Billionaire SC Johnson heiress Winifred Johnson-Marquart dropped $30 million on a landmarked Palm Beach home.
Records show her Southern Mark LLC bought the house at 217 Clark Avenue from Deborah Ann Robinson. The Palm Beach Daily News first identified her as the buyer. Racine, Wisconsin-based Johnson Bank, the financial institution owned by the Johnson family, provided a $21 million loan for the off-market purchase, records show.
Johnson-Marquart is the daughter of the late Samuel Curtis Johnson Jr., the fourth-generation Johnson credited with growing the family business into a multibillion-dollar cleaning supply behemoth. He spearheaded the creation of several first generation aerosol products, including Glade air fresheners, Off! insect repellent and Pledge furnisher polish, according to published reports. His daughter, Johnson-Marquart, is married to music producer Mike Marquart, with whom she shares four children. Forbes estimates her net worth at $4.5 billion.
This marks at least her second purchase in Palm Beach. Her Southern Mark LLC bought the house at 449 Brazilian Avenue for $15.9 million last year, records show.
Robinson is a novelist and the widow of Edward J. Robinson, who was the CFO of RJR Nabisco when it sold to KKR in 1988 for a then-record $25 billion, and inspired the film “Barbarians at the Gate,” according to published reports. He died last year.
The Robinsons bought the 7,500-square-foot Clark Avenue home, known as Villa Banyan, for $3.3 million in 1998, records show. It was built in 1929 on 0.4 acres and includes five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a pool.
The couple listed it for $14.9 million in 2019, before taking it off the market in 2020, Zillow shows. Deborah Robinson is downsizing to a condo on the south end of Palm Beach. Records show she bought unit 503 at the Bellaria at 3000 South Ocean Boulevard for $9.4 million.
The sale marks the latest pricey deal in Palm Beach, where sales are picking up after the slow summer season. Last month, Jon Steinberg, a media executive known for founding Cheddar News, bought a spec home for $14.6 million in an off-market deal. Also last month, Lucerne Capital Management founder Pieter Taselaar sold his mansion for $29.5 million in an off-market deal. Ex-Apple CEO John Sculley also sold his oceanfront estate for $37 million.
