An updated 1980s-era house in Midtown Palm Beach has sold a recorded $21 million, or $5.5 million more than it fetched when it changed hands fewer than three years ago.
In October 2023, the house at 309 Chapel Hill Road sold for $15.5 million.
The four-bedroom residence stands on one of the highest points in Midtown.
A pair of Texas-based revocable trusts named after Chapel Hill Road were on the sellers’ side of the transaction that just closed. The deed recorded May 5 lists Ryan Wilson as the trustee of both trusts, which have a mailing address in Colleyville, a suburb of Fort Worth.
Because of strict rules governing trusts, no other information about the sellers’ end of the deal was immediately available in public records.
The buyer was a Michigan-registered limited liability company named after the Chapel Hill address. Michigan business records link Bloomfield Hills-based attorney Edward C. Dawda to the entity that bought the property. The Dawda law firm’s website lists real estate as one of his specialties.
Dawda and Wilson could not be reached for comment.
Built in 1981, the house on Chapel Hill Road has 5,050 square feet of living space, inside and out. Its lot measures about a third of an acre.
The property is on a tucked-away cul-de-sac bordered on the north by the Royal Poinciana Chapel. The short lake-block street traverses a hill that rises sharply from Cocoanut Row as it leads to the waterfront.
Higher elevations have become key selling points over the past several years in Palm Beach amid stiffer federal flood-plain regulations and buyers’ concerns about the possibility of flooding in an era of climate change and rising seas.
Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate handled both sides of the transaction. He had listed the house for sale in late January, and its $23.9 million asking price held steady until the property sold, the multiple listing service shows. The house landed under contract at the beginning of April, and the sale closed May 1, according to the MLS.
Angle could not be reached for comment.
The house was built by the late developer Robert Gottfried in his signature “Gottfried Regency” style, according to previous reporting by the Palm Beach Daily News. The exterior architecture features a blend of classical elements with a symmetrical façade, pilasters and ball finials at the roofline.
The layout features an open-air courtyard with an awning-covered patio on one side of the main living area. On the other side is an enclosed loggia facing the pool.
Ceilings in most of the rooms rise 12 feet, and floors are finished in marble, hardwood and tile. Abundant windows and glass doors bring natural light into the interior, which features generously proportioned rooms.
The living room has a marble fireplace, according to Angle’s sales listing, which says the “elegant media room” could be turned into a fifth bedroom. The listing also mentions the “beautifully remodeled kitchen” with a work island.
Angle was already familiar with the house when he listed it for sale. He had represented Wilson and the two trusts when they bought the property in 2023, negotiating opposite broker Linda Olsson of Linda R. Olsson in that sale.
The seller in 2023 was retired PepsiCo executive Robert G. Dettmer, who had shared the house with his late wife, Patricia, a former stock portfolio analyst and bond trader.
Chapel Hill Road is home to three houses and three vacant lots. One of those properties, a lakeside estate at 315 Chapel Hill Road, sold for a recorded $49.6 million in May 2025 in a deal brokered by Angle. The residential buildings on that property were razed to make way for a custom home now under construction.
Across the street from the house that just changed hands at 309 Chapel Hill Road are two vacant lots, both under contract, the MLS shows. The lots were part of a historic estate known as Rabbit Hill. The easternmost lot was for many years home to a recently demolished house that shared Rabbit Hill’s name and was built n 1891. Agents Liza Pulitzer and Whitney McGurk hold the listings for the Rabbit Hill lots.
This is a developing story. Check back for any updates.
Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: House with high elevation fetches $21 million in Midtown Palm Beach
Reporting by Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
