The second time’s the charm: Dunbar Rd. house gets $21.3M
Darrell Hofheinz
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY NETWORK
Perseverance has paid off for two Palm Beach real estate agents who had the listing for an extensively renovated and expanded 1930s-era house at 211 Dunbar Road.
The four-bedroom North End house — with a twobedroom guesthouse and a one-bedroom apartment over the garage — just sold for about $21.34 million, the price recorded with the deed.
With a grand total of 8,271 square feet of living space, inside and out, the property was sold by H.E. “Gene” Rayfield, CEO of Rayfield Investments.
The 211 Dunbar Trust trust was on the buyer’s side, with real estate attorney Maura Ziska acting in her professional capacity as its trustee. Ziska declined to comment. Because of the rules governing trusts, no other information about anyone connected to the trust was available in public records.
The property was listed in late March by agents Gary Little and Lynn Warren of Sotheby’s International Realty, who had it under contract in April with an extended closing. Although the unidentified buyer in that deal put down ready money to secure the transaction, the sale fell through after percolating for four months.
Little and Warren then put the house back on the market at the beginning of September at the same price, $24.5 million.
And within a couple of weeks, their Sotheby’s colleagues Lisa and John Cregan had brought a new buyer to the negotiating table.
The sale closed Nov. 11, but the Palm Beach CountyClerk’s office did not record the deed until Thursday.
The buyer actually paid $24.25 million for the property, according to sources familiar with the transaction. Recorded prices at the courthouse are sometimes lower than contract prices because the latter may include real estate commissions, fees and other costs related to the transaction, real estate observers say.
The Mediterranean-style house has rooms with stenciled-beam ceilings, stone fireplaces and impactresistant windows and doors, according to the sales listing. Facing a 50-foot lap pool, the loggia also has a fireplace plus a pair of barbecue grills.
A Spanish-style arcade connects the main house to the garage structure and, in the rear, the guesthouse, which was built in 2000.
The lot is the second one west of North County Road and measures about four-tenths of an acre with manicured grounds and gardens.
House-hunters in Palm Beach are frequently stymied by limited options, because the unprecedented real estate rush of the past two-and-a-half years depleted the supply of homes, as the Palm Beach Daily News has regularly reported.
A trust just bought this Mediterranean-style estate at 211 Dunbar Road for a recorded $21.34 million.
EDOUARD ZAK PHOTOGRAPHY, EDZAKPHOTO.COM/ PROVIDED BY SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY
Warren acknowledged the continuing strong demand from buyers seeking better-quality homes in Palm Beach, a point driven home by the quick turnaround of the property after it re-entered the market in September.
“I think the short amount of time it took to get the property back under contract, after losing the first one, speaks well to the continuing strength of the (Palm Beach) market and the highly desirable nature of this beautiful estate,” Warren said.
Little and Warren declined to discuss why the previous deal had fallen through or specifics about the recent sale. The Cregans declined to comment.
Rayfield paid a recorded $5.35 million for the house in 2002 and for years had it homesteaded as his primary residence, records show. He and his wife, Gayle, carried out an extensive renovation at the property.
The Rayfields have a new home in a condominium just across the Flagler Memorial Bridge to West Palm Beach. In January, Gene Rayfield paid a recorded $10.5 million for No. 1202 at One Watermark Place, 622 N. Flagler Drive.
Agents from Compass Florida were involved in the condo deal, with Mark McFadden representing seller Suzanne von Liebig. Agent Matthew Dugow also played a role in the sale, according to the MLS.
When the house on Dunbar Road re-entered the MLS’s “active” listings in September, Little told the Palm Beach Daily News the interest in the property was immediate and intense.
“We have someone flying in tomorrow to see it,” Little said at the time. “We’ve had lots of interest. I’ve been showing it every day.” [email protected]
An estate at 211 Dunbar Road was listed in late March at $24.5 million before selling for a recorded price of about $21.34 million. Investments entrepreneur H.E. “Gene” Rayfield sold the seven-bedroom property, which includes a main residence, a garage apartment and a separate guesthouse.
EDOUARD ZAK PHOTOGRAPHY, EDZAKPHOTO.COM/PROVIDED BY SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY
