Home Inspired by ‘The Great Gatsby’ Gets a Price Cut

May 20th, 2013

By Lauren Schuker Blum

A 28,700-square-foot home in Vero Beach, Fla., has gone back on the market for $19.9 million, an 11.5% price cut.

Known as Palazzo di Mare, the six-bedroom, 10-bathroom home sits on 5 oceanfront acres in Vero Beach, a quiet, affluent community two-and-a-half hours north of Miami.

Built in 2001, the house was inspired by “The Great Gatsby,” according to listing agent William P.D. Pierce of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, and has 32-foot ceilings, a polished limestone fireplace, a stained-glass bar, a sound-proofed movie theater, a wood-beamed library and a 14-car garage. There’s also a solarium, sky deck, guest house, two elevators, and a swimming pool with 14-carat gold inlays. The house is fronted by 205 feet of private beach.

The home is owned by Sharon Nicholson, the widow of Bill Nicholson, who founded with his family Retail Grocery Inventory Service (RGIS), a company that helps grocery stores track their inventory.

According to public records, Ms. Nicholson bought the property in 1994 for $650,000.

She first attempted to sell it in 2007, when she put it up for auction with a listed price of $33.5 million. Just before bids would be accepted, however, she canceled the auction. In 2008, she put the home on the market for $24.9 million, later lowering the price to $22.5 million. It has been on and off the market since 2008.

Ms. Nicholson couldn’t be reached for comment.