In less than nine months, a shell company associated with financier Scot French bought a lavish oceanfront mansion on Palm Beach’s ultra-exclusive South Ocean Boulevard for $64 million. French, based on the East Coast, quickly relisted the “Billionaires’ Row” property — asking $115 million for a few aesthetic updates, and now records show an unidentified buyer is under contract for the estate.
Just last year, the French paid $51 million for the Bermuda-style home that was developed by Palm Beach developer Clark Beaty on speculation. At first listed for $84 million in February 2021, the property was reduced to $74.8 million before selling to French at a significant discount. Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates holds the current listing.
Next door to a $73 million mansion owned by billionaire hedge funder and Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, the compound was designed by Roger Janssen of Dailey Janssen Architects and built by J5 Construction. On 1.14 acres, there are several structures, including a five-bedroom main house, a two-bedroom guesthouse, and a four-car garage – for a total of seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms in approximately 18,000 square feet.
The main house boasts Sara McCann-designed interiors punctuated by wood beam ceilings, walnut-clad floors, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The house offers a spacious dining, living and family room, an octagonal-shaped study, and an upstairs master retreat with a sitting room, fireplace, two balconies, two bathrooms, and walk-in closets.
Among the other amenities are an 800-square-foot gym, a movie theater, an entertainment room with a wet bar and a wine cellar with 4,000 bottles. Three kitchens are also available — one for family use, one for the chef, and one for the guesthouse — as well as picturesque grounds crowned by a sparkling pool and spa surrounded by two open-air loggias ideal for dining al fresco.
The 51-year-old managing director, governing partner and portfolio manager at HPS Investment Partners, a global investment firm with $75 billion in assets under management, still owns two Los Angeles-area homes. In July 2020, he bought a tennis court estate in Beverly Hills for $32.5 million; last September, he bought an oceanfront home in Encinal Bluffs in Malibu for $25.5 million.
