Billionaire lists landmarked Fatio mansion at $48.85M
Darrell Hofheinz
USA TODAY NETWORK
Billionaire real estate mogul Dwight Schar and his wife, Martha, have listed for sale — at $48.85 million — the landmarked oceanfront mansion he bought through a limited liability company nine years ago.
The listing of the house at 550 S. Ocean Blvd. on Nov. 19 came about seven months after Schar used a trust in his name to buy a 1990s-era lakefront estate on Palm Beach's Worth Avenue for a recorded $46.4 million.
Property records from 2013 show the Schar limited liability company paid $11.5 million for the oceanfront house at the corner of Via Marina, about a quartermile south of Worth Avenue.
The house's ownership was transferred to Schar as trustee of his trust in 2015. The house is listed as his primary residence in the latest Palm Beach County tax rolls.
Windows and French doors on the east side of the house look out to the lawn and the Atlantic Ocean at 550 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. PictureItSoldFL.com
Palm Beach house designed by noted architect Maurice Fatio
Facing 100 feet of oceanfront, the Mediterranean-style house is separated from the beach by the coastal road. The residence has five bedrooms and 10,328 square feet of living space inside and out, property records show.
The house was designed by noted society architect Maurice Fatio and built in 1930. Constructed of coral Key stone with an L-shaped floor plan, it stands on a lot measuring about half an acre with its front door facing Via Marina. A pair of two-story wings meet at a three-story tower with a room at the top.
The extensively landscaped backyard features a pool and terraced gardens. A second-story veranda atop the loggia faces the pool area.
The two wings of the landmarked house at 550 S. Ocean Blvd. wrap around a lushly landscaped courtyard. The property was just listed at $48.85 million. PictureItSoldFL.com
Holding the listing is the Schars' longtime real estate broker, Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates. He represented the Schars' interests in the purchases of the lakefront house last April.
Moens also handled both sides of four sales in 2014 and 2015 when the Schars sold Casa Apava, their landmarked oceanfront estate and its adjacent lakefront parcels in the 1300 block of South Ocean Boulevard. In all, the Casa Apava deals totaled $116.1 million for about 9 acres.
Moens and the Schars couldn't be reached for comment. A representative of the Schars previously said that the family does not comment about its real estate holdings.
A swimming pool anchors the courtyard at 550 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach. The historic estate just entered the market at $48.85 million. PictureItSoldFL.com
Dwight Schar founded NVR Inc., one of the country's largest homebuilders. The company announced this year he would retire from his position as chairman of the board of the company, which is based in Reston, Virginia. Last year, he sold his minority ownership stake in the NFL's Washington Commanders, formerly the Washington Redskins.
He has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Original beamed ceilings, other elements intact
The house the Schars just listed was built for Dr. Daniel J. McCarthy of Germantown, Pennsylvania, who named it Villa Blarney after Castle Blarney near Cork, Ireland.
The town granted the north and east facades landmark-protection status in 1990.
The layout includes a paneled oceanfront living room with an elaborate plaster-work ceiling and, facing the pool, an enclosed loggia with its original beamed ceilings and arched openings with French doors and fanlights.
The oceanview living room at 550 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach has an elaborate plasterwork ceiling. PictureItSoldFL.com
When the Schar-controlled entity bought the house, seller Carolyn P. Andrews was represented by agent Cam Kirkwood, who was then with Coastal Sotheby's International Realty but has since joined Compass Florida, according to records in the multiple listing service and at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. Kirkwood also represented the Schars in the sale.
In the off-market lakefront sale last spring, Dwight Schar served as trustee when his trust bought a 1991 house with 10,847 total square feet at 460 Worth Ave.
That property measures about a third of an acre with about 155 feet of lakefront, offering views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the South Flagler Drive waterfront in West Palm Beach.
Seen in a photo taken several years ago, a lakefront house at 460 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach sold privately in April for a recorded $46.6 million to Palm Beach resident Dwight Schar, who bought it though a trust in his name. DARRELL HOFHEINZ / Palm Beach Daily News
In the Worth Avenue deal, Moens is said to have negotiated opposite Sotheby's International Realty agents Heidi Wicky and Jean Lembcke, who represented Immohome AG, a Liechtenstein- based corporation. One of four houses at the far west end of Worth Avenue, the house bought by the Schar trust stands immediately south of the recently renovated Town Docks at the point where the street curves to become South Lake Drive.[email protected]
Copyright (c) 2022 Palm Beach Daily News, Edition 11/29/2022
Powered by TECNAVIA
