Bob Vila, the home improvement star known for his 1980s show “This Old House,” sold his waterfront Palm Beach home for a nearly $20 million price cut.
Records show Vila and his wife, Diana Barrett, sold their home at 690 Island Drive for $33 million to a trust named for the address and managed by attorney Scott W. Hoffman.
Christian Angle with Christian Angle Real Estate represented both the buyer and the seller in the deal.
Vila helped to pioneer the home improvement media genre. He started his television career as the host of “This Old House,” where he earned the moniker “Mr. Fix-It.” After a decade-long run the show ended in 1989, and Vila moved on to star in “Bob Vila’s Home Again” from 1990 to 2005 and then “Bob Vila” from 2005 to 2007.
His wife, Barrett, is a former Harvard Business School professor.
She bought the Island Drive house for $6.1 million in 2005, property records show. It was built on 0.8 acres in 1949 and has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, one half-bathroom, a pool and a dock, according to records. It was designed by celebrated Palm Beach architect Marion Sims Wyeth, according to the listing.
Vila and Barrett first listed the house in November 2023 for $52.9 million, and dropped the price four times before selling for a $19.9 million price cut, according to Zillow.
The couple have invested in other island homes. In November, they flipped a non-waterfront house for $13.4 million a year after buying it for $12.5 million.
Pending deals are crossing the finish line this month as seasonal residents tie up loose ends and depart to cooler climates for the summer, agents say. Earlier this week, a couple sold their home in the Mar-a-Lago Security Zone for $17 million, after a $7 million price drop. Media mogul Cathie Black and her husband, Thomas Harvey, sold one house for $18 million and bought another for $12 million. Lisa Hedley, the stepsister of former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, sold a waterfront home for $23.8 million.
