Mercer Island Boulevard Pl Mansion Sale $13 Million

This mansion sold 11/21/12 for $13.3 million. This property, known as “The Boulevard Place Mansion,” was featured in Seattle Mansions posts on 8/31/11 and 10/21/10. It was listed for sale at $28.8 million in 2010, lowered to $19 million in 2011 and an auction on 8/30/11 failed to attract the minimum bid of $15.5 million. The mansion was listed by Kris Robbs, Ewing and Clark, “Unique property takes advantage of 1.6 acre, street to Lake prize. Two-inch limestone floors extend from entry, spill down terrace around the in-ground pool & hot tub. Impressive 164' westside waterfront ready for speed boat, Seadoos & yacht. Soaring ceilings, balcony, warm wood office & leaded glass doors, with state-of-the-art theater & 9.1 surround. Two outdoor Viking BBQ complement gourmet kitchen. Escape to romantic master suite, spa bath with aroma/chroma therapy So many divine finishing details!”

The living area is 13,636 sq ft with 7 bedrooms, 11.25 baths, theaters, multiple kitchens, wine cellars, and 8 washer-dryer rooms. There is additional covered non living areas and resort-style features including a 120” plasma TV rising from the edge of the pool. The sellers were David and Becky Sandwith and the buyer was a trust. The Sandwiths purchased the lot for $5.4 million in 2004 and construction commenced. They reportedly had a total of about $30 million invested in the property. David, his parents and siblings sold Kent based Mikron Industries, a manufacturer of high tech window components, for $205 million to Quanex Corporation in 2004. The $28.8 million 2010 listing was the most expensive King County MLS listing at the time. The property is one-half mile north of Paul Allen’s compound and on page 59 in Lake Washington 130 Homes.

Paul Allen’s Yachts

The 414 ft $200 Million Octopus

octopus-eventective.com

The 302 ft $162 Million Tatoosh

tatoosh-panoramio.com

The 199 ft $80 Million Meduse

meduse-yacht1-boatinternational.com

Paul Allen is known for many things and one of them is his luxury yachts. His largest ones are pictured above. He is reported to own over fifteen 50 ft+ luxury yachts. Two of them are tenders on the Octopus. The Octopus was in the national news, including The Associated Press/Seattle Times 4/4/12 article, for the yacht’s use in a South Pacific search for a missing U. S. pilot. The pilot was involved in an official pursuit of illegal fishing operations.

The Octopus when it was launched in 2003 was listed as the largest and most expensive privately owned yacht. The mega-yacht has two helipads with enclosed hangers, seven boats used as tenders and runabouts, two submarines, several personal watercraft (PWC – sometimes improperly called jet-skis), a pool, a basketball court, 13 staterooms and 26 crew cabins on seven levels with more than 50,000 sq ft under roof. The Bornrich site now has it listed at number nine and his Tatoosh at number ten in its list of the 16 top privately owned super-yachts. The top ranked private yacht is the $485 million 558 foot long Eclipse owned by Russian multi-billionaire, Roman Abramovich.

The price of the Octopus and Tatoosh are each more than the estimated and appraised $150 million value of his 10 acre, 100,000+ sq ft under roof, campus/compound on Mercer Island. This compound with a viewing guide was featured in a 12/28/10 post. More information on Allen’s super-yachts can be found by clicking on the links for the Octopus, the Tatoosh and the Meduse.

Paul Maritz Exec of the Year – Silicon Valley

Paul and Yaffa Maritz’s Mercer Island Home

Paul Maritz, a former Microsoft top executive, was named the Silicon Valley Business Journal's 2011 Executive of the Year. “2011 has been tough for many of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies . . . All the while, VMware Inc. has been . . . steadily growing its business and developing new products that have kept it at the forefront of its industry. That's why, in this week's Business Journal, we named VMware CEO Paul Maritz as our Executive of the Year. . . is planning an expansion that will more than triple the size of its headquarters campus.”

He joined the company as CEO in 2008. VMware provides virtualization (cloud computing) software. Maritz’ corporate statement is “VMware enables our customers’ success by simplifying and automating IT in the Cloud Era.” Maritz was also the recipient of Computerworld’s 2011 Morgan Stanley Leadership Award for Global Commerce, “which recognizes individuals whose personal leadership has made a critical contribution to the effective use of information technology throughout the world.”

He was with Microsoft from 1986 to 2000. His last position was executive vice president of the Platforms Strategy and Developer Group. He was part of the 5-person executive management team and, according to Wikipedia, was the third-ranking executive behind Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. He was responsible for most of Microsoft's desktop and server software, including Windows and Internet Explorer.

He has maintained his Mercer Island home that is near and south of Paul Allen’s campus/compound.  A major expansion of this home and dock house was completed in 2003. The living area is now 8,040 sq ft and the property is 1.6 acres with 169 feet of waterfront.

Marty Lott - Person of the Year – 2011

Marty and Sharon Lott’s Mercer Island Home

The Advertising Specialty Institute^® recently named Marty Lott “2011 Person of the Year.” In 2008 he ranked No. 1 in the Institute^®’s Power 50 list of the industry's most influential leaders. Marty is the founder and president of Issaquah based SanMar. The company is a leading supplier of apparel and accessories.

In 1971 when he was in college Marty started the company in his parents’ Seattle garage. From an initial offering of a few T-shirts and one backpack the company has grown to over 40,000 SKUs with 15 retail, mill and private label brands housed in six national distribution centers covering 3.25 million square feet and employing more than 1,800 staff members. It has remained family owned and operated and recently had a 40^th birthday party celebration.

The company is an award-winning supplier of 14 retail, private label and mill brands. It supplies apparel and accessories to screen printers, embroiderers, promotional products distributors, athletic dealers, industrial launderers, etc. SanMar is the exclusive distributor of Nike Golf, OGIO® and New Era®. Its other retail brands include Gildan®, Jerzees®, and Hanes®. SanMar also produces Port Authority®, America's No.1 private clothing label. Red House®, Port & Company®, District Threads®, Sport-Tek®, CornerStone® and Precious Cargo® complete its high-quality private label offerings.

A major expansion of the Lott's Mercer Island home was completed over the last three years. It now has a total of 12,310 sq ft. The property is 1.8 acres with 150 feet of waterfront. It is eight properties south of Paul Allen’s campus/compound.

Paul Allen Charity

Paul Allen’s charity donations in 2011 were the most generous of any living American donor. This was reported in The Chronicle Of Philanthropy on 2/6/12 and summarized in a 2/7/12 Puget Sound Business Journal article by Emily Parkhurst. Allen gave a total of $372 million to charity. He gave $295 million to his own Allen Family Foundation and $70 million to the Allen Institute for Brain Science. The Allen Family Foundation has numerous programs including libraries, education, science, arts and culture.

Allen was number three on the list of all American donors. Two deceased donors gave more. Margaret A. Cargill from Minnesota bequeathed $6 billion and William S. Dietrich II of Pittsburgh bequeathed $500 million. Bill Gates was not on this year’s Chronicle’s list of the 50 most generous people in America.

Paul Allen and his Mercer Island private campus/compound/estate are on pages 64 and 65 in Lake Washington 130 Homes. The book highlights the charity activities of owners of the mansions in the book. Previous posts in this blog regarding Paul Allen were about his book, Idea Man, (4/22/11) and a guide for viewing his Mercer Island campus (12/28/10).

Paul Allen’s Private $150 million, 9.6 acre campus/compound/estate

Mercer Island Mansion Auction

Mercer Island Boulevard Place Mansion

The Mercer Island Patch reported 8/30/11 the Boulevard Place mansion auction on this date failed to attract the minimum bid of $15.5 million. There were four qualified bidders attending the auction. This property was featured in a prior 10/21/10 post.

Last fall it was listed for sale at $28.8 million and was the most expensive King County MLS listing.  It is one-half mile north of Paul Allen’s compound and on page 59 in Lake Washington 130 Homes. The Puget Sound Business Journal published a 10/18/10 article about the property.

The living area is 13,636 sq ft with 7 bedrooms, 11.25 baths, theaters, multiple kitchens, wine cellars, and 8 washer-dryer rooms. There is additional covered non living areas and resort-style features including a 120” plasma TV rising from the edge of the pool.  Construction started in 2004 when David and Becky Sandwith purchased the lot for $5.4 million. The Patch reported they have a total of about $30 million invested in the property. David, his parents and siblings sold Kent based Mikron Industries, a manufacturer of high tech window components, for $205 million to Quanex Corporation in 2004.

Paul Allen – Idea Man

Paul Allen’s Campus on Mercer Island

Please see the 12/28/10 post for the guide for viewing the $150 million, 9.6 acre campus.

Paul Allen’s new book, Idea Man, has created a lot of controversy.  Some of the local headlines are:  Paul Allen goes public with hard feelings toward Gates, Paul Allen's attempt to shape his legacy may backfire, Paul Allen says book not revenge against Gates, and Paul Allen's book: Shaping legacy with a chainsaw?

An interesting article (Seattle Times by Kristi Helm) discusses a lengthy interview with Paul at his MI campus and discusses Paul’s relationship with Bill while also describing the author’s tour of Paul’s campus.  Helm’s description of the main controversy in the book is:  “Allen accuses Gates, along with Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, of trying to cheat him out of Microsoft shares while Allen was being treated for cancer in 1982. Allen said he overheard the two conspiring to dilute his shares by issuing options to themselves and others. (Ballmer went to Allen's house later to apologize.)  ‘My partner was out to grab as much of the pie as possible and hold onto it,’ Allen writes."

Most of the book is about the creation of Microsoft and the eight years Paul was with Microsoft.  The headlines are grabbing the obvious rift between Allen and the team of Gates (house guide) and Ballmer (house guide).

Paul Allen House Guide

The following is a guide to Paul Allen’s 9.6 acre multi-mansion estate/campus on Mercer Island. It is on the west side of the Island about 4 miles south of the I-90 Bridge. It is directly across from Seattle’s Seward Park.

A – 4 buildings ~200 ft from water: 10,680 sq ft main building with gym and 2 indoor tennis courts; 5,220, 4,210, and 2,050 sq ft guest houses; and 12+ car garages for an antique and race car museum and guest parking.

B – Mother’s house, ~50 feet from water, 11,300 sq ft plus 7 car garage.

C – Catamaran, Dragonfly, to drag-and-fly helicopters.

D – Main house including attached indoor pool and lakefront building to the north and wood garden/lakefront house to the south, 9,890 sq ft.

E– Concert hall theater and guest facilities, 11,560 sq ft.

F – 1,750 sq ft house with 100 ft waterfront acquired in 2006 for $5.2 million.

The mansion is on pages 64 and 65 in Lake Washington 130 Homes.

Mercer Island Mansion $28.8 Million Selling Price

A Mercer Island west-side mansion that is listed for sale at $28.8 million is the current most expensive King County MLS listing .  It is one-half mile north of Paul Allen’s compound and on page 59 in Lake Washington 130 Homes.The Puget Sound Business Journal recently published an article about the property.

The living area is 13,636 sq ft with 7 bedrooms, 11.25 baths, theaters, multiple kitchens, wine cellars, and 8 washer-dryer rooms. There is additional covered non living areas and resort-style features including a 120” plasma TV rising from the edge of the pool. Construction started in 2004 when David and Becky Sandwith purchased the lot for $5.4 million. David, his parents and siblings sold Kent based Mikron Industries, a manufacturer of high tech window components, for $205 million to Quanex Corporation in 2004.



HDTV homes of the rich and famous

In August 2009 I wrote and published Lake Washington 130 Homes. I have expanded my initial scope of a guide book for cruisers to offer a book in a style that has never been used and will be interesting to a wide audience.

The book contains photographs, stories and statistics of 130 mansions and estates that are creatively woven with current and historical information about the homes, owners, their businesses and communities. This book is for anyone who has a fascination with unique homes of the rich and famous or an interest in the Seattle area. This is the first book of its kind as traditional print-publishers have not followed the Internet in publishing pictures of homes, their locations and public information regarding the owners and residents.

KING 5 Evening Magazine aired a HDTV show on October 7, 2009 about LW 130 Homes. It can be seen on web TV at:
http://www.king5.com/archive/64598997.html It's 4.3 minutes long and there is a brief commercial at the beginning. It includes the homes of Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Kenny G (former home), Craig McCaw, Steve Ballmer, Howard Schultz, Detlef Schrempf, and many others. The Dykstra house is near the end (don't blink).

I was interviewed on KIRO radio and the interview is the soundtrack for a tour of the Lake and the book. It can be viewed on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkm9fHmmQ8Q&feature=related

The book's web site is:
http://www.hundredhomes.net/