America’s home improvement guru is downsizing.
Just one month after putting his Palm Beach spread on the market for an eye-popping $53 million, DIY deity Bob Vila bought a more manageable $12.5 million property in the enclave last week, records show.
The 77-year-old former host of “This Old House” nabbed the 4,300 square foot Georgian Revival residence with 5 bedrooms and 3 and a half baths for $2.5 million under its original $15 million asking price.
The property had been listed since September, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
Vila’s acquisition comes after he and his wife, former Harvard professor Diana Barrett, put their longtime Palm Beach residence on the market — a 7-bedroom waterfront property the couple renovated in 2006.
Listed by Vila’s son, Chris, the home on Everglades Island features a private dock and 175 coveted feet of water frontage.
Built in 1949, the compound originally belonged to Barrett’s parents, who bought it for just $375,000 in 1975, according to Mansion Global.
Barrett and Vila later purchased it from her mother’s estate for $6.1 million.
Vila’s newest acquisition was designed by noted Palm Beach architect John Volk and built in 1940.
The area has seen stratospheric appreciation in recent years, with the global elite stampeding into Palm Beach and signing record-breaking contracts.
Speaking to Mansion Global, Vila said that even he found it difficult to maintain upkeep on his former home.
“In terms of doing little home improvements around here, that’s always part of the deal,” he told the outlet last month. “It’s an older house, so there’s always something.
“You get to a point in life where you want to simplify things,” he said.
A former spokesman for Craftsman at the height of his notoriety, the Cuban-American was born and raised in Miami.
