With plans to open a new studio nearby, interior designer Scott Snyder has parted with the 1926 building in Phipps Plaza that for nearly two decades served as his Palm Beach home and office.
The building at 209 Phipps Plaza sold for a recorded $7.975 million in off-market sale that was handled on both sides by broker Linda Olsson of Linda R. Olsson Inc., Realtor, she confirmed.
A Florida limited liability company named after the property’s address was the buyer, the deed recorded at the tail end of April shows. The company is managed by the 209 Phipps Plaza Nominee Trust, according to state business records. The deed lists the buyer’s address as a home in Hobe Sound owned by Francine C. Purcell through a trust in her name.
The building has 6,591 square feet of space, inside and out, and stands on the northwest corner of Phipps Plaza, one of the town’s designated historical districts, a block north of Royal Palm Way.
With living space on the second floor, the building was designed by noted architect Marion Sims Wyeth. The lot measures about a fifth of an acre.
Snyder’s ownership company, Phipps Plaza Partners LLC, paid $3 million for the property in 2003, records show. Snyder had admired the building since he first saw it in 1980, he wrote in an email to the Palm Beach Daily News. He noted that the building had been the longtime home and office of interior designer Polly Jessup.
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Thanks to the area’s mixed-use zoning, Snyder lived on the second floor, which includes three bedrooms, an expansive terrace and a dining room among its amenities.
Snyder used the ground floor as his studio, creating luxe rooms to showcase his design abilities and inspire his clients, he said.
“With our new era of digital communications, it has come to the crossroad of not needing the luxurious office space,” he said.
So Snyder is relocating his office — with an opening date of June 1 — to the landmarked Wells Fargo Building just across South County Road from Phipps Plaza, he said. He founded the firm, Scott Snyder Inc., in 1984.
Snyder has no plans to leave Palm Beach, he said.
“I’m happy to say that I’ll be vacationing in Palm Beach this summer while I ready a new Palm Beach residence,” Snyder said.
The plaza was developed in 1924 by John S. Phipps as a commercial-and-residential enclave, a distinction it still retains. Clustered around a central median, the enclave features buildings by a who’s who of first-generation architects, including Addison Mizner and Maurice Fatio.
“It has been idyllic having a landmarked home/office for 20 years in Phipps Plaza,” Snyder said. “It is such a rarity to find zoning that permits both uses.”
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Darrell Hofheinz writes about real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes news items about Palm Beach real estate for this column. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.