A mansion completely rebuilt by Jeanne S. Siegel and her late husband, investor and businessman Herbert J. Siegel, has sold on Palm Beach’s lakefront for a recorded $51.632 million, the price reported July 2 in the multiple listing service.
The condition of the Estate Section house at 200 Via Palma before the renovation was the subject of a protracted water-damage civil lawsuit in which a West Palm Beach jury early last year awarded the Siegels millions of dollars in damages.
The suit claimed the company that sold them the house, furniture and some artwork for $33 million in 2015 failed to disclose knowledge about mold and other problems caused by water intrusion, interior flooding and leaks. The selling entity in the 2015 deal is associated in public records with billionaire and Palm Beach resident Jane Goldman.
Facing 140 feet of frontage on the Intracoastal Waterway, the house was originally built in 1952. It has nine bedroom, six fireplaces and 12,441 square feet of living space, inside and out.
The Palm Beach Daily News is the first media outlet to report the sale.
The sale closed July 1, the MLS shows. A deed for the transaction had not been recorded at the Palm Beach County Courthouse as of late in the afternoon on July 2, so the buyer’s identity wasn’t yet available in public records. It was also unclear if the sale price reported in the MLS would match the one expected to be documented with the deed.
During their 29-month renovation, the Siegels took the interiors down to the studs and replaced the cabana building near the pool, which looks out to the lake and the dock.
Herbert Siegel died in August 2023 at 95. After investing in a variety of businesses, he built most of his fortune through the ownership of television stations and other media companies after buying the small-boat company Chris-Craft in 1968. He later sold the boat company.
The lot measures nine-tenths of an acre at the west end of Via Palma, four streets north of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club. The house and cabana offer “sweeping lake views,” according to the sales listing.
The former Siegel house's original architecture was designed by the late noted architect Marion Sims Wyeth. When the Siegels carried out their renovation, they changed the architectural style from the original Palm Beach Regency style to Mediterranean.
Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates acted for Siegel in the sale, according to the multiple listing service. Moens and his client couldn’t be reached for comment.
Corcoran Group agent Suzanne Frisbie, who represented the buyer, declined to comment about the transaction.
Moens priced the estate at $57.85 when he acquired the listing in October 2023. He landed the estate under contract at the tail end of April, the MLS shows.
In the 2015 sale, the buyers were represented by Corcoran Group agents Colleen Hanson and John Campbell. Moens handled the buyer's side.
Moens’ sales listing described the property as a “sensational lakefront compound” and said it was “in absolutely pristine move-in condition.”
The property had been previously listed by another agency.
Interior details include parquet wood floors and a staircase with an elaborate metal-and-wood banister. Photographs show rooms that feature high ceilings and crown moldings.
With a nearby butler’s pantry, the contemporary-style kitchen is open to a breakfast area. The layout also includes also a formal dining room near the living room.
The main house has two outdoor loggias facing the lake. One has a coffered ceiling and a series of arches that frame views of the water. On the south side of the house, the other loggia has an outdoor fireplace.
Lawsuit dealt with water problems "not readily observable" before sale
In February 2023, a six-person jury awarded the Siegels damages of about $7.57 million in the breach-of-contract lawsuit they had filed in 2016 against a YSC Florida LLC, a limited liability company controlled by Goldman, who occupied the house before the sale to the Siegels.
As previously reported by the Palm Beach Daily News, the jury unanimously agreed that the Siegels should have been told about water-related problems “not readily observable” before the sale closed.
In addition to the damages, the court awarded the Siegels an additional $2.85 million in “prejudgment interest” along with attorney fees as part of the lawsuit in the 15th circuit court.
An appeal is pending, court records show.
Jane Goldman is the managing member of YSC Florida LLC, according to court records. She and a fellow member —her sister Diane Kemper — signed the sales contract for YSC Florida LLC, according to the lawsuit complaint presented in court.
The two women share ownership of an oceanfront mansion at 1744 S. Ocean Blvd.
Goldman is a principal of Solil Management, a family company that manages assets related to the fortune amassed by her late father, New York City real estate developer Sol Goldman.
Shortly after the Goldman-linked limited liability company sold the house to the Siegels, another entity controlled by Goldman paid a recorded $31 million for the former Kennedy family estate at 1095 N. Ocean Blvd., which she remodeled. In 2020, Goldman-linked companies sold the North Ocean Boulevard estate for $70 million. The house at 1744 S. Ocean Boulevard was purchased for $51.42 million in 2020, property records show.
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To see more photos of the estate at 200 Via Palma in Palm Beach, click on the photo gallery at the top of this page.
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.
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