New owners of Palm City's Quail Hollow hope to expand, add amenities to stables
By Paul Ivice
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
PALM CITY — The new owners of the Quail Hollow estate say they want to open the equestrian farm to more public events.
Frank and Maribel Hart, formerly of Royal Palm Beach, purchased the 19.2-acre estate on Quail Hollow Street from Walter and Jackie Kost of Barrington, Ill. The Kosts, who have a winter home in Harbor Ridge, never lived on the estate. The Harts, however, plan to live year-round with their two young children in a house that was originally built in 1948 in Sewell’s Point and moved to the estate several years ago.
The sale price was not disclosed and documents are not yet on file with the Martin County Clerk of Courts.
Walter Kost said the sale price was more than $1 million, but does not equal what he spent to purchase the property about 10 years ago and develop it from bare land into the equestrian farm it is now.
Kost said he was willing to sell Quail Hollow, which has horse stables and a dressage arena, only to someone like the Harts who want to continue to maintain and develop it.
Frank Hart said, “We’re very fortunate because there’s already a very good staff out there and we plan on retaining them.
“What they (the Kosts) did out there showed a lot of love,” he said. “We don’t want to change things too much but continue what they did.”
He said changes might include holding more charitable events at the farm, installing cameras in the stables so owners can keep tabs on their horses and adding more horse stables.
“That makes it so much easier for me and my husband,” said Jackie Kost, who said she plans to continue to board and ride her horses there. “Otherwise, I’d be heartbroken.”
Walter Kost said, “We’re comfortable giving up the farm to someone who has lofty ambitions.”
Realtor Carol Barron-Cross of Yanick Realty in Palm City, who represented both the buyers and sellers in the transaction, said the deal took months to put together.
The property was first listed in August. The sale agreement was reached in March, but the closing wasn’t until June 29.
“The deal was complicated,” said Barron-Cross, who specializes in equestrian and waterfront properties. “It had to be broken into three parcels because financing anything larger than 10 acres is a problem for lenders.”
Hart said he had to be persistent and went through several mortgage lenders before finding one that would work with him. “The mortgage companies are being kind of ridiculous,” Hart said. “It seemed like they didn’t want to write a mortgage for this kind of property.”
© 2010 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online
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