Top of the Market

Lee County

1. $7.9 million

A squishy 2001 real estate market? The might be true in lots of places, but

in Boca Grande, only the sand seems soft. Four of Lee County's top 10 sales

were in this quaint island village last year. No. 1 was a $7.9-million sale

that included two lots. Bought for a private residence, the property is a

large and very private piece of prime Gulf-front. The 20-year-old house is

probably a teardown.

2. $7,579,000

Captiva Island includes three of Lee County's top 10 sales, and this $7-plus million sale captures the No. 2 spot. Owned by folks from St. Paul, Minn., this architecturally arresting home on the Gulf is surrounded by flowering tropical gardens and was bought for its seclusion, say realtors. Built in 1974, the home sold for $500,000 in 1981. Since then it's been updated, and now the home is really a set of three pods. It includes a main house, a two-bedroom guest house and a garage. A screened-in pool connects the main house with the guest quarters. Total square footage is listed at just over 10,000 square feet, but realtors say only 4,000 of that is under air.

3. $5,750,000

Massachusetts residents bought this 11,752-square-foot home on Boca Grande. Built in 1993, the home contains four bedrooms and four baths. The owners fell in love with the "natural beauty of the island after vacationing with friends" a year earlier. "We'd been all over the east coast and the Caribbean and the western part of the country," says the husband, "and we liked the fact that this was secluded. We could enjoy the beach, boating and golf in an uncrowded, hospitable setting."

4. $5,195,000

You'd have to search through a tropical jungle to find Lee County's No. 4-ranked home. It's an 8,392-square-foot home on Captiva, built in 1992 and surrounded by a dense thicket of palms and sea grapes. Situated on more than one acre on the Gulf, the property is gated and secluded, and includes a guest house, three-car garage and 16-foot by 40-foot Gulfside pool. The main house has a living room with 20-foot ceilings that opens to a deck overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The sales history shows the area's increase in value: In 1999, this property sold for $4.4 million; two years earlier, it went for $2.7 million.

5. $5,000,000

The CEO of a Dallas-based advertising and marketing firm bought this elegant, older one-story, ground-level home just outside of Boca Grande's historic district. And in contrast to many of Florida's new wealthy residents, he wants to keep the property as understated as he found it. He and his wife fell in love with Boca Grande's "old Florida" ambience, and he says they have no desire to change that.

"There are no tall buildings," he says. "It's a clapboard town with one grocery store, one hardware store and an old bar." He and his wife bought a home in town a decade ago and had planned to make Boca Grande home, but after assessing Florida's school system, they decided their young son should receive his education in another state. They later bought a waterfront property and planned to build on it. But when the owner saw this piece of property with 200 feet on the Gulf, huge trees and a 1971-built home with gracious but simple proportions, he promptly switched tracks. His goal is to eventually "be half and half," he says, "live half the year in the mountains and half the year by the sea." His new home has pecky cypress walls, terrazzo floors and lots of big, shady trees. It's the perfect retreat, he says, where he can "golf, fish, boat, eat seafood and drink rum." This property sold in 1987 for $662,500.

6. $3,795,000

This Captiva property was bought for investment purposes by Naples developer Jon Rubinton of R & D Companies, who already has it on the market for $5.5 million, says Captiva realtor Jane Reader Weaver. The property had last sold in 1987 for $425,000. Rubinton, who's been buying and selling on Captiva for seven years, specializes in "high-end, unique properties." He certainly has a choice piece of real estate. Located on 130 feet of Gulf-front on Captiva's elite "Gold Coast"-where many are building new homes-the property features a beach home with hardwood floors and a beautiful pool area with waterfall and gazebo. Rubinton says he will sell as is or will build his luxury Silver King II model with all the amenities, turning the existing beach house, built in 1954, into "ideal" guest quarters. The main house will be elevated to capture the views, says Rubinton; and since the property is zoned for an estate, the new owner will have the ability to add staff quarters and a tennis court if he or she chooses.

7. $3,750,000

A Michigan family owns this Boca Grande property. Custom-built by an architect for his own use in 1983, the house is a perfect beachfront home with wood frame, hardwood floors, lofted ceilings with exposed beams and wide, shady porches. According to Lee County Property Appraiser's records, the house offers about 3,500 square feet and contains three bedrooms and three baths. The Gulf-front lot is wide and deep-about 100 feet by 555 feet-and provides privacy and more privacy with no views of neighbors. This property sold for $950,000 in 1994.

8. $3,750,000

Finally! Evidence that homes off the Gulf of Mexico are commanding top prices. This Quail West property sold to a baby boomer New Hampshire couple before it ever went on the market, and for good reason. Built in 2000, it's stunning, and the new owners bought everything inside but the personal photographs. "We'd looked at a lot of other homes that were more expensive, but this had the earth tones and pastels that we liked and the ceiling heights," says the husband, who owns automobile dealerships in three states. "It was us."

The home is a grand, Mediterranean-style mansion with a unique living room and family room separated by a massive fireplace that goes to sky-high ceilings. The guest wing-entered through double doors and a foyer-includes three large and separate suites. The master suite is colossal-"When I first walked through the house I told my wife, 'You'll never believe this master suite,' and then they told me I wasn't even looking at the master bedroom." The master bathroom alone measures 30 feet by 30 feet. The lanai contains a waterfall and fireplace and overlooks a lake.

The couple had owned a home on Sanibel but grew weary of the traffic and how long it took to get on and off the island. They also wanted "more of a sense of community, where you know your neighbor." And because they have a private jet, they fly into Page Field Airport in Fort Myers, get in their convertible (which they bought just for Florida) and are in Quail West in minutes. They aren't golfers, but they're on the course everyday biking eight to 10 miles, and they play tennis regularly. They are so happy with the community they've enticed other friends to buy in Quail West. "It's perfect for us," he says.

9. $3,300,000

Bonita Bay is known for its five private golf courses and big, beautiful homes. Our No. 9 home is no exception. It's a two-story, 7,530-square-foot home right on the golf course bought by a couple from Wisconsin. Containing three private guest suites and a large billiards room, it was built in 1999 and is plenty large for grand-scale entertaining.

10. $3,250,000

Another Bonita Bay mansion, this one bought by New Jersey residents. The Lee County Property Appraiser's office says the house, built in 2000, is a massive 15,431 square feet with three bedrooms and four bathrooms.