The El Cid neighborhood is located south of downtown West Palm Beach along Lake Worth. I have driven through this area a number of times and am quite impressed with it. Although it was homesteaded back in 1876 in order to grow pineapples, its true growth began in the 1920s during the Florida land boom and featured large homes in the Mediterranean Revival and Mission styles. The neighborhood is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Most of the houses look like the one in the photograph on the right, and driving down many of the streets is like driving through a tropical jungle. A very nice neighborhood, but a bit on the pricey side. I checked on Redfin and most of the homes for sale there range in price from $1.7 to $9.7 million, although I did see one selling for $25 million if you happen to be looking for something a bit more upscale.
I myself am not interested in buying a house there, especially at those prices, but what got me interested in the real estate there was seeing the house on the left, which is currently being renovated. It looks like an interesting place, and when I checked on the internet, it was described as an historic home built in 1910. I also looked at the National Register of Historic Places' list of homes in El Cid eligible for historic designation, and there the place was listed as being built in 1926, which makes a lot more sense, since according to the historical plaque along the waterfront, it wasn't until the 1920s that they began building Mediterranean Revival homes in the area. In any case, what interests me most is that it was sold for $2.125 million in 2022 and is available for sale after renovation for $9.75 million. Now THAT is quite a markup. If it was me, I would have preferred to buy it for the 2.125 million and just hire Molly Maids to give it a good cleaning. And then move in. I wonder if I would have been able to get all the furniture to fit in?
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