Palm Beach's private Tarpon Island with asking price of $187.5M is under contract, MLS shows

Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News
Updated ·5 min read

Palm Beach’s only private island and its renovated-on-speculation mansion is under contract with an asking price of $187.5 million, according to a sales listing updated Monday in the multiple listing service.

The property at 10 Tarpon Isle is the most expensive house for sale in Palm Beach.

There’s no word yet on the buyer, the amount to change hands or when the sale will close.

The Palm Beach Daily News is the first media outlet to report the so-called “pending” status of the property in the MLS.

Affording panoramic views of the Lake Worth Lagoon and Intracoastal Waterway, the artificial island in the Estate Section measures about 2.3 acres with a combined 1,163 feet of waterfront on all four sides. A picturesque bridge connects the island to Tarpon Way, which leads to the rest of Palm Beach via Tarpon Way and Island Road.

The 11-bedroom, two-story mansion has 28,618 total square feet of living space, inside and out, and a long list of amenities, including a 98-foot lakefront swimming pool with a whirlpool spa and a "cold plunge" pool.

With a 98-foot swimming pool, a renovated-and-expanded house at 10 Tarpon Isle on a private island in Palm Beach is under contract with an asking price of $187.5 million. The tennis pavilion is at the far left, while the guest wing is at the far right.
With a 98-foot swimming pool, a renovated-and-expanded house at 10 Tarpon Isle on a private island in Palm Beach is under contract with an asking price of $187.5 million. The tennis pavilion is at the far left, while the guest wing is at the far right.

The property was redeveloped by Palm Beach and Miami developer Todd Michael Glaser with two real estate investors, Jonathan Fryd of Fryd Properties in Miami and developer Scott Robins of Scott Robins Cos. in Miami Beach.

Glaser declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement. But he previously told the Palm Beach Daily News that Tarpon Island's location is truly one of a kind.

“It has its own bridge. How many houses in Palm Beach have a bridge? None,” Glaser said in a December article about the house.

The estate comprises the new main residence on the west side of Tarpon Island. The original 1937 house was converted into a guest pavilion and includes an ultra-luxury fitness-and-beauty area.

Among the estate’s other features are a five-car garage and one of the town’s only lighted tennis courts. Other amenities include a paneled library; a home gym; and an entertainment room with a fireplace, wine storage, billiards area and movie lounge.

The view from the foyer at 10 Tarpon Island in Palm Beach runs straight through the main living area and out to the Intracoastal Waterway.
The view from the foyer at 10 Tarpon Island in Palm Beach runs straight through the main living area and out to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Fryd and Robins have invested in other Glaser-controlled projects in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade County, where the developer built his career before turning his attention to buying, renovating and selling homes in Palm Beach several years ago. Glaser's eponymous company has offices in Miami Beach and Palm Beach.

Tarpon Island set a town lakefront price record when the developers bought the property and its original house for $85 million in July 2021 from its longtime owners, private investor William Toll and his wife, Eileen.

In October 2021, the property was listed at $125 million for the land and renovation plans for the original house. At the same time, the property also was listed then at a pre-construction price of $210 million, which would have included the renovated house.

The price was later raised to $218 million while still in construction, before dropping to $187.5 million in November.

Agents Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group and Chris Leavitt of Douglas Elliman Real Estate hold the listing. Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate also is involved on the sellers’ side.

Frisbie, Leavitt and Angle declined to comment.

Agent Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties is on the buyer’s side of the sale, according to people familiar with the transaction. She also declined to comment.

The Palm Beach Daily News was unable to confirm if any other real estate agents or agencies are involved in the pending sale.

The renovation-and-expansion project transformed the island’s original Bermuda-style house — designed in 1937 by noted Palm Beach architect Howard Major — into a guesthouse. A new, much-larger addition for the main living areas was built onto it in a similar architectural style.

“We flip-flopped the house. You can’t tell where one house started and the other began,” Glaser said in December.

The octagonally shaped dining room and tennis pavilion is on the far west side of the house, overlooking the tennis court at 10 Tarpon Island in Palm Beach.
The octagonally shaped dining room and tennis pavilion is on the far west side of the house, overlooking the tennis court at 10 Tarpon Island in Palm Beach.

Into the repurposed guesthouse went VIP guest suites, the spa area with its sauna and steam room, a hair-styling salon and staff quarters.

The guesthouse nearly abuts the east property line. “So when you are in the gym, you feel like you are on a yacht,” Glaser said previously.

The new addition to the west houses the main living areas, most of the bedroom suites and the garage. An air-conditioned octagonal tennis-and-dining pavilion, rising two stories, is attached to the house and overlooks the tennis court on the far west side of the property.

Windows, patios, terraces and the dock on the south side of the house afford views straight down the Intracoastal Waterway for a little more than a mile to the Southern Boulevard Bridge, past former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club. The views also include Everglades Island to the west and Palm Beach’s Estate Section to the east.

Architect Roger Janssen of Dailey Janssen Architects drew up the plans for the Tarpon Island project. Christopher Cawley Landscape Architecture designed the grounds. The interior finishes were chosen by Glaser’s wife, interior decorator Kim Glaser.

When the property changed hands in 2021, Frisbie represented the buyers, negotiating opposing agent Jim McCann of Premier Estate Properties, who acted on behalf of the Tolls. Agent Adam McPherson of Douglas Elliman Real Estate also played a role in that off-market sale. The transaction set a new town sale-price record at the time for a lakefront property without additional ocean frontage, according to sales documented at the Palm Beach County Courthouse.

A waterfront patio at 10 Tarpon Island offers a view of the setting sun over the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach.
A waterfront patio at 10 Tarpon Island offers a view of the setting sun over the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach.

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To see more photos of Tarpon Island, click on the photo gallery at the top of this page.

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This story was updated from a previous version. This a developing story. Check back for updates. Portions of this story appeared previously in the Palm Beach Daily News.

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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.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Private island priced at $187.5M in Palm Beach is under contract: MLS