Looks like Tommy Hilfiger might be done with Miami. Last year he sold Miami Beach’s Raleigh Hotel for $103 million, almost double the $56.5 million he paid for the historic South Beach resort in 2014. Now, the iconic American fashion designer and his wife Dee Ocleppo have re-listed their fabulously — and uniquely — appointed Miami-area mansion at $24.5 million.
Featured extensively in the media, the vibrant Golden Beach estate first popped up for sale in early 2017 at $27.25 million, and by the summer of 2018 the price had plummeted to $23.5 million before it was yanked off the market. However, the couple still hopes to realize a substantial profit on the more-than-14,000 sq. ft. beachfront estate that they bought in 2013 for $17.25 million. Listings held by Oren Alexander and Isaac Lustgarten of Douglas Elliman show the high-style residence has seven bedrooms and a total of ten full bathrooms between the main house and two guest or staff apartments.
The dynamically hued, ultra-stylized residence is equal parts blue-chip pop-art gallery and chic family home with audacious, eye-catching interiors courtesy of the famously flamboyant decorator-to-the-stars Martyn Lawrence Bullard, who was tasked with revamping the home’s airy spaces to house the owners’ vast, world-class collection of artworks by legends like Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.
One thing Hilfiger will never be accused of is making boring decor choices. Sure, middle America might not be chomping at the bit to buy this urbane, technicolor dreamscape, but there’s really only a small sliver of the population who can actually afford a $25 million dollar Miami-area beach house — and they likely don’t have pedestrian, mall-walking taste in home design.
In the stark white entrance gallery, a dramatic black-glass chandelier dangles from the double-height ceiling over a chrome Mickey Mouse sculpture, which, in turn, sits next to a fancifully curvy staircase. Though the entrance gallery sports a rather tame palette, the living room hints at the colorful extravaganza that decorates the rest of the home. Curvy modern sofas sit upon a loud purple-and-cream colored rug that neatly contrasts with the room’s white walls and distressed mirror ceiling. Large picture windows let in the Miami sunshine and frame stunning views of the ocean. There’s also a large linear fireplace, though that feature likely has seen little use in Florida’s tropical climate.
The dining room has a bit of a “Twin Peaks”/ black lodge vibe going on. Bold black-and-white marble chevron patterns cover the floor while eight fire-engine-red chairs sit at the silvery dining room table. A generously large, show-stopping chandelier hangs overhead while Andy Warhol flower prints cover the walls. The kitchen beautifully marries utilitarianism and design, with a large, white center island and a deep farm-style sink. There’s also a glitzy bar with a disco ball for those looking for a place to whet their whistle in groovy fashion.
For movie night, the party can be taken to the black- and silver-patterned media room, which also offers its own bar. But, if one were to have guests over (or just want a real movie theater-like experience) they could watch films in the screening room, a Flaming Hot Cheeto-like fantasia of deep oranges and rich reds.
The retail fashion tycoon’s office is unsurprisingly done up in his all-American signature red, white and blue. Similarly, the gym also got a colorful (and patriotic) makeover with red, white and blue striped walls. The master bedroom sports a slightly more sedate (but no less decadent) palette and features a glimmering chrome four poster bed and dreamy views of the Atlantic Ocean. The black-and-white stripe theme returns in earnest in the master bathroom, as well as in a couple of the mansion’s powder rooms.
Outside, the sleek infinity pool looks out to the crystalline ocean along with a lounge area, fire pit, bar and built-in grill. Decorated in a markedly less bombastic manner than the main house, the oceanside cabana opens directly onto the white, sandy beach.
It’s been a busy few years of housing activity for the globetrotting couple. Las year, after 11 years on and off the market, the Hilfigers finally sold their sumptuous, playfully offbeat Plaza Hotel penthouse for a reported $31.25 million, well under half the unrealistically-high initial ask of $80 million. Still, and not counting the no-doubt huge pile of money spent on renovations, the couple made a nice profit on the $25.5 million they paid for the two-unit combination in 2008. Also recently jettisoned from their portfolio was an 11,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style Palm Beach mansion that went for $35 million in 2018, one million bucks more than the $34 million they’d paid the previous year.
The lavish-living pair still preside over an impressive property portfolio that includes an imposing, castle-like Normandy-style manor house in Greenwich, Conn., purchased in 2010 for almost $31.4 million, and a beachfront spread in the Hamptons they snagged back in 2007 for $25.7 million.
