$10 million homes hit Northeast Florida market; hard to price because nothing compares

One sits on the river in San Marco, the other on the ocean in Ponte Vedra Beach. So one has docks, the other a beach.

But they both are really nice, really big and on really big lots. One is as much an art gallery used as a guest house as it is a home.

And they're both for sale, the only two homes in Northeast Florida listed at more than $10 million. The homes:

¦ 900 Brookwood Road in San Marco is almost 8,000 square feet on a three-acre lot with 700 feet on the river. Asking price: $11,750,000.

¦ 1155 Ponte Vedra Blvd. is 11,300 square feet on more than two acres with 315 feet on ocean. Asking price: $10,450,000.

Property records don't show a home selling for more than $10 million in either Duval or St. Johns counties, though full selling prices don't always show up on deeds. And local real estate agents said they don't remember anything selling that high.

The last one even close that Jeff Chefan, owner of Manormor Sotheby's International Realty, remembers is Mark Brunell's Ponte Vedra Boulevard home.

The former Jaguar quarterback sold his 14,000-square-foot beachfront home for $9.5 million in 2004. The buyer, Kevin Twomey, then-president of The St. Joe Co. sold the house in 2011 for $7.9 million.

More recently, Ian McLeod, CEO of Southeastern Grocers (formerly Bi-Lo Holdings) paid $6.4 million for a Ponte Vedra Beach home. In San Marco, two homes have sold for a little more than $4 million in the last couple of years.

Riverfront in San Marco and Avondale always lag behind Ponte Vedra in terms of top-dollar homes, Chefan said. And that gap is increasing, he said, during the housing recovery, but he doesn't know why.

A 200-foot beachfront lot near the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club can go for up to $3.7 million, he said. Move a few blocks south, and the price drops $1 million or so.

"But if you go farther south, the lots get larger," he said. "Then you're back in the $3-$3.7 million range."

That's where the house at 1155 Ponte Vedra Blvd. is.

ON THE BEACH

The owner, Don Brindley, had it built in 2000. He's former president of Merrill Lynch Insurance, current president & CEO of Tower International Holdings and, on a more local level, owner of Picasso's restaurant in Mandarin.

Ann McAfee, ReMax listing agent for the home, said there are other homes in area that would command that kind of price.

"But they're not for sale," she said. "There are three going up right now in that strip that I'm sure are at least as expensive. But they're custom homes, not spec homes for sale."

So there weren't any comparables for her to set the price by.

"I had to look at frontage, square footage and the fact that it's top-of-the-line everything," she said.

"I didn't skimp on anything," Brindley said.

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He talked about the theater that's set into a dune to muffle outside sound.

"We had experts come in and check out the dimensions so the sound waves would be just right. The recliners are butter leather and cost me more than $40,000, and that was 15 years ago."

He talked about the professional kitchen with indoor Viking grill and the built-in deep fryer.

"I put in all stone floors," he said. "My office is huge with a big fireplace. I'm sitting there right now looking at the ocean."

He and his wife are simply looking to downsize, he said. The property can be divided: $8.4 million for the house, $2.4 million for the 150-foot lot next door.

If someone wants just the house, he'll build a new home on the vacant lot.

He listed the house in April and admitted there hasn't been a lot of interest.

"It's a pretty small group that can afford to live out here," he said. "It's really a matter of luck. It could be day one, it could be year two. I'm motivated, but I don't have to sell. I don't owe anything on it. I can stay here until the day I drop dead."

ON THE RIVER

James Mussallem said he had the same problem McAfee did when it came to comparing recent sales.

"Real estate agents tell me it's too high, but I tell them to show me another one like it," he said. "There's no comps because there's no comps."

It's not just the art deco home built in 1946, behind a gate at the end of a dead-end street. It's the land. Almost three acres, room for at least three waterfront lots.

So he rattled off his figures: A minimum of $20,000 a riverfront foot for the land, $200 a square foot for the house.

"That's almost $18 million."

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Still, he's reduced his price from when he first listed it last year at $14.85 million. He had it listed with a real estate firm then. Now he's selling it himself.

"I interviewed brokers and asked them what's the most expensive home they've sold," he said. "They $1 million, $2 million, $3 million.

"I sell paintings for $10 million, $20 million," he said. "I'm used to selling expensive items to rich people."

GUEST HOUSE

Mussallem didn't even buy the house to live in.

"We live in our big house," he said, not the least bit shy about his success.

In 2007, he built a 14,000-square-foot house on the river on Clifton Avenue. The San Marco house is for guests, for customers.

The Mussallems have been in business in Jacksonville since 1897. They sold Oriental rugs at first. Over the years it expanded to art and antiques.

Ninety percent of his business comes from out of town, Mussallem said. The San Marco house is where the customers stay when they come to town.

"We pick them up at the airport and drive them here," he said.

And it's heavily decorated from the gallery, with an emphasis on heavily. The walls are lined with artwork.

"That's a Rembrandt," he said casually, pointing to a painting hung between two bedrooms.

A bed that he said belonged to Napoleon is now a love seat. A dining room table is from Malcolm Forbes' yacht.

"The is the mini-me of the gallery," Mussallem said.

CHILDHOOD DREAM

He said he's wanted to buy the San Marco home since he was 10 years old.

He grew up a few blocks away and owner Lee McIlvaine often had the neighborhood kids over to play football in the yard, for Fourth of July parties.

"After he died, I got a call," he said.

The home was built in 1946 by a shipbuilder named Kipnis, he said. McIlvaine bought it from him and the house has never really been on the market.

City records say that Mussallem paid $2 million for the property in 2009, but he said it's closer to $3 million. And he said he's put millions into it.

He built two docks, one wired for not only electricity but television. He redid the pool with Italian glass tile. Replaced the windows to give view of the river. Landscaped it, including paving stone paths that he rides his golf cart around on, out onto the dock.

"You could drive a car out here," he said.

But now he's selling it.

"I've got six kids," he said, "and they all need their own homes."

He relisted it on his own less than two weeks ago, and said he's already gotten 40,000 views online. More importantly, he's gotten two offers.

"One was for full price, but he wants me to hold half the paper, so we're talking about that. When you've got buyers from out of the country, you don't know who's real or not."

So who's going to buy it, who is his target market?

"A rich person," he said. "A normal person couldn't afford it if you gave it him."

Property taxes are $51,000 a year. Maintenance, utilities, etc., could easily add another $20,000 a more.

But he does have one ideal buyer:

"I'd be perfect for Shad Khan," he said. "He can dock his boat there, he wants privacy."

Roger Bull: (904) 359-4296