Built-in cabinetry also provides the homeowners with plenty of storage space. “I could put the kid’s toys and crafts away, and the cabinets have pull-out access, so I don’t have to dig through things,” she says.

In the main bedroom suite, walls are covered in a paper-backed fabric topped by egg-and-dart molding. One of the suite’s bathrooms features Emperador marble, and the other is finished with Thasos inset with green marble. Guest bathrooms are finished with Thasos marble.

In the back yard, the pool is set within a patio. Other outdoor amenities include a bamboo outdoor shower and a smaller patio that is accessed from the family room/loggia.

At the front of the house is an intimate rose garden, and the Bernsteins have repurposed the kids’ playhouse to serve as an orchid house.

Thinking about what they will miss, Lori says: “We like walking one block to the beach. I am going to miss my kitchen — I love my kitchen — but most of all, I’m going to miss my children, who are going off to college.”

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To see more photos of 153 Kings Road, click on the photo gallery at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach house near Mar-a-Lago is listed for nearly $20 million