The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page H006

BLACK 6H pagelabeltag 6H THE PALM BEACH POST SATURDAY MAY 3, 2008 Breakers West, West Palm Beach MAGENTA Inland enclave, ON THE MARKET A sample of homes for sale in Breakers West ocean view 4 $459,000 (9254 Heathridge Drive) Three bedrooms, 2lk baths, 2,136 square feet with custom kitchen, lake view, heated pool and spa. Listed by Roger Plevin, Leibowitz Realty Group. owns The Breakers, bought the Breakers West land decades ago and in 1968 built a golf course there as an alternate for hotel guests. The company sold a parcel to a group that, in 1972, built Mayacoo Lakes Country Club. Thirteen years later, The Breakers began building houses in Breakers West.

It's a nice way to get a big lot and a lot of closets yet still keep ties to Palm Beach, agents say. Buyers also like the two manned entrance gates and 24-hour security patrol, and the proximity to downtown West Palm Beach. Buyers have changed over the years. Today, many families with children call Breakers West home, although Mahoney says most of the neighborhood kids attend private schools. The zoned public schools are B-rated Benoist Farms Elementary and Jeaga Middle and C-rated Royal Palm Beach High.

She estimates only about 50 percent of residents are snowbirds. "When I first started working here, for someone to move here and have children was highly unusual," she says. "But now most of my neighbors are year-round (residents)." Flagler System plans to turn over the property owners association to the residents in 2010. Twenty-five years is an unusually long presence in a community by a developer, but few residents complain about The Breakers service. "They do everything in their power to keep it up," says Curley who lives in the Sand Drift Villas neighborhood.

"They're a class operation. Once you get under their little wing, it's hard to leave." All residents pay $700 a quarter for security and common-area maintenance, plus an additional fee to their individual neighborhoods for other upkeep. About 65 Breakers West residents belong to the 300-member Mayacoo club. Golf members pay a $35,000 non-refundable initiation fee plus $8,000 annual dues. Social members pay $3,000 initiation plus $2,200 annual dues.

Breakers West Country Club, home to the Breakers Rees Jones Course, is a nonequity club, which means By ELIZABETH CLARKE Special to The Palm Beach Post For some residents, the best thing about Breakers West isn't anywhere near the suburban West Palm Beach development. It's 10 miles away, perched on 140 acres of oceanfront and famous for its service and lush, beautiful surroundings. It's The Breakers hotel. For a slashed but still hefty fee, Breakers West residents can have unlimited use of The Breakers Resort in Palm Beach as well as their own Breakers West Country Club. At the hotel, that means an oceanfront golf course, five pools, four whirlpools, 10 tennis courts, beach bungalows and the luxurious, beach club spa.

"That's the hook," says Sarah Mahoney a real estate agent who lives in Breakers West with her husband and son. "We love the beach club. You walk in, you don't have to bring anything. It's just you and your sunscreen." Not that Breakers West is short on amenities of its own. Its 548 homes are built on 670 acres filled with tall pines and old Florida vegetation.

The houses and villas surround two golf courses and country clubs. Sidewalks filled with bikers, joggers and walkers wind through the community's 14 neighborhoods. "I think it's one of the most unique places in all of Palm Beach County," says Don Cur-ley a resident for nine years with wife Jane. He plays golf twice a week and belongs to both country clubs. "It's a golfer's paradise and I assume a tennis player's.

They have beautiful tennis courts." Not all homes are as big or as expensive as the community's name might suggest. Several three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes are on the market today for as low as $239,000. Of course, plenty of million-dollar homes are available, too topping out at a manse on sale for $2.95 million. "Breakers West is kind of low-key," says Mahoney, a broker for Breakers West Realty. "It doesn't have the new fancy entrances with the fountains.

It's for someone not looking for a lot of glitz." Flagler System which $1.4 million (1729 Breakers West Blvd.) Four bedrooms, AVi baths, 2-car-plus-golf-cart garage, pool and spa, lake view on more than a half-acre. Listed by Donna Heyl, Breakers West Realty Corp. LUCAS CANNISTRACIStaff Photographer "We really liked the security of the community here," she says. "We wanted to have children." Sarah doesn't mind the way the area has grown up around Breakers West. When she started working there, she says, her friends harped about how far west she was.

Now, it's considered very convenient and close to everything, with 441 packed with stores, a Publix across the street and the turnpike right down the road. The Mahoneys belong to both country clubs within the community, playing golf and tennis. And now that Walker is older, he can take tennis and golf lessons and enjoy the pools. They also cherish their ocean membership at The Breakers Resort, where they use the Palm Beach hotel's beach club nearly every Sunday. And they love turning into their community off busy Okeechobee Boulevard.

"Coming in is an oasis," Sarah says. "We love the serenity of it all and the spaciousness. We love having the ability to use The Breakers. My son can ride his bike, and I don't worry that he's going to be snatched." JOHN and SARAH MAHONEY (with son, Walker, 7) THEIR HOME: 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, plus an office and playroom with about 4,200 square feet. The house, in the Cypress Isle Estates neighborhood, also has a pool and sits on a half-acre lot overlooking the golf course.

WHEN THEY MOVED IN: February 1999 WHAT THEY PAID: $609,000 CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $1.17 million WHY THEY LOVE IT: It's safe, it's secure, it's beautiful and it means Sarah's commute to work takes just long enough to put on lipstick less than a mile. She's a broker for the development's real estate company, a job she's held since 1989, just a few years after the community began. When she married John, a certified financial planner for Morgan Stanley, they looked for a home throughout the county, including in Jupiter and the El Cid area in West Palm Beach. $750,000 (1148 Seagull Park Road North) Four bedrooms, Alh baths, 2-car-plus-golf-cart garage, screened pool, with golf course view. Listed by Sarah Mahoney, Breakers West Realty Corp.

Breakers West. "I think what I like the most is the sense of community," says Lynn Sabatelli, a homeowner since 1994. "You're not just an anonymous person in a big house. Here, you know your neighbors. You can have a beautiful house anywhere, but I think the people are what make a neighborhood." For non-Breakers West residents, Ocean memberships cost an additional $75,000 initiation fee, and there has been a waiting list for decades.

The least expensive membership allows members to use the tennis courts, pool, exercise facilities and dining at the Breakers West club. It costs $10,000 to join and dues are $4,000 a year. But it's not all about the clubs at deposits are returned when members leave. The club offers four memberships. At the top end is the Ocean membership, which allows members to use all the facilities at the Breakers West Country Club, plus the golf course, tennis and beach club at The Breakers.

The membership deposit is $75,000 and members pay $13,000 in annual dues. Single-family homes Townhouses History of home sales in Breakers West Year Sales Minimum price Median price Maximum price Year Sales Minimum price Median price Maximum price 1996 19 $118,000 $498,000 $1,585,000 1996 2 $148,000 $166,500 $185,000 1998 78 $130,000 $285,950 $900,000 1998 3 $155,000 $215,000 $217,000 2000 47 $120,000 $246,000 $1,600,000 2000 6 $147,000 $162,500 $180,000 2002 39 $159,900 $400,000 $1,100,000 2002 3 $134,000 $160,000 $165,000 2004 28 $227,500 $382,500 $1,250,000 2004 3 $182,511 $240,000 $257,000 2006 18 $242,500 $541,500 $1,325,000 2006 0 na na na 2007 17 $270,000 $650,000 $1,450,000 2007 2 $277,500 $288,750 $300,000 Mapping and data analysis by William M. Hartnett Laura L. Balas, CRS, e-PRO Serving The Northern Palm Beaches Balas, AGENTS ON CALL TO SHOW YOU TODAY! (561) 625-9004 www.LauraBalas.com Sara Realtor REMAX Northern Palm Beaches (561) 775-7315 DIRECT THEIR HOME: Three bedrooms, AV2 bathrooms with a den and about 3,900 square feet under air in the Estates neighborhood. WHEN THEY MOVED IN: July 1994 WHAT THEY PAID: $540,000, furnished CURRENT VALUE (from Zillow.com): $998,000 WHY THEY LOVE IT: When Lynn and Steve bought their Breakers West home, they called it "the tremendous and expensive mistake." They bought the house almost by accident while visiting friends.

One friend invited Steve to play golf at Breakers West, and they decided to take a look at the homes. "You know we're not going to live there," Lynn remembers them saying. After all, they were both still working in New York. But "I just thought it was so pretty here," Lynn says. So they made an offer on a house.

It was a fair but not ambitious offer. "We never thought they'd accept it," Lynn says. But soon after, "My husband said to me, 'Guess what, big shot? They accepted your offer. Now what are you going to Lo and behold, we had bought a house." They considered selling the house but decided to use it for vacations. A year or so later, Lynn retired from teaching and spent the winter in the house, and now, the Sabatellis spend about 8 months of the year here.

They sold their house on Long Island and now have an apartment where they spend the rest of the year, close to their children and grandchildren. Steve, 76, would prefer to live here full-time, Lynn says. The retired insurance agency owner golfs MAYFAIR HOUSE Gorgeous oceanfront condo on South Palm Beach. Enjoy the ocean view and breeze from your balcony! Kitchen bathrooms have been updated. Must see! THIS 6TH FLOOR UNIT IS PRICED TO SELL AT $419,000.

MARLWOOD ESTATES 3BR3BA2CG, 3000 sq. ft. custom home wstunning water golf views! Beautifully updated kitchen, newer pool, spa, roof and AC 5 golf courses, hotel spa, memberships available but NOT required! REDUCED TO $61 9,000 BURWICK ESTATES 34BR3.5BA2CG pool home on Golf Course. Large Corner Lot wlush landscaping. 4th BRden off master could be used as office or nursery.

PGA has 5 golf courses, Hotel-Spa, memberships available but not required. Agents on Call to Show you TODAY! Only $549,900 Photo by STEVE MITCHELL three times a week and they both enjoy the club for dining and the pool and exercise room. Lynn, 63, plays golf occasionally "I'll be a beginner until I die," she jokes and especially enjoys their Ocean membership at The Breakers resort. "When my kids come, they love to go the beach," she says. "I still love to go to the hotel.

It's a very special thing." But it's the people that are most special about Breakers West, Lynn says. They're friendly and welcoming and low-key, despite some big bank accounts and fancy titles. Says Lynn: "What I like about Breakers West the most is the sense of community." And as for that "tremendous and expensive "It turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made." Stories by Elizabeth Clarke CLUB COTTAGES Great Location, Close to Club! Nice View of Lake Club from front. Newer Refrigerator, Dishwasher, and AC. Move in Condition.

Play one of our 5 golf courses, tennis, work out at the club! Call today. Priced to Sell $194,900. ANTIGUAABACOA TOWN CENTER 3BR 2.5BA powder room 2CG almost 2000 liv. sq. ft.

Clean well maintained spacious end unit. Lrg dwnstr game Bay window in Liv. rm. Walk to Abacoa Town Cntr, Stadium. $297,000 RIVERWALKJUPITER 2BR2.5BA end unit on Loxahatchee River wdesigner's custom touches thruout.

Brand new kit appls, 20" pore tile in liv area, bamboo firs on 2nd fir. Remod baths new frontload WD upstairs. Scmd patio, accord shutters, roof is 2 yrs new. Comm boat ramp wstorage provided for $150yr. Great loc, close to I-95 Tpke.

$21 9,000. REMAX Northern Palm Beaches dut.