Inside the Home of America's Most Successful Writer

Take That Stephen King -- Author James Patterson's Palm Beach Home is Up For Sale For $14.9 Million

Although horror novel honcho Stephen King thinks of him as little more than a literary hack, prolific thriller writer James Patterson just keeps on churning out bestselling books at an almost frightening rate. There will be nine new James Patterson novels in 2010, all written with the help of a team of co-writers.

The former advertising executive turned full time writer also, no doubt, just laughs and laughs and laughs at King's insults as he drives his late model Mercedes to the bank and then back to his sumptuous waterfront mansion in pricey and posh Palm Beach, Florida.

Property records reveal that the Pattersons won't be moving far from their current home. In July 2009, the couple shelled out $17.4 million for a 2-acre oceanfront estate on a particularly posh stretch of Palm Beach's coveted Ocean Boulevard. At the time they purchased the 21,353-square-foot Addison Mizner designed mega-mansion, a gut renovation and expansion undertaken by the previous owner was only partially completed, which means Patterson needed to spend millions more finishing and fine-tuning the estate that, according to the Palm Beach County tax man, has 8 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.

Patterson calls it "my little cottage."

The Patterson's new mansion is in undeniably rarefied real estate territory. Next door is a mansion once owned by John Lennon and Yoko Ono – who sold it in the late 1980s – and just a few doors down is the 30,000-square-foot monster owned by Florida car dealership tycoon Terry Taylor.

Let's see what the Pattersons are leaving behind.


Trading Up
Since 2006, according to a recent New York Times profile, Patterson has penned a staggering 1 out of every 17 novels sold in the U.S. and has earned his lucky publisher an estimated half a billion dollars in the last two years alone. So it should be no great surprise to real estate watchers that the wildly wealthy writer has listed his current Palm Beach mansion for $14.95 million so that he can pack up his quills and move to an even bigger and much more expensive Palm Beach mansion.


Sometimes Canary Yellow is the Color of Money
Records show that Patterson and his wife Sue, who also maintain a home in Westchester County, New York, purchased their current Palm Beach property in May of 1999, paying $5.22M million for the 10,996 square foot canary yellow plantation-style colonial.

The house, fronted by a large circular drive, is unusually sited on on a narrow, one-street wide and 8-block long island in the middle of Lake Worth. Listing information indicates the cheerful and meticulously maintained mansion contains 5 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms including a master bedroom that occupies its own wing of the house with dual bathrooms and closets as well as a private office and balconies with water views.


A Cozy Kind of Formality
The home opens into a grand, southern-style entrance hall with a gracefully curving staircase flanked by the casually elegant public rooms that include a formal but comfortable living room warmed by a fireplace with an antique mantel and a series of French doors that open to the room to the cool ocean breezes on hot summer days.


Hungry
The color red is supposed to stimulate the appetite. If that is true then the Pattersons and their dinner guests surely become ravenous immediately upon entering the formal dining room, which is wrapped in lustrous, deep red walls set off by a glittery antique chandelier and matching sconces. Although the flower arrangement of saffron colored lilies on the table feels a bit funereal, the gigantic shell filled with white and red coral sitting on the sideboard is a welcomed, not so subtle reminder that this house is, after all, located in a beach community.


A Sophisticated Country Kitchen
The nearly all-white country-style kitchen with its glass-fronted cabinets and intricate carved detailing, paver-tile flooring and a vaulted wood beamed ceiling is totally tricked out with all the latest and greatest materials. Think: white marble counter tops, two massive porcelain farmhouse sinks, and a full complement of top grade stainless steel appliances including two dishwashers and twin side-by-side, glass fronted Sub-Zero brand refrigerators.


A Bestselling Suite of Offices
A suite of rooms that runs perpendicular to the main house and juts out toward the water servers as Patterson's home office. It includes a paneled room stuffed with hardback copies of his books, with vaulted ceilings and a tall, arched window over French doors that open to a Juliet balcony with views over Lake Worth and towards the ocean.

Backyard Paradise
A stone balustrade runs along the waterfront in back yard where a covered terrace equipped with a summer kitchen runs along the back of the house and looks out over the palm tree dotted property, Lake Worth, and the waterside swimming pool and spa. The dock with boatlift allows the homeowner to park their yacht right in the backyard.


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