30A’s most expensive home is a $41M teardown

Lumber moguls Finley and Martha Kay McRae sold their beachfront mansion in Inlet Beach for $41 million, making it the most expensive home ever sold in Florida’s 30A.

The couple’s sale of the home at 281 Paradise by the Sea Boulevard topped the previous Panhandle price record of $28.5 million, set in 2024 by CoStar founder Andy Florance, according to a news release.

The buyers are Ryan and Ashley Templeton, homebuilders in the 30A area, the Wall Street Journal reported. They plan to split the lot into three parcels, demolish the existing mansion and build two spec homes on the property, the outlet reported.

Craig and Peyton Baranowski with Scenic Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing, and Brad Dahler with Scenic Sotheby’s International Realty brought the buyer.

The McRaes are the third-generation owners of Rex Lumber, which was founded by Finley McRae’s grandfather W.D. McRae in 1926. Headquartered in Graceville, Florida, the firm operates four mills in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama, and owns more than 16,000 acres of timberland throughout the Southeast, according to its website.

Finley and Martha Kay McRae bought the 0.7-acre Paradise by the Sea Boulevard property for $726,000 in 2005, according to property records. The 8,900-square-foot mansion was built in 2001 and includes seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two half-bathrooms and a pool, according to the listing.

The 30A region has emerged as a growing hub of luxury real estate deals in recent years. As buyers have flocked to its gulf shores, so have brokerages. Douglas Elliman opened an office in Santa Rosa Beach in 2023 headed by Brad Reese, formerly with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida.

“The Panhandle, who goes there?” Elliman’s Florida CEO Jay Parker said in an interview regarding the expansion. “Turns out, a lot of people.”

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