Award-winning Palm Beach mansion lists at $78.5M after undergoing extensive renovation

Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News
Updated ·4 min read

An award-winning beachfront mansion on the South End of Palm Beach that sold for $44.88 million in 2022 is back on the market with a price tag of $78.5 million after a major renovation.

The estate is the only direct-oceanfront home listed in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

With British Colonial-style architecture, the three-level mansion was completed in 2010 with seven bedrooms and 20,673 square feet of living space, inside and out. The house has 10,623 square feet of air-conditioned space, property records show.

At the intersection of Old South Ocean Boulevard, the estate comprises a lot measuring 1.8 acres near the Par 3 Golf Course. The lot is about 100 feet wide, but its direct-beach parcel is wider, at 168 feet, according to property records. The mansion is immediately south of the Harbour House cooperative building.

An extensively renovated custom home built in 2010 with seven bedrooms at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach has entered the market at $78.5 million.
An extensively renovated custom home built in 2010 with seven bedrooms at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach has entered the market at $78.5 million.

Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates holds the listing, which says he has an “investment interest” in the property. Moens couldn’t be reached for comment.

In 2011, the house won the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach’s 2011 Elizabeth L. and John H. Schuler Award, which recognizes excellence in new architecture in Palm Beach.

The façade features classical columns, detailed cornices, broad verandas and a triangular pediment at the front roofline.

Listed for sale at $78.5 million, the estate at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. directly fronts the beach at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. on the South End of Palm Beach.
Listed for sale at $78.5 million, the estate at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. directly fronts the beach at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. on the South End of Palm Beach.

The house occupies the central portion of the lot, which slopes upward from South Ocean Boulevard. Among the notable features on the west side are an allée of palms bordering a series of terraced steps that lead up to the house.

On the east side of the estate, a loggia with a broad veranda above it faces a new swimming pool set directly into the beachfront lawn. There’s also a second, wind-protected pool and patio area accessed from a guest suite on the south side of the house.

The house is built around a two-story, open-to-the-sky dining atrium accessed on four sides by French doors. On the upper floor, interior windows and a railed balcony off the primary bedroom look down into the atrium.

An two-story, open-to-the-sky dining atrium is a central feature of a house just listed for $78.5 million at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The ocean can be seen through the living room at the rear.
An two-story, open-to-the-sky dining atrium is a central feature of a house just listed for $78.5 million at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The ocean can be seen through the living room at the rear.

The interior renovation was extensive and included high-end finishes and materials, which brightened up the interiors by removing architectural accents and replacing the original dark-wood floors with lighter versions, according to someone who has toured the house.

Crews reworked parts of the floor plan. Among the changes, a ground-level bedroom was converted into a family room open to the new kitchen. The living room’s fireplace and the staircase were redesigned, and bathrooms throughout the house were upgraded, the source said.

The living room affords a direct-ocean view at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The house has entered the market with a price of $78.5 million.
The living room affords a direct-ocean view at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The house has entered the market with a price of $78.5 million.

The lowest level includes a media room, a wine-tasting room and a paneled “club room” with a pool table. Nearby are a gym and a spa-like area that includes a massage room.

Batten Construction was the contractor in charge of the renovation, according to public records.

Palm Beach house nods at buildings of the British Empire

West Palm beach architect Daniel Kahan, a principal with Smith & Moore Architects in West Palm Beach, originally designed the house for interior designer Donna Ward and her investment banker husband, Rodney. Donna Ward, who named the house Seascape, sold it for a recorded $16.25 million in 2014 to private-equity specialist Bryan C. Cressey of Chicago. Cressey, in turn, was the seller in the off-market 2022 transaction.

An allée of palms borders terraced steps that lead to the front of a house just listed for $78.5 million at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach.
An allée of palms borders terraced steps that lead to the front of a house just listed for $78.5 million at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach.

When the house won the Schuler Award, Kahan said the design recalls the look of 18th- and 19th-century plantation homes built by the British throughout the world — particularly those found in Asia, he said, but also in Africa and the Caribbean.

“The idea was to try to re-create the sort of home that you might have found in the far reaches of the British Empire,” Kahan said.

The house was designed so that one can stand in the foyer and look directly through the atrium and living room to the ocean.

On the east side of the house at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach is a swimming pool set into a beachfront lawn. Recently renovated, the South End property just entered the multiple listing service at $78.5 million.
On the east side of the house at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach is a swimming pool set into a beachfront lawn. Recently renovated, the South End property just entered the multiple listing service at $78.5 million.

In 2014, Cressey used the word “enchanting” to describe the estate. “The setting takes you somewhere into the tropics,” added Cressey, a partner at Cressey & Co., a private-equity firm with offices in Chicago and Nashville, Tennessee.

Property records show the house is owned by a Florida limited liability company named 2315 S Ocean LLC with a mailing address in care of the Kochman and Ziska law firm in West Palm Beach, according to property records. Real estate attorney Maura Ziska, who manages the ownership company, declined to comment about it or anyone who might be associated with it.

The latest listing entered the multiple listing service March 20.

Moens handled both sides of the 2022 sale, his office previously confirmed. He also represented Ward in her 2014 sale. Agent Rosalind Clarke — then of the Corcoran Group but later joining Premier Estate Properties — said she took part in the sale 2014 but declined to comment on specifics of the transaction.

With a veranda above it, the main-level loggia looks out to a swimming pool and the Atlantic Ocean at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The renovated estate is priced at $78.5 million.
With a veranda above it, the main-level loggia looks out to a swimming pool and the Atlantic Ocean at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The renovated estate is priced at $78.5 million.

FROM THE 2011 ARCHIVES: Schuler Award-winning house at 2315 S. Ocean Blvd. recalls British Empire’s architectural treasures

*

Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

=

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Award-winning Palm Beach mansion lists at $78.5 million