Late Bob Eigelberger helped envision the Palm Beach neighborhood that became Phipps Estate
The July 26 death of longtime resident Robert “Bob” Eigelberger, 79, who was known for his colorful and gregarious personality, reminded many Palm Beach real estate observers about the origin of Phipps Estate. The luxury-home development on the near North End stretches between North County Road and North Lake Way.
By the early 1990s, Eigelberger had already achieved recognition in town as a developer and preservationist on the North End for successfully converting two 1920s-era mansions — Warden House and Bienestar — into condominiums, keeping their exteriors largely intact while sensitively reworking the interiors into multiple residences.
In 1988, the projects were honored with the inaugural Robert I. Ballinger Award for excellence in restoration and renovation from the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.
A few years later, Eigelberger had his eye on a different project, envisioning luxury estate homes on the 22-acre property that his artist wife, Susie Phipps Cochran, owned just north of Wells Road. The land was once part of the vast Palm Beach real estate holdings of the Phipps family, which was known for a fortune that stemmed from steel, land and horse breeding.
Eigelberger worked closely with developer Dan E. Swanson on the initial subdivision plans. Swanson and his wife, Karen, ended up buying 13 acres through their Addison Development Corp. With the blessing of the Town Council, the Swansons finalized the subdivision, which became Palm Beach’s first planned unit development and was named, appropriately, Phipps Estate.
The Swansons ran two residential streets — Via Tortuga and Via Las Brisas — on either side of a 6-acre tract that Cochran and Eigelberger reserved for themselves. The couple built their home there and gave it the whimsical name Casa Phippsberger. Eigelberger transformed its grounds into a lush tropical landscape.
Casa Phippsberger and its gardens occupy 14 individual lots. There are 18 other lots in the subdivision, the vast majority of which have houses in the Mediterranean style.
Addison Development built and sold many of the residences in Phipps Estate. Originally marketed at between $3.5 million and $5 million, homes in the enclave today have sold over the past three years for triple those amounts.
The Swansons for about 20 years owned a house on one of the lots, which they finally parted with for $9.4 million in 2020 — the last of the original subdivided properties to be sold. Malasky Homes is finishing up a house developed on speculation on that property at 205 Via Tortuga, which should be listed by the end of the year, confirmed agent Jim McCann of Premier Estate Properties.
BIG SALE IN PHIPPS ESTATE: Palm Beach’s Phipps Estate enclave sees $23M sale
The most expensive property ever to be resold in the neighborhood was also the largest — a 1990s mansion on a double lot measuring about an acre at 228 Via Las Brisas, which fetched about $23 million in 2021. The buyer was a company affiliated with Swansons’ Addison Development, which demolished the house, split the lot in two and sold one half for $18.224 million in 2022.
Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate today has that same vacant lot at No. 228 on the market for $21.9 million. It’s owned through a trust, property records show.
Addison Development, meanwhile, is building a house on speculation on the lot next door at 230 Via Las Brisas, which McCann said will be listed at some point when it is closer to completion.
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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: Successful Palm Beach residential enclave owes origin in part to him
