Photograph by Todd Pierce
Home All-Stars: Inside Looking Out
January 1, 2006
Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, Wellington,
Fla.
Hunter-jumper, polo or
dressage–whatever
equestrian pursuit they fancy, the horsey set agrees that the
Palm
Beach Polo and Country Club is the ultimate place to live. “We are the
number one hub for winter equestrian events,” says Don Langdon,
director of
sales. The 125-acre equestrian facility has 15 polo fields,
houses up to 4,000
horses and hosts a barrage of must-attend events
each season.
A Mediterranean-inspired home and doorway at the Palm Beach Polo and Country
Club, which hosts a mélange of equestrian events annually. Photography by Barry Kinsella. (Click images to enlarge) ; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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Although this community has hosted royalty, including Prince Charles and the
late Princess Diana, Langdon assures that the vibe among residents is casual,
not pompous. “You can wear jeans and sit on the back of your car and watch the
game,” he says. Homeowners are attracted to the wide-open spaces. The 2,250-acre
community offers everything from condos to sprawling estates, fetching prices
from $300,000 to $12 million. Some owners opt to keep their homes within the
security of the gates and build barns on larger (50- to 100-acre) tracts of land
outside the club, explains Langdon.
The club also delivers a 19-court tennis center, croquet club and fitness
center, and holds events ranging from bridge tournaments to wine tastings at its
clubhouse. The most overlooked aspect of this club is the golf amenities.
“Equestrians don’t usually have time for golf too, but they have club
memberships,” says Langdon. For golfers, this means that the community’s
two courses–Cypress, designed by Pete and P.B. Dye, and the Dunes, a Scottish
links—style course designed by Ron Garl and Jerry Pate–are often uncrowded.
Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, 800.257.1038, 561.798.7110, www.palmbeachpolo.com
Many homes at the tightly guarded Beverly Park in Beverly Hills boast features
such as pools, guesthouses and private tennis courts. Top photograph by Estella Snieder. (Click images to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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Beverly Park, Beverly Hills, Calif.
The twin-gated community of beverly park
is the ultimate perch for the Hollywood set. Its back gate provides easy access
to Mulholland Drive, the road that leads to the studios in Burbank, and within a
five-minute drive of the front gate, residents can hash out the details of their
next movies over lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel or shop on Rodeo Drive for
outfits to wear to their next movie premieres.
The 250-acre community delivers privacy with two-acre lots, a community park and
100 acres of open space. Estate homes ranging in size from 15,000 to 50,000
square feet often come equipped with a pool, a guesthouse, the occasional golf
hole and views of glimmering Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Mountains.
Round-the-clock manned guard stations paired with roaming security teams ensure
that the only visitors are friends of the residents, which have included
Sylvester Stallone, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy and Rod Stewart.
“You get land, luxury living, security and location,” says Mauricio Umansky, an
agent with Hilton & Hyland. Umansky currently holds the only two available
listings: a 3.5-acre vacant lot ($14.9 million) that comes with permits and
plans for a 25,000-square-foot Tuscan-style home designed by architect
Richard Landry, and a 20,000-square-foot home ($25 million) set on 2.5 acres
owned by actor Kelsey Grammer.
Mauricio Umansky, 310.858.5464, www.laluxuryestates.com
Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, S.C.
The first 10 people to lay money down (up to
$4.75 million) for a homesite at Palmetto Bluff were rewarded with some of the
most sought-after parcels in the South Carolina Low Country. Designed to be
family compounds, the sizable 19- to 37-acre lots in the Headwaters community
are bordered by the May River, a private lake and 385 acres of conservation
land. “We went through extraordinary lengths to preserve the land and keep a
low-key design element,” says marketing vice president Tommy Baysden.
Surveyors chose three-acre envelopes on each of the 10 sites to ensure the best
vistas. In addition to a main house, owners in Headwaters may build guest
cottages and other outbuildings to complete the family retreat.
Top photo: A quaint residential street within Palmetto
Bluff. Bottom photo: The Jack Nicklaus—designed golf course in the May River Forest
neighborhood. (Click images to enlarge) ; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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The 20,000-acre Palmetto Bluff, which opened in 2003, is part nature preserve
and part community. The village, fashioned after charming areas such as Aspen,
Nantucket and Carmel, serves as the heart of the community and comprises
residences, retail shops and a spa. When they pass through the gate,
homeowners–a mix of full-time executives who work in Savannah and Hilton Head
and preretirement fifty-somethings–enter their own private sanctuary.
About one-third of the property has been designated as conservation land, while
the rest is geared to activity. A Jack Nicklaus golf course, which uses
eco-friendly paspalum grass, is the centerpiece of the May River Forest
neighborhood, which has 2,800 homesites ($325,000 to $2.5 million) set on one to
eight acres. The Bluff’s three neighborhoods are linked by a trail system. A
boating facility, equestrian center, clubhouse and sports campus serving as a
center for tennis, croquet and bocce are also part of the plans.
Palmetto Bluff, 843.757.3333, www.palmetto-bluff.com
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