January: Letter from Palm Beach: All Aboard the Volk Wagon!
Courtney Cregan
All Aboard the Volk Wagon!
Lisa and John Cregan
Ranked #1 Team
at Sotheby’s Palm Beach
The World Has Many “Big Five” lists.
In Philadelphia, it’s the college hoops teams of LaSalle, Penn, Temple, St Joe’s and Villanova (shout out to The Palestra♥️).
As for Palm Beach? In this property obsessed town, of course our Big Five is Architects.
The list starts with Addison Mizner and his mad-brilliant Hispano Mediterranean Revival look. Marion Sims Wyeth and Maurice Fatio followed with variations on Mizner’s theme and Howard Major countered them with his vision of a more American Caribbean style.
The fifth and youngest of the quintet bridged all these movements and more. John Volk, an Austrian-born, Columbia-educated immigrant, was the Minnie Miñoso of Palm Beach architecture, practicing across seven decades and completing over 2,000 projects in that span.
Volk’s creations ranged from Tuscan wonders like the 1931 E.B. Adams residence with its medieval round tower (below top) to the Rat Pack cool of the Regency-style Royal Poinciana Plaza (below middle).
In 1947, Volk married Joan Kinney, twenty-one years his junior (yes, very Palm Beach) and the newlyweds together embraced the task of planning post-war Palm Beach. At that time Palm Beach had a year-round population of just 500 people, although a very interesting 500. One dinner party the couple attended in a Volk-designed home saw the Russian ambassador to the US belting out “How much is that Doggie in the Window” to a receptive audience that included Herbert Hoover.
Volk adapted his work to the times. As housing for returning GIs overwhelmed demand for seaside palaces, he and his partners built the sweet one-story Bermudas and ranch homes that still dot North End streets like Reef and Dolphin (below at bottom). His and Jane’s belief in modern planning concepts produced structures that define today’s Palm Beach– right down to the design of the Town Hall!
Volk stayed at his drafting table until his death in 1984 and his agility in dancing to the music of change for sixty-plus years is visible on nearly every street in Palm Beach.
Stop by! No matter your taste, Volk built something for you.
E.B Adams home on El Bravo Way,
image by Brantley Photography
Royal Poinciana Plaza drawing
Property of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach
Plan for Three Bedroom Home
Property of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach
Market Color: Got Homes?
What happens when sales slow and listings accelerate?
By the awesome power of net numbers, we get inventory. Note the difference in the chart above comparing 2023’s Closed Sales and New Listings versus 2022’s. These stats are for the full year, just Palm Beach, condos and houses combined.
Here’s the math:
2022: 480 New Listings minus 315 Sales = 165 net new homes
2023: 497 New Listings minus 220 Sales = 277 net new homes
Add those newly available houses and condos to existing listings and you get an Active Inventory graph that looks like the one below. For buyers who’ve been waiting for the inventory drought to end before they start looking– it’s time.
An impossible to find waterfront vista- east/southeast facing, with nearly one-half acre of property looking over open water to the estate section. Update the lovely 1950’s era existing one-story house by prominent Modernist architect, Byron Simonson, or live there while making plans to build your dream home. Ideal for boaters looking for quick deep water access, the property is the second from the southern tip of Everglade Island with spectacular long views down the Intracoastal. The current home is in excellent condition with a fully equipped kitchen and 4 bedrooms plus a library with full bath surrounding an interior glassed courtyard. A high-ceilinged living room runs length-wise along the east side of the house, bathed in light, with beautiful views to the water. (video below)
A truly rare find. A beautiful 2023 renovation of a 5 bedroom house on a larger than average lot on one of the most gracious streets in Palm Beach. Owner just completed a multi-year down to the studs update of this stately white colonial for today’s buyer. The floor plan flows from gracious living room and loggia to large open kitchen and family room, then onto a light-filled downstairs office. Five bedrooms in total- two downstairs and three more on the second floor including the primary. A 32′ long pool, summer kitchen and oversized two car garage complete the picture. All on elegant Barton Avenue, an easy stroll in all four directions- to lake trail, beach, Royal Poinciana and Worth Avenue. There’s no finer location in Palm Beach
Island House is on everyone’s list of favorite close-to-Worth, walk-everywhere buildings. The owners just completed a down to the studs renovation with a top West Coast architect and this unit is sleekly perfect with thoughtful touches everywhere. Open kitchen with dining island, new baths, new electric, new AC, new floors. All rooms have impact glass and new automated shades. Inviting balcony with 5th floor views of the setting sun and the West Palm skyline. Two features particularly beloved at Island House are the lovely poolside entertaining area covered by a chic awning and the lobby level guest suite available for reservation by Island House owners.
Opportunity to build new east of Olive Avenue in the heart of El Cid on an 8,700 sqft lot. Listing price is for cleared land with plans for a beautiful 4 bedroom home drawn by Kiko Sanchez of FGS Design. Approved home is 3,642 sqft under AC and 4,000 sqft total. Plans have already been approved by the Historic Preservation Board. They include a gracious master suite with his and her walk-in closets, 3 guest bedrooms with ensuite baths, a long pool with spa and cold plunge and a detached one car garage and summer kitchen. Just bring your contractor.
This spacious in-town residence has just undergone an extraordinary two-year renovation. Eleven foot ceilings in the main living spaces capture natural light and highlight the space’s pristine contemporary finishes and just-installed wide plank bleached oak floors. A sculptural modern glass railing on the new stairway adds even more sparkle. That kind of careful consideration was applied to every detail-the new kitchen is equipped with top-of-the-line appliances and the primary bathroom is finished like a high end spa. Nothing was left untouched-new bathrooms, new electrical, new AC, new pool terrace and more. A truly stunning finished product and location, location, location. Just one street south of Dunbar and a very short stroll to churches, Publix supermarket, Royal Poinciana Plaza shops and restaurants, the beach and the Lake Trail.
NEWLY PRICED! This light and bright ”cabana street” home has just been dazzlingly updated by architect Pat Segraves. Roof, electric, impact glass, AC- all new! Natural light pours in from tall windows and the mature tropical landscape on this 12,600 sqft lot provides complete privacy. Airy vaulted ceilings, sliding glass doors that open to a 25′ pool, a brand new eat-in kitchen off a lovely breakfast garden and a new cypress-paneled family room that could easily be converted to a downstairs primary bedroom suite complete with its own terrace shaded by a louvered electronic pergola. Sited on a prime North End block with a neighborhood beach terrace at one end and Lake Trail access at the other, this 4BR/4BA Bermuda style house is casual family beach living at its best! (video below)
A romantic waterfront paradise. Pristine, extraordinarily detailed, 2020 construction with unimpeded water views from both the first and second floors. This home’s condition is the definition of ”impeccable.” 19,000 square foot lot beautifully landscaped by celebrated designer Keith Williams. A 52′ lap pool sits off the electric screened terrace. Mexican roof tile and dappled waxed plaster walls are a nod to classic Palm Beach architecture within a clean contemporary envelope. Luxurious downstairs primary bedroom with long Intracoastal views. Two second floor bedrooms with full baths and an expansive upstairs terrace reached by stair or elevator all enjoy sweeping water views. Separate guest house can be used as a gym. 3 bay garage is fitted with lifts and can accommodate up to 5 cars
One of only Two Area Buildings Offering Completed New Construction
200 Arkona Court #1602 La Clara is the newest addition to the West Palm Beach skyline, right in the heart of the vibrant Norton Museum neighborhood. The 26 story tower offers large 2 and 3 bedroom condo units, all with glorious views across the Intracoastal to Palm Beach and the Atlantic and a short walk or 5 minute drive to Palm Beach shopping. The list of amenities is long, including a fully kitted out waterview fitness center, media room and a pet washing station with its own entry door to the street.
Beautiful ’01’ line unit facing directly east across the yachts of the Palm Beach Town Docks to the rolling Atlantic Ocean. Apartment is in impeccable condition, completely renovated in 2021 with all new kitchen appliances, a wine cooler, refreshed baths with new vanities, new tile flooring and a new in-unit washer/dryer. Plus you get the vaunted ’01’ line kitchen window! The Trianon has been transformed these last few years. The building just completed a multi-year renewal with a new roof and new balconies and impact glass throughout. There are upcoming plans to refresh the hallways and common areas, as well as create a new fitness center. It’s an all new Trianon! All this just a quick stroll or drive across the Royal Palm Bridge to the Four Arts and Worth Avenue.
