Leaving snow and sleet in their wake and moving from ship to shore, Edward and Ruth Hennessy bought their house at 500 Island Drive on Everglades Island in 1991.
“We used to come to Palm Beach to visit,” Edward Hennessy says. “We had our boat at the Australian (Avenue) dock for many years, so we knew a bit about Palm Beach.”
The climate here was an indisputable draw, he adds.
“When I was retiring and moving from New Jersey to establish a residence here, we had enough of skiing and snow,” he explains. “With 20 acres there, all we were doing was plowing in and out.”
They liked Everglades Island, and they appreciated their home’s unencumbered views from almost every room. To the east, they look over the water to the golf course at the Everglades Club, and to the west, they enjoy views of the Intracoastal Waterway.
“We love the location. We are near Worth Avenue, but we have very little traffic and it’s very peaceful. But we want to downsize,” he says.
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And that means they’ve listed their British Colonial-style home — with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two half-baths and 7,228 square feet of living space, inside and out — with agent Thor Brown with The Fite Group for $12.995 million.
Their house was in the process of being renovated by its previous owner when they bought it. So the Hennessys hired Hatley and Thompson, a West Palm Beach interior design firm that had designed houses for them in Maine and the Bahamas, to complete the project to their liking.
Tweaking the floor plan, the designers switched the locations of the dining room and media room, overhauled the bathrooms and reworked the kitchen, which has a tile floor along with countertops and a backsplash made of Corian. They also added faux-painted walls in the foyer and murals in one of the master bathrooms.
They refinished the marble floors, added carpeting in all the bedrooms and had special custom carpets made in England for the living areas.
They also reworked the landscaping, adding palm trees, exterior lighting and an irrigation system. Pavers were installed in the driveway and around the pool, and for Edward’s 32-foot boat, they built the dock in the back with a lift that can accommodate a 15,000 pound vessel. The home also has a full-house generator.
The Hennessys often host family members as guests, and the floor plan and location has worked well for them.
“When our family is here, our grandchildren can stay in the upstairs guest bedrooms and their parents can have the downstairs master bedroom,” explains Edward. “We also have young nephews and nieces who come down to visit, and Everglades Island is great. We can walk to the beach and, since we are members, we take them to the clubs. They really enjoy that.”
The foyer opens to the centrally positioned living room and dining room. In the south wing are a media room, an informal dining room, the kitchen and breakfast area, a bathroom suite, an elevator and the two-car garage.
Upstairs, the main master suite offers two bathrooms, closets and a sitting room. Also upstairs are a loft area and two guest bedroom suites. All three bedrooms have balconies with water views.
Features include 10-foot ceilings, French doors with fanlights, a media room with built-in cabinetry, Venetian chandeliers in the dining room and foyer. There are two fireplaces — one in the upstairs master bedroom and the other, with a stone mantel, in the living room.
“It’s been a good house for entertaining. We’ve had nice parties at the house and around the pool for 50 guests and more,” Edward says.
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