Serene is a word that comes up a lot when Pamela Huizenga describes the waterfront home that so defined her family life. One look at the over 800 feet of private waterfront, the velvet-green lawns, the mature trees and hedges, the private jetty, the picture-perfect backyard pond and you understand why.
The expansive waterfront retreat of the late H. Wayne Huizenga is, says listing agent Billy Nash, a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to own a property of such scale and ultimate seclusion so near to Florida’s east coast.
© Pelican Pix, LLC
But to understand the rarity of this expanse of quiet, supremely private stretch of natural Floridian serenity, you need only look at the robustness of what’s been happening in the market in this part of the world since the pandemic. Even amid recent reports of inventory dips in and around urban markets like Miami and Tampa, virtually no other waterfront property of this scale and seclusion is currently available on the east coast of Florida, according to listing agent Billy Nash of The Keyes Company.
“We’re looking at 832 linear feet of waterfront,” says Nash, “which is the nearly the length of three football fields.”
With 832 linear feet of waterfront, the property at 13054 NW Gilson Road, Palm City is a truly rare slice of Old Florida serenity.
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An apt comparison, given Mr. Huizenga’s involvement in the world of professional sports. In a career that spanned multiple industries, Huizenga made his initial fortune in waste management, before buying and later selling Blockbuster Video in a deal worth over $8 billion in 1994. He would eventually own stakes in three professional sports franchises: the Miami Dolphins (NFL), Florida Marlins (MLB –now the Miami Marlins) and the Florida Panthers, Florida’s first NHL team.
H. Wayne Huizenga built his fortune across multiple industries, including taking AutoNation from startup to the biggest car retailer in the United States—success that translated his passion for sports teams from fandom to ownership.
Courtesy Huizenga family
The serenity of the location was, says Pamela Huizenga, “one of the big draws when my parents were looking in the early 1990s for a property that would get the family away from the hustle and bustle of the business world in Fort Lauderdale. They both really valued the privacy, the quiet and the seclusion of this place. And the nice thing about the river [the St. Lucie] is… well, it’s the widest expanse of water I’ve ever seen for a waterfront home that’s not on the ocean. You can just see the other side, but you can’t see other people, and they can’t see you.”
Magic-hour light illuminates casts a serene spell over the St. Lucie river.
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The water itself was another big draw for the family, with many afternoons happily lost to boating and fishing. “I had my first little Boston Whaler when I was around 12 years old – my parents must have been crazy!” Huizenga recalls with a laugh. “But I survived. We were always fishing, and my kids still fish off the dock.”
Pamela, who previously worked as a jewelry designer, purchased the property from her parents around 10 years ago and established her own family sanctuary, rearing chickens and tending “a huge organic garden.” If that sounds a little too away-from-it-all, the home is, says Huizenga, extremely well connected to schools, supermarkets, the Palm Beaches and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“Here you have all the water you want, you have more privacy than you can get anywhere else around here, and yet I’m literally six minutes from the Florida Turnpike and don’t need to cross any bridges to get to the airport,” Huizenga adds.
“It’s all very natural…the trees, the flowers, the big pond,” says Pamela Huizenga. “There’s a whole section of the property that I’ve allowed to go kind of wild. We have beehives, we get our own honey. And if you’re lucky you might see a little alligator in the pond.”
© Pelican Pix, LLC
“There’s been so much growth in Florida since the pandemic,” Nash notes, “that it’s very rare to find a property that’s on the water, that’s this close to the ocean and that comes with almost 19 acres of private grounds—it just doesn’t exist. It’s so peaceful, so tranquil and it’s one of those places where you can watch the sun come up over the river with a cup of coffee and maybe catch sight of a manatee or, if you’re lucky, a Florida panther.”
Beyond the property’s natural attractions, the six-bedroom, 9,150-square-foot main house has bedrooms main house benefits features expansive living spaces designed for entertaining at scale. There’s also a resort-style, swimming pool, a separate guest/staff house and a recently added state-of-the-art gym.
In an era when the word “icon” is thrown around with abandon, Nash whispers it with respectful sincerity: “Mr. Huizenga was an iconic guy, and this is an iconic property. It really is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
13054 NW Gilson Road, Palm City, Florida is listed with Billy Nash of The Keyes Company, a member of Forbes Global Properties—the invitation-only network of top-tier brokerages worldwide and the exclusive real estate partner of Forbes.