The hits keep coming this summer for real estate in St. Johns County. Since the beginning of June, at least five homes have sold for $10 million or higher, including the 12-acre estate of a Winn-Dixie heir and an expansive beachfront property sold to benefit brain cancer research.
Topping them all, however, is the five-bedroom, 7.5-bath home at 1039 Ponte Vedra Blvd. that sold July 24 for $22.2 million and a new area price record. Owned by “The Profit” star and entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis, the 8,720-square-foot home edged out the previous record set by another Ponte Vedra beachfront home sold for $22 million in January 2024.
As first reported by the St. Johns Citizen, the buyers hail from Virginia and were represented by Laura Bishop and Kim Bright of Ponte Vedra Realty. Lemonis was represented by Clare Berry of Berry & Co. Real Estate, a specialist in beachfront homes for more than 40 years.
Originally built in 1996, the home has undergone extensive renovations with every successive owner, each of whom was represented by Berry.
In a story for the Jacksonville Daily Record, Berry admitted she was “overwhelmed” when she saw the latest round of changes to the house. Most of the updates were overseen by Roberta “Bobbi” Lemonis, a power player herself in the fashion industry.
Commenting on the use of wallcoverings in the home, Berry estimated there to be around 30 different wallpaper and tile patterns used.
“That might conjure up the image of busy or unpleasant, but it doesn’t present that way,” Berry said in an interview with the Times-Union. “The textures in this house are amazing, but subtle; nothing screams at you.”
Berry later added that every time she visited the home, she noticed something different.
“Color, patterns, the bathrooms … everything is just extraordinary, Berry said. “It all weaves together so beautifully.”
As an example, she pointed out the living room fireplace, with its floor-to-ceiling contoured tiles meant to emulate the waves and the ocean setting.
Other features cited by Berry as “equally cool” are the exterior spaces. The 2.07-acre parcel ― situated 29 feet above the water on a natural dune — offers 200 feet of beach frontage to view the Atlantic Ocean.
There’s a lap pool with spa surrounded by an expansive stone terrace that extends the length of the home. In addition, the outdoor dining area, with seating for 10, includes two gas grills and a louvered roof that can be opened to the sun or closed for shade.
There are also multiple firepits. Reportedly beloved by Marcus Lemonis, they are strategically placed both on the ocean side and at the front of the home facing Ponte Vedra Boulevard.
“He loved his firepits,” said Rick Morales of Morales Construction Co., which handled the renovations. “You always knew they were in town when you saw them lit.”
Morales, who served as president of the Northeast Florida Builders Association in 2015, called the reconstruction of the home “tremendous” and noted that the project took roughly 18 months.
“That was a really big house, and we moved everything. It was a complete gut on the first floor and we renovated about half of the second floor,” Morales said. “Bobbi and Marcus were their own interior designers, and they were wonderful to work with; we had a lot of fun with them.”
Additional highlights include two primary suites with spa-like bathrooms and dressing rooms, two three-car garages (one on each end of the home), a whole-house generator and oceanfront balconies.
Lemonis is perhaps best known for his work on “The Profit,” which ran from 2013 to 2021 where he helped struggling small businesses. One such business is downtown confectionery Sweet Pete’s, named Best Candy Store in Florida by Southern Living in 2024. Additionally, Lemonis is chairman and CEO of Camping World, while also serving as executive chairman of Beyond Inc. (the parent company of Bed Bath & Beyond).
According to St. Johns County property records, Lemonis purchased the home through an LLC in 2018 for $6.05 million. It was transferred in February to a trust connected to his wife, and after being listed in May for $23.5 million, the home went under contract in less than two weeks.
A member of the Times-Union team since 2011, Anne Hammock has worked as a writer and editor for more than 35 years, currently focusing on real estate features and managing the Opinion section. She can be reached at ahammock@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: ‘The Profit’ star’s Ponte Vedra Beach home sold for record $22.2M
Reporting by Anne Hammock, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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By Anne Hammock, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
