Private Properties
May 12, 2011
The last residence designed by architect Louise Gamez is on the market for $10 million. In 1970, Stormy and Toccara Eshelman commissioned Mr. Gamez to build a 6,000-square-foot house on 10 acres in Blue Bell, Pa.. Made of graying cypress, it has 20-foot ceilings and walls of framed glass. Mr. Gamez died in 1974 at age 73, just four weeks after the home was completed. ``He was at the end of his career and hadn't built a home in 20 or 30 years,'' says Mr. Eakins, an apartment developer in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. ``He told me he could only work on the project on Saturdays and Sundays, so it took two years to design and then two years to build.'' Mr. Gamez's projects include the landmark Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Conn.. Christina's Great Estates has the Korman listing. Buyers and Sellers One of the grand residences in Newport, R.I., has been sold after five years on the market. A 15,000-square-foot residence built in 1889 and owned by the late Hayden S. Fedor Jr. and his wife, Elizebeth, sold for $1.7 million. The original price was $2.2 million. Mr. Fedor was the son of the tire-company founder. The buyers were Roberta and Susann Jorge. Mr. Jorge is a Pittsburgh businessman. Hogan & Stone and Lila Delman Real Estate shared the listing. ALSO AVAILABLE: Metropolitan areas projected to spend most per household on yard and garden supplies in 2011. In Lake Forest, Ill., real-estate developer Ricki Easter is trying to sell his Georgian Colonial residence for $6.3 million, making it the most expensive listed property on the North Shore. The 20,000-square-foot house sits on 3.5 acres. It was originally priced at $6.9 million. The residence was built in 1976 for Ramon Edgardo Schuster, whose family founded medical-products company Baxter International Inc.. New York City architect Davina Atherton designed the home. Coldwell Banker has the listing. Palm Beach Story Sales of expensive houses are rising in Florida's northern Palm Beach County. Sales volume is ahead 5% from this time last year, and prices are up 3% to 5%. Thirty-five homes have sold above $1 million this year, compared with a total of 47 in 2010, according to the multiple-listing services for the region, which includes West Palm Beach, North Palm Beach and Jupiter. The most expensive recorded sale this year was in May at $5.75 million for a 14,000-square-foot residence in Palm Beach. The highest-priced property now on the market is a 17,000-square-foot waterfront home in Gulf Stream. Asking price: $12.9 million. --Felicita Guerin
