The owner of a beach mansion called Mar Pietra in Delray Beach, Florida, wants to set a new local price record. The house has an old Italian style with 300 stone columns, vaulted ceilings, and a fresco painted in Florence. Below ground, it features modern luxuries like a supercar gallery, a glowing tequila bar, and a steel vault filled with cash.
Mar Pietra
The house, Mar Pietra, means “sea stone” in Italian. It is on the expensive South Ocean Boulevard and covered in limestone. It is over 23,000 square feet!
Massimo Musa, the owner, told CNBC that he used a lot of stone in the house. Musa has started and sold several eye-care companies and develops real estate. He built Mar Pietra with his now ex-wife. The project took five years and involved many artisans, painters, and sculptors, mainly from Italy. Limestone, hand-carved marble from Italy, and large cedar panels from Colombia were shipped from Mexico.
What Makes Mar Pietra Luxurious
The listing says the huge home is 100 feet from the beachfront. It has a main house and a guest house, with a total of nine bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, and seven half bathrooms. A climate-controlled underground garage adds 4,000 more square feet, plus covered areas like a fancy outdoor space with another kitchen, bar, lounge, and dining area.
The estate is five times bigger than the average home sold in Delray Beach in the first quarter. According to the Elliman Report, its price is more than 18 times higher than the area’s average luxury home price of nearly $3.3 million. The report defines luxury homes as the top 10% of sales.
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Estates on the Intracoastal Waterway
The highest sale price ever in Delray Beach was $34 million. It was for a property on South Ocean Boulevard that sold in 2021. That year also saw the highest price per square foot, just under $2,600. Mar Pietra’s list price is similar to these figures. The large size of this home and its big oceanfront lawn are unusual for this part of Palm Beach County. Musa says this is due to the lot’s unique zoning history.
Public records show he bought the lot and others across the street on the Intracoastal Waterway for $9 million in 2002. At that time, the oceanfront lot had a hotel, which was zoned for hotel use. Musa, who moved to the U.S. from Italy, demolished the old building to build a family home that reflects his Italian heritage.
Properties of Mar Pietra
After the hotel was torn down, Musa says the land kept its hotel zoning, which allowed him to build a bigger house that was closer to the shoreline than usual.
Part of the beachfront cleared by the hotel owners long ago was also allowed to stay, even though current rules wouldn’t permit it. This area is a green lawn with artificial grass extending to the natural vegetation on the sandy beach at the back of his one-acre property.
Mar Pietra: A Timeless Design
The home is 21 feet above sea level and very large, which is impressive, but it’s hard to find a buyer at its high price. The estate has been on and off the market since December 2021, at $60 million. It’s listed by South Florida agent Senada Adzem of Douglas Elliman. Adzem told CNBC, “This estate is one of South Florida’s top luxury properties, designed to be timeless.”
According to the Elliman Report, the number of luxury single-family homes for sale in the first quarter went up by over 12% from last year. Meanwhile, the average sales price in Delray Beach dropped by more than 33%. Despite some signs of a slowdown in the market, Adzem is confident in the list price and South Florida’s high-end real estate market.
An Ultra-Luxury Home
“The ultra-luxury real estate market will keep thriving,” Adzem said. “Wealthy clients love Palm Beach County for its oceanfront locations, privacy, and uniqueness.” To back up her claim, Adzem points to a recent sale just 400 meters down the street in Highland Beach. There, an oceanfront home sold for $50 million in May, or more than $2,800 per square foot.
On this coastline, Mar Pietra could be seen as a relative bargain. A smaller nearby home on South Ocean Boulevard was recently listed for $74 million, or about $5,100 per square foot.
A Unique Ocean-to-Intracoastal Property
According to Adzem, Mar Pietra is highly valued because of its excellent construction and unique zoning rules, which she described as invaluable. “These zoning rules allowed our client to create a one-of-a-kind property that wouldn’t be possible otherwise,” she said.
While it seems unlikely that a buyer would think the estate is too small, Adzem noted that it’s possible in this part of Florida. So, she and her client are prepared with a solution. “What’s special about this home is that my client is willing to sell it with the Intracoastal Waterway lot. This will make it the only ocean-to-intracoastal property in Delray Beach, Florida.”
Mar Pietra: The Grand Sea Stone
Adzem explained that the two-lot package would provide enough land to build another waterfront house. This could include a rare spot on the Intracoastal Waterway for docking a large yacht. She mentioned that she would only discuss the price with interested buyers.
The home’s driveway goes through a grand archway called a porte-cochere. This leads to a circular motor court. Inside the limestone building is a two-story guesthouse with over 2,700 square feet, including three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and two half-baths. Beyond the motor court is a large stone staircase leading up to the main house. At the top of the stairs, you’ll find an open-air courtyard inspired by Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami.
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An Artistic View
The courtyard leads to the house’s main entrance, where a grand butterfly staircase overlooks a two-story foyer. The library stretches across two floors and features a spiral staircase to the upper level.
The room is designed with cedar and is inspired by the Vanderbilt estate. It also has a ceiling fresco based on the Sistine Chapel. The mural was painted in Florence, Italy, shipped to Florida, and finished on-site. The lower library level has an onyx bar and lounge area, while the upper level offers views of the pool and ocean from the home office windows. The primary suite on the second floor also provides views from every window.
A Modern Luxury Home
The suite has two bathrooms with modern designs, imported marble, and walk-in closets. The white marble bathroom connects to a stylish walk-in wardrobe with a cabinet island. It also has a jewelry display and a separate shoe closet.
Below the dune where Mar Pietra sits, there’s a modern underground space with contemporary luxuries. The home has an underground garage, called the auto lounge, with large crystal chandeliers and space for seven cars. When CNBC visited, it was filled with $5 million worth of rare Lamborghinis.
More Properties of Mar Pietra
The parking area leads to a lounge for people who enjoy looking at their cars. A curved glass wall separates the lounge from the garage. This glass offers a great view of the parked supercars. A steel vault on the side wall looks like art, with a working door and stacks of money inside.
On the lower level, there’s a tequila-only bar covered in quartzite. At night, lights in the stone can make it glow with a milky-white light. There’s also a high-tech theater with a huge electronic screen that covers the entire wall, and it’s one of the two cinemas in the home.
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