The coronavirus pandemic’s effect on Palm Beach real estate hit home with Judith and Achille Guest, who made a decision to sell their condominium at 345 Australian Ave. after the emergence of COVID-19.
“During COVID, our children brought their friends here from school, and we found that we really wanted more room and outdoor space,” Judith says.
As those plans were finalized, they bought a North End home on Sandpiper Drive, and listed their three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath condo in Midtown with agents Liza Pulitzer and Whitney McGurk of Brown Harris Stevens, who priced it at $4.4 million. The unit — with 3,447 square feet of living space inside and out — landed under contract last week.
“We loved being right in town,” Judith says, “and I love the space and high ceilings. I liked the urban feel of the courtyard and that our kids could get up in the mornings and play golf and walk everywhere.”
With ties to Virginia, the Guests are part of a family that has deep roots in Palm Beach. Achille Guest’s late father, horse-breeder Raymond Guest, was a former ambassador to Ireland, championship polo player and the grandson of Henry Phipps.
The condo on Australian Avenue was already in good condition when the Guests bought it in 2013.
“The previous owners, Sissy and Byron Thomas, had renovated it, with decorating help from (Palm Beach-based decorator) Leta Austin Foster. I just made some aesthetic changes.
“The kitchen and bathrooms were already done. I did the painting and wallpaper and the more decorative things. Also, I switched the upstairs sitting room into another bedroom.”
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The apartment is part of Casas de Carlos, an 11-unit development built around courtyards on the northeast corner of Cocoanut Row. Facing south and overlooking the center courtyard, the Guests’ condo has three levels. Above the garage are the mezzanine and second floor.
Visitors enter the property through an iron gate set into an archway, which opens to the courtyard. The Guests’ condo is in the northeast corner.
Walking up a few stairs, one enters the Guests’ entry area and outdoor dining terrace.
Once inside the foyer and stair hall, the living room, with 14-foot ceilings, is just to the west. A decorative fireplace is on one wall, and two sets of French windows, topped with fanlights, look out to the dining terrace and fill the room with light.
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A raised gallery borders the living room on the north side and culminates at the dining room, which is on the mezzanine level and opens to the living room. Also on this level are the kitchen, and the library, which was designed to double as a bedroom suite with a closet and full bathroom. Details here include a bay window and walls covered in pecky-cypress paneling.
Accessed via the stairs or the elevator, the second floor layout puts the master suite west of the stair hall, with a guest bedroom suite and flex bedroom on the east side. The master bedroom is detailed with a chair railing, picture moldings, a decorative fireplace and two sets of French doors that open to a courtyard-view balcony. The ensuite bathroom is finished in Calacatta Gold marble and has Waterworks plumbing fixtures, double vanities, a shower and a soaking tub.
Features throughout the apartment include plantation shutters at the windows, and glazed terra-cotta and hardwood floors. The kitchen, meanwhile, is fitted with professional grade appliances, soapstone counter tops and a backsplash covered in Portuguese tiles.
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The Guests’ condo is one of six units at Casas de Carlos with a driveway to the garage area, where the couple has a private two-car garage along with off-street parking for a third car.
The couple, Judith says, enjoyed having nearby access to dining and shopping, as the building is two blocks from Worth Avenue. The condo also has worked well for entertaining, she adds.
“It has an enormous living room, where we have had cocktail parties for 50 to 60 people.
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