Palm Beach's New Most Expensive Listing is $84M French Job

If someone plans a house for themselves but then decides to sell before the place is finished, is it still considered a 'spec house'? This $84.5 million pile of faux French-osity under construction in Palm Beach was planned as the owner's dream house, but at some point somebody changed their mind and threw it on the market, bowling alley, servants quarters, summer kitchen and all. Perhaps they put it on the market speculatively because they decided that an $85.4 million cash infusion was a sweeter song to sing than over 200 feet of direct ocean frontage. That's right, 242 feet of the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach's North End is as all yours as it possibly could be even though beaches in Florida are technically public property.

It has 35,00 square feet of living space, two servant apartments, two garages for four cars each, a formal entry court, a theater, a wine room, a dog room (which is probably pretty handy for your pooch), a playroom, a staff office, an arcade, a barber shop, eight powder rooms in the public areas of the house, an additional two powder rooms that connect to the sitting rooms of the master suite and a guest suite, and a whole games room/spa level in the basement. Palm Beach people have kind of a thing for powder rooms. Then, of course, there's a pool, jacuzzi, gym, elevator, etc. According to the broker it "should be ready for occupancy sometime next season", because that's still how they track time in Palm Beach (hint: they don't mean autumn).

· North End Mansion Listed at $84.5 Million [PBDN]
· 1071 N. Ocean Boulevard [Realtor.com]