The sale of the house at 120 Casa Bendita in Palm Beach on July 16th has set a record price for a single-family home in the state of Florida -- $30 million. The asking price for the 6-bedroom, 9-bathroom, 21,720 square-foot estate, on nearly five acres, has indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a greenhouse, guesthouse and gazebo was $39 million.
The home was sold by the estate of the late Sophie and Leonard Davis, known for their financial support of the Kravis Center, according to the Palm Beach Post. Leonard Davis was the founder of Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company.
The buyers are financier and philanthropist Howard Kessler and his wife, Michele. He is a pioneer in marketing affinity credit cards and founder of Kessler Financial Services of Boston. He was a co-founder of the former iBelong.com, an Internet buying service that sold to trade associations.
Kessler is a major contributor to the Democratic Party and supporter of health care causes. His name is on the list of White House and Camp David "sleepover" guests of the Clintons, many of them major contributors to political campaigns and fundraisers.
The previous record sale was set in July 2000 when newspaper heir, Randolph Apperson Hearst and his wife, Veronica, paid $29.87 million for the former Harold Vanderbilt estate in Manalapan, owned by Mel Simon, owner of area shopping malls and the Indiana Pacers professional basketball team.
The Kesslers have hired Worth Builders of Palm Beach, Inc. to renovate the 1975 house in Palm Beach. They also own an apartment on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and a home on Everglades Island in Palm Beach.
Pat Rioux
