Internationally known interior designer Victoria Hagan and her media-investor husband, Michael Berman, have sold one of their Palm Beach houses for a documented $60.37 million, according to the deed recorded May 3.
At that price, the off-market sale of 130 Banyan Road likely set a Palm Beach price record for a non-waterfront estate that did not involve a house swap when it sold, several real estate observers told the Palm Beach Daily News .
The Palm Beach Daily News was the first media outlet to report the sale.
The Banyan Road Trust was on the buyer’s side of the sale. Real estate attorney Steven M. Loeb of Cleary Gotttlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York City is trustee of the trust, the deed shows. Loeb could not be reached immediately, and because of privacy rules governing trusts, no other information about anyone associated with the buyer was immediately available in public records.
The actual amount that changed hands in the deal may have even topped $65 million, people familiar with the transaction said. Prices recorded at the courthouse for real estate transactions are sometimes lower than the actual amount paid because they don’t take into account real estate commissions, fees and other costs.
Built in 1924, the eight-bedroom house near the ocean in the Estate Section recently underwent an extensive renovation that overhauled the exterior architecture and reconfigured the interior layout.
Hagan and Berman owned the house through a Florida limited liability company named 130 Banyan LLC, property records show. That entity paid a recorded $11.11 million for the property in April 2020 .
With five bedrooms and a staff bedroom, the house and its two-bedroom attached guesthouse have a combined 15,700 square feet of living space, inside and out, including the basement level, town records show.
The lot measures about an acre and lies a little less than a mile south of Worth Avenue . It is the second home west of the beach on the south side of Banyan Road.
Brown Harris Stevens agent Blair Kirwan, who represented the buyer, declined to comment about the transaction.
Brown Harris Stevens agents Liza Pulitzer and Whitney McGurk , who represented the sellers, confirmed the sale closed May 2 but did not disclose the sale price or identify anyone on the buyer’s side of the sale.
Through Pulitzer, Hagan and Berman declined to comment. Real estate attorney Maura Ziska, who manages 130 Banyan LLC, signed the deed to sell the house. She could not be reached.
Renovation of Palm Beach house transformed it, inside and out
Hagan oversaw the extensive renovation of the house. The project included expanding the house with a new second-floor primary bedroom suite, adding two loggias, installing a pool, updating the pool cabana and resurfacing the tennis court.
Hagan worked with architect Peter Papadopoulos of Smith and Moore Architects in West Palm Beach on the renovation, which changed the exterior architecture from the original rustic Tudor Revival style to a clean-lined English Country style with a more modern feel, town records show. Papadopoulos declined to comment.
Palm Beach landscape architect Mario Nievera of Nievera Williams Design drew up the plans for the grounds. He could not be reached.
Pulitzer said her clients renovated the house for their own use and not as a resale project. “There was never any intention for them to sell. They did (the renovation) for their family,” Pulitzer said.
But once the work was underway and the high quality of the work was apparent, she added, others noticed. “People would always ask if they would consider selling, and they always said, ‘No,’” Pulitzer said.
But with newly renovated houses near the ocean scarce in Palm Beach, the couple finally told Pulitzer they might consider selling if the price was right — and a deal was eventually struck.
Hagan and Berman never listed the house in the multiple listing service. Pulitzer said she and McGurk have often put together off-market deals.
Hagen, Berman own two houses on Palm Beach's South End
Hagan runs her eponymous interior-design firm with offices on Royal Palm Way in Palm Beach and in New York City, the company’s website shows.
Berman, a businessman who has been involved with a variety of media companies, co-founded with the late John F. Kennedy Jr. the now-defunct political magazine “George” in the late 1990s, according to published reports. He also is the co-founder of Palmer, a hardcover annual publication serving the luxury market in Palm Beach.
The couple own two side-by-side lakefront houses on Ibis Isle on the South End of town and have one of them listed as their primary residence in the latest Palm Beach County tax rolls. The couple also have residential ties to Connecticut; Nantucket, Massachusetts; and the Hamptons in New York, property records show.
Hagan and Berman’s ownership company bought the house on Banyan Road from the estate of the late investments manager Martin “Marty” L. Berman, who is no relation to Michael Berman. Pulitzer and McGurk represented Hagan and her husband in their purchase four years ago, negotiating opposite broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate.
The house was widely considered a tear-down when it sold in 2020. But Hagan saw possibilities in the house, said Pulitzer.
“She was the only one who had the vision to see what was there,” Pulitzer said.
Among the original architectural elements retained — although replicated — during the renovation was a cast-stone frieze on the north side of the house, Pulitzer added.
Nearby house swap last year involved Tom Ford
The house is in the same neighborhood as a landmarked — and landlocked — mansion at 195 Via Del Mar, which was involved i n an off-market house swap a year ago valued at more than $100 million , according to people familiar with the transaction. In that deal, billionaire fashion icon Tom Ford traded his house at 214 Jungle Road for the one on Via Del Mar, which at the time was the home of real estate entrepreneur Brian Kosoy and his wife, Andrea. The Kosoys later listed the Jungle Road house as their primary home in the county tax rolls.
An undisclosed amount of cash was said to have been exchanged in the house swap. The deal was brokered by Angle, according to people familiar with the swap. Angle has consistently declined to comment when asked about it by the Palm Beach Daily News. Because of the way the deal was structured, details of the transaction were not documented in courthouse records.
On Ibis Isle, Hagan and her husband bought their first house — a 1960s-era house at 2323 Ibis Isle Road S. — in 2014 and extensively renovated it in a project designed by Papadopoulos. In January, the couple bought the house next door at 2308 Ibis Isle Road W. for a recorded $16.45 million . That 1981 house stands on a corner lot on the southwest tip of Ibis Isle, a position that offers dramatic water views. The couple is said to be considering building a new residence on the property, but their exact plans are unclear.
Pulitzer and McGurk represented Hagan and Berman in their purchase of 2308 Ibis Isle Road W., with Angle acting for the seller.
Banyan Road house in Palm Beach once considered for landmark status
The house the couple just sold on Banyan Road was built for Rodney Proctor, according to town records cited in a report about the house's history prepared in 2000, when the property was under consideration for landmark status by the Landmarks Preservation Commission . But the town never granted the house a landmark designation, which would have protected its exterior walls from significant alteration unless approved by the landmarks board.
The landmarks report lists Wilcox Brothers Builders as the contractor. But the name of the original architect was not included in town records, the report said. The house was badly damaged during the deadly 1928 hurricane and was repaired, according to the report. It later underwent a number of renovations, the report says.
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This story was updated from a previous version to include the buyer’s identity and the recorded price paid for 130 Banyan Road in Palm Beach. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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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.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Sale of renovated Palm Beach estate on Banyan Road hits $60.37M, deed shows
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