Another mansion went up for sale in South Florida and unlike those other run-of-the-mill castles, this one was owned by Presley Anhesuer, heir to the Anheuser-Busch company. Going price: $15 million.
Unlike that other mansion in Miami that was thought to be owned by the beer magnate (it wasn't), this one in Fort Lauderdale seems to be the bonafide real deal.
Called "Manga Reva", it was designed in 1939 by an architect of Cuban descent named Francis Abreu and was specifically built for Presley Anheuser.
Currently on its sixth owner, the home at 1000 Riviera Drive has not been owned by any member of the Anheuser family since the late 1960s.
For 15 million bones, this is what you get: a 12,533 square feet mansion with six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, four half baths, a two-bedroom guest home, an over-sized swimming pool, double-glazed hurricane impact windows, an underground bomb shelter (pre-WWII), a city gas generator and 525 feet of coastline.
Despite all of the hurricane modifications, the original integrity of the home has been kept.
The "single family" home also happens to be one of the half dozen largest water front properties in east Fort Lauderdale. It sits on 53,000 square feet of land, or about an acre and a quarter--rare for Fort Lauderdale.
The mansion has been on the market for about a year and is listed by Douglas Elliman, a Miami Beach real estate company.
They've had several offers including a cash offer from a Mexican hotel magnate, says Douglas Elliman real estate agent Timothy Elmes.
Unfortunately, the mansion does not have a brewery or any beer-related feaures, although anybody who buys this house should be able to drop a little extra coin on a home brewery.
"I suppose you could put a few barrels down in the bomb shelter in the kitchen and have a pretty nice English pub", said Elmes.
A few scenes from George Wells' 1960 film Where The Boys Are, a movie about four college students coming to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, where filmed here.
Douglas Elliman is involved in some pretty heavy condominium sales. Back in 1990 they sold a home on the number six Harborage Island to S. Robert Levine, co-founder of Cabletron Systems Inc., for $5.2 million, a record sale at the time. For the last 15 years they have been involved in every record-breaking condo sale in Fort Lauderdale.
Anybody who is interested in making an offer should contact Timothy Elmes at 954-300-9898.
