On the market in Palm Beach: This North End home was a relaxed retreat for Kahle family

Christine Davis
·4 min read

It’s a common real-estate scenario in a country where parents of adult children often live far apart: Grandparents decide to move so they can be closer to their grandchildren.

Longtime Houston snowbirds Kent and Cindy Kahle's story falls into that category. They’ve owned vacation homes in Palm Beach for years, visiting the island with the whole family for the Christmas and Easter holidays.

But things have changed as time has passed. Today, two of the Kahles’ three children — along with five of the couple’s eight grandchildren — head to the seaside town of Quogue on New York’s Long Island for summers.

So wanting to be closer to their family and away from Houston’s summer heat, the Kahles have rethought their vacation plans.

As a result, their 1950s-era home on the North End at 230 Plantation Road is for sale at $9.25 million. Corcoran Group agent Beth Cole is marketing the five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath home, which has 3,166 square feet of living space, inside and out.

French doors in the living room provide access to a patio area by the pool.
French doors in the living room provide access to a patio area by the pool.

Kahle family has longtime ties to Palm Beach

Before the Kahles bought the house in 2014, they owned a smaller North End home on Via Linda. But Kent Kahle’s ties to Palm Beach go back years.  Both sets of his grandparents had places in Palm Beach, he explains.

“My parents actually met in Palm Beach at The Breakers” resort, he says.

By the time Kent was a youngster, his parents had moved to Palm Beach into a lakefront house converted from a historic and deconsecrated church building that was originally an early home of the Bethesda-By-The-Sea congregation.

“We rented the old church on Lake Trail from Paul Maddock, so from (age) 9 until I left for boarding school at 15, I went to Palm Beach Day School,” today known as Palm Beach Day Academy.

“Then, my parents moved back to Connecticut, but I had friends in Palm Beach, so I’d still come down to visit.”

His parents eventually retired to Florida, and his brother lives in West Palm Beach. So Kent and his own family continued visiting for vacations, before finally buying their home on Via Linda in 2007.

“Then someone knocked on our door and asked if we wanted to sell. So I found the place on Plantation and bought it. I loved it because of the Bahamian(-style) architecture, and the floorplan was terrific and bigger — my family was growing.

“It was the best investment I ever made.”

The one-story house at 230 Plantation Road was built in 1951 but has since been remodeled.
The one-story house at 230 Plantation Road was built in 1951 but has since been remodeled.

ON THE MARKET IN PALM BEACH: Lakeside house lists at $59.5 million. What makes it so rare in Palm Beach?

Standing on a lot of about a quarter acre, the house is on the south side of Plantation Road, a few houses west of the ocean.

The foyer and living room are central to the layout. In the west wing are the kitchen, dining room and family room, as well as three guest bedrooms and attached one-car garage. The main bedroom suite and another guest bedroom suite are in the east wing.

The living room has a bank of French doors that open to the loggia, patio and pool area, while the main bedroom and the family room access the pool patio.

French doors and windows overlook the backyard patio and kidney-shaped pool.
French doors and windows overlook the backyard patio and kidney-shaped pool.

Details in Palm Beach home include bay window in the living room

Floors in the more formal rooms and bedrooms are covered in hardwood. Details in the living room include a fireplace, built-in cabinetry for display and storage, and a bay window overlooking the front yard.

The center-island-style kitchen has white cabinetry, complementing the counters and the backsplashes made of granite. The appliances are finished in stainless steel.

The family room features a bay window with a window seat, tile flooring and built-in cabinetry to house media, books and display items. The layout also includes a powder room and, in the one-car garage, a laundry area.

Seating in the poolside family room includes a window seat at the far end.
Seating in the poolside family room includes a window seat at the far end.

The house already had been updated when they bought it, Kent notes, but the couple made some changes over the years. They put on a new roof, re-stuccoed the exterior and changed the windows and doors to versions fitted with impact glass. Inside, they installed a new bathroom and repurposed the den into a bedroom. They also updated the appliances and original bathrooms.

BILLIONAIRES IN PALM BEACH: Trump didn't make cut for new Forbes 400, but more than 30 other Palm Beach billionaires did

Although the Kahles are moving, they are not saying goodbye to the island.

“My brother is here and we have friends here. Our kids grew up coming to Palm Beach for the holidays, and they have lots of friends here,” Kent says.

“Palm Beach is one of the most welcoming places in the country for new people coming in. We’ll continue to come (visit) and probably buy another place at some point.”

He adds: “From an investment perspective. there’s only one Palm Beach, and that will stay the course, certainly, for the foreseeable future.”

*

To see more photos of 230 Plantation Road, click on the photo gallery at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Florida real estate: Laid-back Palm Beach house lists at $9.25 million