Fox News' Bret Baier asking $16.5M for Palm Beach home he bought for $12M in 2022

Fox News host Bret Baier is hoping to sign off — by closing a sale — on the Palm Beach house he bought last year from a company linked to fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.

And the $16.495 million Baier and his wife, Amy, are asking for the three-bedroom house at 244 Fairview Road is a noticeable step up from the $12 million they paid for it.

The strong market for newer homes in Palm Beach is a justification for the price hike, real estate observers say.

Hilfiger and his wife, handbag designer Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger, had used a company named Villa Deniz LLC to buy the house for a recorded $9 million in March 2021 when it was brand new. The Hilfigers own two other homes in Palm Beach.

The Baiers’ house on Fairview Road has 4,970 square feet of living space, inside and out, with Bermuda-style architecture, records show. It stands on a lot of about a quarter-acre on a road bordering the south end of the Palm Beach Country Club in the North End of town.

Bret Baier hosts Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” and is Fox News’ chief political anchor. Before that, he was the network’s chief White House correspondent and Pentagon correspondent.

Broker Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate handled both sides of the private sale last year. He also holds the Baiers’ listing, which was apparently first reported by Realtor.com.

The Baiers couldn’t be reached for comment, and Angle declined to discuss the listing or his clients.

Another Hilfiger Palm Beach deal: Tommy Hilfiger flips Palm Beach house for $41.38M. How much did he make on the sale?

The two-story house has “perfectly scaled rooms, high ceilings, and stunning hardwood and marble flooring,” according to the sales listing. “South facing French doors allow for natural, sun-filled interiors.”

The formal living room has a fireplace, while the kitchen opens to the dining area and family room crowned with beamed ceilings.

Upstairs are the primary suite and what Angle’s listing described as a “loft/family/bonus room.”

Outdoor amenities include a built-in grille and a covered loggia facing the pool.

The house was developed on speculation by John Flynn Jr. of Palm Beach Gardens, whose family has built, bought and sold more than a dozen homes in Palm Beach.

In the 2021 sale, the listing agents were Toni Hollis and Gloria Moré of Waterfront Properties and Club Communities.

Angle, meanwhile, is marketing for $37.9 million a lakeside Palm Beach house remodeled by the Hilfigers at 313 Dunbar Road, also on the North End.

Another Fox-linked Palm Beach deal: Fox’s Sean Hannity buys townhouse about 3 miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago on Palm Beach

Earlier this month, Tommy Hilfiger flipped — for $41.38 million — a historic Palm Beach house one of his companies had bought few months ago for just under $37 million at 930 S. Ocean Blvd. Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens handled Hilfiger’s interests and acted for the buyer, a trust, in the deal on South Ocean Boulevard.

Prices for houses in in premium condition have escalated dramatically in Palm Beach since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus health crisis a pandemic in March 2020.

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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: Fox's Bret Baier lists Palm Beach home for millions over 2022 sale