America’s favorites handyman and Home Improvement star Bob Vila, 77, has listed his Florida waterfront mansion for $59.2million as he and his wife have planned to downsize.
The 0.84-acre property is located on Everglades Island, just off of West Palm Beach and measures at 6,300 square feet with seven bedrooms.
The home also includes approximately 175ft of water amenities including a pool, hot tub and private dock.
Vila and his wife Diana Barrett, a former Harvard University Professor, purchased the home from her late mother for $6.1million after Barrett’s parents purchased it in 1975 for $375,000.
Bob Vila has listed his 1949 waterfront Florida mansion (pictured) for $59.2million
Bob Vila (pictured) is known for helping others renovate their homes and for hosting TV shows like This Old House, Bob Vila’s Home Again, and has cameoed on Tim Allen’s Home Improvement
The mansion’s backyard pool (pictured) is surrounded by palm trees and looks out to the Lake Worth
Chris Vila, the listing agent and couple’s son, told The Wall Street Journal that the house was originally built around 1949 and has a formal H-shape floor plan.
Vila and Barrett started to make small renovations in 2005 when they hired a general contractor and landscaper to keep the home ‘feeling very old Florida’.
They started by putting in a new electrical system, a new roof and windows. With each renovation, the couple tried to avoid altering the authentic design of the property.
On the east side of the home there is a loggia, a covered exterior corridor, that sits on black and white marble flooring that trails out to the pool terrace.
The couple then went on to add a guest wing as they connected the detached cabana to the main residence.
The kitchen has also been remodeled with a massive center island and a large stove top with a range hood. It also flows seamlessly into the large family room and dining room.
The living room is fitted with large glass pocket doors that see out to the pool, private doc and Lake Worth.
One of the bedrooms has been decorated with red details, white walls, and an extensive amount of natural sunlight that beams through white venetian blinds.
Vila and Barrett renovated the kitchen (pictured) which is complete with a large island and stove top with a range hood
One of the seven bedrooms (pictured) is completed with small red accents, white walls and an extensive amount of natural sunlight that beams through white venetian blinds
The room right off of the pool (pictured) is scaled with black and white marble tiled floors and large glass pocket windows
Barrett said that even though the house looks like a ‘modest brick house’ from the outside, she loves that visitors then get to experience the immaculate water views once they enter.
Besides home improvements, the exterior showcases Vila’s knack for gardening as he said that the grounds on the property are mixed with tropical plants, an orchid garden and native plants.
Vila also revealed that the grounds are full of royal palm trees that date back to the 1950s, along with Ylang Ylang trees.
Vila has built his brand on helping others upgrade their homes in shows like This Old House, Bob Vila’s Home Again and even visited the set of Tim Allen’s 1990s sitcom Home Improvement.
Both Allen and Vila went on to face off in a trivia contest and other races and Allen appeared in a cameo in Bob Vila’s Home Again.
Though Vila is no stranger to home improvements, he said that the small upgrades in his Florida mansion have shaped the home but have also become a lot to handle for him alone.
‘It’s an older house, so there’s always something,’ Vila told The Wall Street Journal.
Vila (left) was known for his appearances on Tm Allen’s (right) hit 1990s sitcom Home Improvement
Besides the waterfront views, Vila has also found a knack for gardening as the house is mixed with tropical plants, an orchid garden and native plants
Vila’s wife Diana Barrett (left) said that the idea behind the home was to keep it ‘feeling very old Florida’
The pool comes equipped with a pool, hot tub (pictured) and a private doc
He and his wife have set their sights on downsizing to a small home in Palm Beach as two of their children live nearby and their third resides in California.
Barrett said that the couple had a ’15-minute-flirtation’ with the idea of moving to a new apartment building in West Palm Beach but were soon turned off once they realized that the glass walls wouldn’t be able to hold their artwork.
Another reason that the couple has decided to put their beloved Florida home up for sale is because of the booming housing market.
Redfin reported that the median sale price of a Palm Beach home in September 2023 was $1.65million and that houses in the area sell after 172 days of being listed.
