Buffett Sells Palm Beach Estate

According to the Palm Beach Daily News, Jimmy Buffett has sold his Midtown estate in Palm Beach, Florida for $18.5 million:

Jimmy and Jane Buffett’s Midtown estate has sold for $18.5 million, according to a deed filed today at the Palm Beach County courthouse.

The buyer has not yet been identified.

The Buffetts paid $4.4 million for the five bedroom-nine bathroom compound on 1.6 acres in 1994. The address is 540 S. Ocean Blvd.

The estate was originally designed in the Mediterranean style by Marion Sims Wyeth but was later remodeled into a British Colonial-style house by Howard Major. In 1969 the Garden Club of Palm Beach showcased the house as part of its annual house and garden tour.

For many years, the estate was the residence of Audrey Emery, the daughter of a Cincinnati industrialist who was married to the late Grand Duke Dmitri Romanov of Russia and later married Prince Dimitri Djordjaze of Monaco. Emery’s son, Paul Romanoff Ilyinsky, served as mayor of Palm Beach for many years.

It was also once the home to Amory and Annette Haskell, who named it Annetteamo. She was the daughter of Standard Oil exec Henry Morgan Tilford.

The estate features a tennis court, pool, guest house and ocean frontage.

The property is currently appraised for $23.3 million by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office.

Update – Here is a Google Maps image of the estate. You can see Jimmy’s Green Tomato surf van parked in the driveway (click to enlarge photo):

(hat tip to Brad for finding that)