When Texas residents Pat and Charles McEvoy of Highland Park were looking for a second home in 2021, they weren’t sure in which direction they would head, east or west?
“It was during COVID, and we were looking for another place to go near the ocean,” Pat McEvoy explains. “I was looking at the Santa Barbara (and) Montecito area in California, and Charles just said, ‘I’m not moving to California for a second home. I’m not going to pay those taxes.’
“We’d been to Palm Beach before on short holidays and we had a couple of friends who had condos there, so we decided that’s where we’d like to be.”
Her search for California homes had been Internet based, she says, but changing gears with Palm Beach in mind made it easier to travel to Florida and search in person.
“We stayed at The Breakers a couple of times to look around, and came across the apartment,” she says about the third-floor condominium the couple eventually bought at Bellaria on the South End.
“I just kind of fell in love with it — the building, the space, everything. So we made an offer and bought it,” Pat says.
Today, though, as golfers who play daily, they have decided to move closer to The Breakers to use the Midtown resort’s golf course. And as such, they’ve listed their apartment at Bellaria, No. 308 at 3000 S. Ocean Blvd., for sale. The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath condo — with 3,927 square feet of living space, inside and on the balcony — is represented by Corcoran Group agent Beth Cole and priced at $6.5 million.
The elevator opens directly to the apartment’s private elevator foyer, where double doors lead to the living room, adjoined by the kitchen and breakfast room — all accessing the ocean-view veranda.
A detail in the living area is a working gas fireplace, flanked by built-in shelving for display. The island kitchen features high-end stainless-steel appliances, walnut cabinetry and granite counters and backsplashes.
Off the living room is the dining room as well as a hallway to the guest-bedroom suites, which offer treetop views to the south. In contrast, the main bedroom suite opens to a balcony that offers views of the Intracoastal Waterway.
“We get to see those beautiful orange and red and gold sunsets,” Pat says.
The main suite includes two custom-fitted closets and a marble-appointed bathroom with two sinks, a soaking tub and a walk-in multi-head shower.
Completing the floor plan are a powder room and laundry room. The apartment will be sold with two garage parking spaces adjacent to the elevator.
Throught the apartment, the sliding doors feature impact-resistant glass. Floors are covered in marble in the main areas and carpeted in the bedrooms.
Although the condo was in pristine condition when the McEvoys bought it, they made “thoughtfully curated enhancements,” Pat says.
“We added quartz and marble countertops in the bathrooms, and designer wall coverings (including) a lot of Holly Hunt wallpapers. And then we added some new lighting in the bathrooms and (a Louis) Poulsen Artichoke lighting (fixture) in the dining room.
With a Palm Beach address, Bellaria was completed in 2008 immediately south of the Lake Worth public beach, pier and casino complex. Both of Bellaria’s buildings have five residential floors and 18 units. The development was designed by the late Palm Beach architect Gene Lawrence for Gordon Deckelbaum and Mike Kempner of Premier Developers.
The development’s amenities include direct beach access, a gym, a billiards room, a media room and a party space.
While it will be a plus to be closer to The Breakers’ golf course, the apartment at Bellaria will be missed, Pat says.
“Oh, I’m going to miss that sunrise,” Pat says. “I get up early in the morning, make a cup of coffee and I take photos of the sunrise. It’s just so spectacular. I probably have 200 photos that all look the same, but I’m going to miss that.”
Charles, meanwhile, has become partial to the restaurant on the Lake Worth Beach Pier. “My husband’s going to miss Benny’s on the Beach. He loves that place,” Pat says.
“And we have two small (Havanese) dogs, Sunny and Coco. We walk them along the Intracoastal where there’s a pathway that’s perfect for that.”
They’ve also grown accustomed to the services offered at Bellaria.
“The building is fabulous. The service is great and the staff is amazing, and it’s very, very quiet,” Pat says.
“We’ve just had so many good times there with friends and family visiting. It’s right on the beach, with that private gate to take you straight to the beach. And there are several good restaurants near us, Nobu, and the restaurant at The Four Seasons (Resort Palm Beach). It’s just easy and has been fun.”
To see more photos of No. 308 at 3000 S. Ocean Blvd., click on the photo gallery near the top of this page.
For more than 20 years, Christine Davis has written about Palm Beach real estate in the “On the Market” feature in the Palm Beach Daily News.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Condo at Palm Beach’s Bellaria with sea, lake views listed for $6.5M
Reporting by Christine Davis, Special to Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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