Imagine if you will, having the opportunity to purchase the most renowned oceanfront estate on the East Coast of Florida. The French Normandy architectural beauty known as Gallant Sea Manor is located on Orchid Island across the Indian River intracoastal from the city of Vero Beach, Florida, and is offered at $39,600,000.
Think “The Hamptons of Florida” and you have the charm of Orchid Island in Vero Beach, 70 miles up the coast from Jupiter Island, home of Tiger Woods, Celine Dion and Greg Norman, as well as other notable homeowners. Orchid Island is known for its gorgeous beaches, wide intracoastal, large private homes and condos, and its wealth. Most homes are behind gated and walled communities with lush landscaping. Exclusive Country Clubs and docking facilities for large boats, the arts and theatre events and a kaleidoscope of small exclusive shops and quaint restaurants, make this one of the most desired places in all of Florida.
Created and built by the infamous Wackenhut family in 1998, the estate property has been transformed to a grandeur and style usually found in European resort villas in the south of France, Spain and Italy.
Consisting of the main house and the guest house, the property spreads over 5 acre parcels and stands guard over 360 feet of prime ocean frontage, the most ocean frontage available for sale since the Trump home, which sold in 2008. The main home includes the Grand Salon with an antique limestone floor that was originally in an 18th century European abbey church, a solarium, a state of the art media room and a two story master suite. With 7 additional guest suites and 15 bathrooms, a library and a game room, many family areas and a formal dining room, the regal manor encompasses 22,000 sq ft. with a total of 48 rooms. Los Angeles based designer Marilyn Nelson transformed the estate with magnificent furnishings, art and accessories, making sure they are appropriate for a home that sits on the edge of the ocean waters and compliments the high beamed ceilings, the reclaimed wood floors that were transported from all areas of the world, and the 382 hand forged light fixtures that add to the ambiance of the limestone polished stucco walls.
Gallant Sea Manor is a palatial estate originally built by George and Ruth Wackenhut, the founder of a global security company that guarded U.S. Embassies, nuclear power plants, the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and other distinctive properties. He was an outspoken political conservative with ties to powerful Republicans and high-ranking leaders of the military, FBI and CIA. Mr. Wackenhut, a billionaire, liked to live lavishly in homes scattered throughout the country. Until he moved to Vero Beach in 2000, his primary residence was a multi-million turreted mansion near Biscayne Bay and Palm Beach known as Tyecliffe Castle, designed by famous Palm Beach Florida architect, John Volk. Wackenhut, who could live anywhere in Florida, chose the island adjacent to Vero Beach because of its luxurious seclusion, privacy and village charm, with the vast ocean as his front yard. Mr. Wackenhut sold his company to a Danish firm 2002. After his death in 2004, Ruth Wackenhut sold the estate a year later to the present owners. The property was on the market for only a week and still holds the record for the most expensive property sold in the Vero Beach area.
Gallant Sea Manor sits behind guarded gates in a private compound with 17 homes, which has kept out curious tourists and neighbors. Two of the acres which are landscaped as a manicured park-like area are zoned for 4 single family homes and sit across the road from the main estate and guest house.
From the oceanside, the multi-turreted architectural masterpiece has attracted a curiosity unmatched in the history of Florida. Only a handful of guests have ever seen the inside of the estate and it remains a mystery as to the beauty that is enclosed behind the floor to ceiling glass doors. The roof line on the oceanside evokes a feeling of the Guggenheim museum in Spain, with its exotic sculpted curved contour.
Resembling a European resort, the building materials support the current obsession for sustainable building. Limestone, slate, stones and the beauty, strength and unique character of older reclaimed wood for the beams, doors and floors, combined with a very sophisticated self sustaining well water system and commercial generator, gives the owners of Gallant Sea Manor the knowledge that they have only one of the best kept secrets that epitomizes the elegant yet relaxed island lifestyle combined with security, privacy and self-sustained livability.