An 11,500-square-foot home built for a cartoon queen on Amelia Island, Florida, has gone on the market for $11.75 million, making it the most expensive residential listing in the area.
Located on the island just south of the Georgian border on the Atlantic Ocean, the residence could top the previous highest sale by more than $3 million if it closes near asking price, records show. of the Multiple Listing Service. It would also be the highest sale in Nassau County, Florida.
Inspired by Italian design, the nine-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom home was built in 2005 for Kathleen Andrews, according to Joe Cutajar of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty. He and Kim Richardson, also of Sotheby’s, listed the property in late January.
Andrews was instrumental in the development of what is now Andrews McMeel Publishing, and helped champion cartoon characters such as Cathy, Ziggy and Mike Doonesburyaccording to his obituary in the New York Times.
In fact, the comic book’s eponymous character “Cathy” was finally given the full name Cathy Andrews in honor of “the woman whose kitchen table blessing from my doodles started my strip,” said the comic book creator Cathy Guisewite to The New York Times. Andrews died in April at the age of 84.
Andrews had the Amelia Island home built as an oceanside retreat for his children and grandchildren, Mr Cutajar said.
The office ceiling features a hand-painted map.
East Coast Virtual Tours / ONE Sotheby’s International Realty
The main level contains the formal living areas, including a great room with floor-to-ceiling windows and the kitchen overlooking the water and is “where everyone gathered for meals, to play games, or to watch sporting events,” he said.
On the third floor, there are two bedrooms, designed for her sons, as well as four additional bedrooms for their children, the agent added. On the fourth floor there are two more suites, connected by a living room and with a staircase that the children could use to go up to visit their grandmother. Each of the suites has a dressing room and an ocean view.
A spiral staircase, anchored by a compass of turtles engraved on the floor, rises in the center of the house, leading to a crow’s nest on the upper level. This space offers 360-degree views of the water and surroundings, as well as a bar and a chandelier made from a captain’s wheel, according to the listing.
Other amenities include a Tuscan-style kitchen, wine cellar, study with a hand-drawn world map on the ceiling, a bedroom with bunk beds, a double infinity pool, terraces on all levels, a garage for four cars and a garage for golf carts.
The home is in the “heart” of the Amelia Island Plantation gated community and within walking distance of its 30,000-square-foot clubhouse, Cutajar said.