Maybe he didn’t care for the bathing-suited dash across Ocean Boulevard required to get from the house to the beach? Did the constant clanking from the riggings on the many sailboats and catamarans locals store along the beachfront get to be too much? Perhaps it somehow wasn’t big enough to comfortably accommodate his four tween- and teenaged kids and their staff? Or maybe he simply wants to ride the white-hot south Florida luxury market wave and turn a quick multimillion-dollar profit?
Whatever the case, less than 1.5 years after he dropped $14 million on a freshly renovated Colonial Caribbean plantation style mansion, film and television star Kevin James, best known for his comedic portrayals of daft blue-collar Everyman characters, and his occasional actress wife Steffiana have flipped their mall-sized Delray Beach home back on the market at $19.95 million.
It does appear that a few minor cosmetic changes were made. For example, the delicate jellyfish-like light fixture that hung over the dining room table has been removed, and the houseful of generic staged furnishings have been swapped out for a different but still generic set of staged furnishings. But it’s not otherwise clear what updates or improvements have been made since Jameses bought the property that account for the nearly 40% uptick in value the asking price represents.
Set behind electronic gates and packed on to a not-quite two-thirds acre parcel, the three-story behemoth has a total of about 19,000 square feet, according to listings held by Pascal Liguori and Antonio Liguori at Premier Estate Properties. An elevator whisks residents and guests between the three floors, which boast a handful of living rooms and lounges, several dining spaces, and a gigantic, sleekly appointed kitchen with two massive islands and professional-grade appliances.
There are half a dozen bedrooms and eight bathrooms, plus a couple of powder rooms, divided between the main house and a semi-detached guest or staff apartment atop the five-car garage. Each of the four guest and family bedrooms in the main house include a private bath and access to an ocean-view balcony, while the master suite sprawls across the entire top floor with a spacious sitting room/study, two walk-in closets and a spa-style bathroom.
Most rooms flow easily out to the numerous verandas on every level, as well as to the massive T-shaped saltwater swimming pool that’s set amid lushly planted tropical gardens.
The Jameses have owned estates in Delray Beach before, namely an eight-bedroom and 12-bath compound they shed in 2016 for $26 million. Nonetheless, they’ve long made their primary home in New York, in the blue-blooded Long Island village of Old Westbury, where between 2011 and 2015 they shelled out more than $20 million for a trio of large parcels and a stately mansion.
