Landmark Historic Mansion Sale - Mercer Island East Channel 2012

This landmark historic mansion sold for $5.3 million in December 2012. It was listed for $8.0 million in 2011, taken off the market later in the year and relisted in 2012 for $6.8 million. From the listing by Bob Bennion and Mary Snyder, Windermere “Recently refurbished estate property on 2.96 acres with lovely grounds, 175ft no-bank waterfront, and lake and mountain views. Stately 1934 Colonial designed by Edwin Ivey offers gracious interiors with exquisite millwork and hardwood floors. Entry with curved staircase; library; study; granite kitchen; paneled family room; officesuite; 5 bdr and 7+ bth, including gorgeous master suite & waterfront guesthouse; 3 fireplaces. Sweeping lawns, mature plantings; dock; 4-car garage.” The sellers were David R. and April Humphrey, the founders of Seattle based ILD Global. The buyers were Tso Ling and Shiang Wen Su. Tso Ling Su is the owner of Bellevue based Su Development, an apartment building developer.

This 7,400 sq ft mansion was built in 1934 in Seattle’s Madison Park on William Garrard Reed’s early 1900s waterfront estate (The Reed Estate). This Reed was the son of the 1^st Reed, Mark Edward, to run Simpson Investment. Simpson Investment is one of the largest property owners and family owned companies in the state. The Madison Park estate, a multi-mansion family compound, was that era’s version of the current Gates and Allen compounds. The estate is now a gated community of nine homes including Howard Schultz’s mansion (11/3/11 Seattle Mansions post). One of the original mansions (page 22 of LW 130 Homes), that is architecturally similar to this MI mansion, remains. It is occupied by William Garrard’s great nephew, Colin Moseley. Colin is now Chairman (fourth generation of family leadership) of Simpson Investment. When the Reed Estate was subdivided in the 1940s one of the mansions was cut into three pieces and barged to this Mercer Island location.

The sellers of the estate, David R. and April Humphrey, co-founded ILD Global in 1995. David, a retired Medical Doctor, is President and CEO and April is VP. The company is a business development and consulting enterprise and conducts frequent conferences, conventions and business development seminars locally, regionally and nationally for business owners. April is President of Women of Washington (WOW).

This is the former home of John J. and Emma Bonica. John, who died of a stroke at the age of 77 in 1994, was a world-renowned anesthesiologist and UW professor. He helped pioneer anesthesiology as a specialized field of medicine, was founder and chairman of UW’s Department of Anesthesiology and published numerous articles and books on the subject. Dr. Bonica was born in Italy. He came to New York City with his family when he was 11. His father died four years later and he became the major breadwinner for the family. He competed in wrestling while in high school and won both the New York City and state championships. Later he worked his way through college and medical school by wrestling professionally under the pseudonym “Johnny (Bull) Walker”, was the “Light Heavyweight Wrestling Champion of the World” and is in The Wrestling Hall of Fame. He continued to wrestle while in the army but concealed his military identity by becoming, in the ring, the “Masked Marvel.”

Ellison (Value Village) from Stroum-Glazer

Sold 2012 $21.6 Million “Harmony” - Under Renovation

This landmark compound, “Harmony,” sold in 2012 for $21.6 million. This was the most expensive LW Map of the Stars® waterfront sale in 2012. It was listed at $26.9 million by Tere and David Foster, Windermere. From the listing: “Resting gently on 2.93 acres, Harmony commands an extraordinary 324 feet of Lake Washington waterfront and sets its vista on the Seattle skyline and Mount Rainier . . . Waves roll gently up on the beach as the sun shines down on two private docks. . . [nearly 20,000 square feet in 4 buildings]. . living wing plays host to the grotto, saline pool and exercise areas. Upstairs two guest suites each with their own bath and walk-in closets . . . private outdoor spa . . . A world like no other.” The listing was featured in a 3/20/11 Seattle Mansions Blog. The seller was Marsha Stroum Sloan Glazer. The buyer was Thomas Ellison, the principal owner of the Value-Village/Savers chain of stores.

This is considered, second to Paul Allen’s campus, the premier property on Mercer Island. The flat (“low bank" in Realtor terms) large combined parcel faces west on the “50 yard line” for Seafair. It is less than one mile from the I-90 West Mercer exit/entrance which puts the residents five minutes from downtown Seattle.

Permits were issued in February to demolish three homes (total 8,260 sq ft) on the compound. The main 11,300 sq ft mansion will remain. Plans for the replacement buildings have not been submitted.

Marsha and her family are respected Seattle area philanthropists. The Stroum name is on many prominent arts, medical, education and community buildings and halls in the Seattle area. Benaroya Hall, University of Washington, Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center and the Stroum Jewish Community Center of Greater Seattle on Mercer Island are most notable. Marsha hosted many charity galas in her (this) former MI estate.
Ellison’s father, Bill Ellison, was the founder of Bellevue-based Savers, Inc. The company is an international chain of thrift stores and operates under the name of Value Village in the PNW. Thomas Ellison’s sister, Debbie, and her husband, John E. Bacon, purchased the legendary Groat Point mansion from Bruce McCaw in 2011 and demolished all the buildings including the 14,000 sq ft main mansion (2/21/13 Seattle Mansions Blog). Thomas Ellison and the Bacons own a mansion about a seventh of a mile to the northeast of Groat Point in Meydenbauer Bay that is for sale for $8.9 million (5/20/11 LW Cruising Blog).

Ballmer Worst CEO - Forbes

Steve Ballmer’s Hunts Point Mansion

“#1 – Steve Ballmer, Microsoft. Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today.” This is the first sentence about Steve Ballmer in a 5/12/12 Forbes article by Adam Hartung titled: “Oops! Five CEOs Who Should Have Already Been Fired (Cisco, GE, WalMart, Sears, Microsoft)”

The article continues: “Not only has he singlehandedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets) but in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits of not only his company but “ecosystem” companies such as Dell, Hewlett Packard and even Nokia. The reach of his bad leadership has extended far beyond Microsoft when it comes to destroying shareholder value – and jobs.

“Microsoft peaked at $60/share in 2000, just as Mr. Ballmer took the reins. . . only rarely made it back to its current low $30s value. . . execution of new rollouts were constantly delayed, and ended up with products so lacking in any enhanced value . . . as Apple took the leadership position in personal technology.

“So today . . . Microsoft is a PC company, nothing more, as demand for PCs shifts to mobile. . . An insane bet for any CEO – and one that would have been avoided entirely had the Microsoft Board replaced Mr. Ballmer years ago . . .

“Although he’s #19 on Forbes list of billionaires, Mr. Ballmer should not be allowed to take such incredible risks with investor money and employee jobs. Best he be retired to enjoy his fortune rather than deprive investors and employees of building theirs.”

Steve joined Microsoft in 1980 for a percentage of the company, a $50,000 annual salary and stock options. He was Microsoft’s 24th employee and first manager other than Gates and Allen. The Hunts Point mansion of Steve and Connie Ballmer is pictured above. They purchased the estate in 1987 for $1.3 million and extensively renovated the buildings, but maintained their charm, in 1991. The mansion and property has a $10 million estimated value. The main house is 4,175 sq ft and the property is 2.09 acres with 160 feet of waterfront. It is adjacent to the south of Craig McCaw’s (formerly Kenny G’s) mansion (4/30/12 post). The neighborhood is covered in a 2/16/11 Lake Washington Cruising post.

Gary Reed Moves into Madison Park Mansion

William G. “Gary” Jr. and Victoria Reed moved from their Medina home (see earlier blog below) late last year. The new home has 7,700 sq ft on 0.7 acres with 60 feet of waterfront. It is three houses south of the Reed Estate homes (pages 19 through 22 in Lake Washington 130 Homes, http://www.hundredhomes.net/). The southern home (page 22) in the Reed Estate is owned by Furman Moseley and his wife and Gary’s sister, Martha Reed Moseley. I’ve been told Furman and Martha live elsewhere and their son, Colin Moseley and his family live in that house. Colin is the current Chairman of Simpson Investment.

The 8 acre Reed Estate is where Gary and Martha grew up. It was established in the early 1900s by their grandfather, Mark E. Reed. It was that era’s version of the current Gates and Allen estates. It was subdivided in the 1940s into a private gated community of nine homes. Howard Schultz owns the most prominent of the current homes (page 21). His property has a gate inside the gate.

(Information on his previous Medina home is below.)