A couple who paid $16.7 million for a house in mid-December near the Palm Beach Marina has sold it at a loss for $16 million, according to the prices recorded with the two deeds.
The sale of the furnished house marks the sixth time the four-bedroom property at 449 Australian Ave. in Palm Beach has changed hands since it was built on speculation in 2017, Palm Beach County courthouse record show.
The property had been on the market barely a month before it changed hands April 10, according to an updated sales listing in the multiple listing service.
In the latest deal, investment managers Victor K. and Julia A. Tolkan sold the house to investor, businessman and avid car collector Chris Cox and his wife, Ann, who have ties to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, according to the deed recorded April 13 and other public records.
The sellers are said to be moving to a larger house, according to sources familiar with the deal. The latest Australian Avenue deed lists them with a mailing address at 210 El Brillo Way in Palm Beach’s Estate Section but property records do not indicate they own that house.
The Tolkans had bought the house they just sold on Australian Avenue from a company controlled by billionaire Winifred “Winnie” J. Marquart, a direct heir to the SC Johnson cleaning-products empire. The deed for that sale recorded Dec.16.
The traditional-style, house has 4,424 square feet of living space, inside and out. It stands on a Midtown lot of less than a fifth of an acre and is the second property west of South Lake Drive, about a mile south of Royal Palm Way.
In both of the most recent sales, the house was offered for sale completely furnished.
Among the home’s features are a formal living room with a coffered ceiling, a well-equipped kitchen and a second-floor master suite overlooking the swimming pool, records in the multiple listing service show. There’s also a loggia with a built-in grill.
The master suite includes a sitting area, dual bathrooms and a pair of closets. Other amenities include a wet bar, elevator, generator and a one-car garage.
Broker Dana Landry of Dana Edward Landry represented the Tolkans when they bought the house in December and again when they sold it. He listed the the house at $16.95 million.
Landry said he would not discuss the sale and also declined comment on his clients’ behalf.
The sellers co-founded and are managing partners at Washington D.C.-based Penzance Assets. The Tolkans’ company manages investment funds that are used, in part, to develop real estate projects across the Mid-Atlantic region, according to the firm’s website.
The Tolkans have owned other property in Palm Beach. In June 2025, they sold a vacant lot with town-approved house plans at 130 Seaspray Ave. for $9.25 million, courthouse records show.
Agent Patricia H. Mahaney of Sotheby’s International Realty acted on behalf of the Coxes in the transaction on Australian Avenue. She declined to discuss the transaction.
Chris Cox’s professional resume includes serving a president of a company named Prova, and he is also linked to its affiliates, Prova International and Prova Properties, public records and online sources show.
Among the Coxes’ pursuits, they show and race Ferraris. They made international headlines in 2012 when they were reportedly in a crash in which Chris Cox was driving the couple’s rare Ferrari 250 GTO — built in the early 1960s and said at the time to be one of the most expensive cars in the world — with his wife in the passenger seat. The accident occurred in France during a rally leading up to the Le Mans Classic. The Coxes recovered and then restored the car.
The house on Australian Avenue was originally developed on speculation by Palm Beach real estate investor Richard Cushing True of Cushing Investments LLC.
When the Tolkans bought it in December from the Marquart-linked entity, the sale closed a few months after Marquart used the same limited liability company to buy, for $30 million, a Palm Beach landmarked house at 217 Clarke Ave. Marquart is married to rock musician and music producer Michael “Mike” Marquart.
Agent Shelly Newman of the Corcoran Group represented both sides of the December sale on Australian Avenue. She also represented the buyer’s side in the Clarke Avenue sale, negotiating opposite agent J. Richard Allison, also of the Corcoran Group. The seller on Clarke Avenue was Deborah A. Robinson, who was married to the late retired businessman Edward J. Robinson.
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: Palm Beach house fetches $16M, following its $16.7M sale in December
Reporting by Darrell Hofheinz, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
