The 23,576-square-foot, custom-built home on 10 acres features seven bedrooms, eight full baths and two half baths. It boasts inlaid Italian marble and cathedral-style ceilings, and comes with a guest house, four-car garage, and statues and objects of art from all over the world.
“The finish work on the inside is the most amazing, with 30-foot high ceilings, chandeliers. It’s just magnificent,” said Jim Gall, president of Auction Company of America, hired to auction off the home, which was listed a year ago for $10 million.
“You can literally get lost in it,” said Gall, who says it is largest home he has ever auctioned.
A two-day auction at the home, at 13811 Luray Road in Southwest Ranches, begins at 11 a.m. on Dec. 7 and includes art, jewelry and other items. It will continue at 1 p.m. on Dec. 8, culminating with the sale of the home at 3 p.m. Previews will be conducted on several days, beginning on Nov. 17.
Gall said he plans to start the bidding on the house at $5 million.
Homeowner Ray Moses said he and his wife, Pam, spent five years building the mansion after buying the property, which was formerly used as a horse boarding facility. Broward County property records show they paid $2,225,000 for the acreage in 2003.
Moses said the home was his wife’s dream.
“She wanted to do this, and who am I to say no?” said Moses, 69, who is in the childcare business and owns five daycare centers in Broward.
Moses said his wife decorated the home, and sat with Delray Beach architect Rick Brautigan to design it. The couple spent $1 million on Italian-made drapery and window treatments, and more than another $1 million on crystal chandeliers. Now, the couple, whose children are grown, plan to downsize. They’ll probably buy a home nearby, Moses said.
“I like the country, and I like to have a lot of tropical fruit trees,” he said. “I still want somewhere where I can swear without the neighbors hearing me.”
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/06/3736235/largest-home-for-sale-in-broward.html
