Family of the late Robert Ganger has sold the historic Vanderbilt home in Gulf Stream (above) for $21.6 million. An adjacent property once part of the estate sold in 2023. Photo provided
By Jane Musgrave
Five months after businessman-turned-historical activist Robert Ganger died, a pedigreed Gulf Stream mansion that he helped rescue and which became his decades-long home sold in September for $21.6 million.
The sale, confirmed by Ganger’s son and namesake, marks the second time in two years that part of the oceanfront estate that was built in 1928 for the granddaughter of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt has changed hands.
In 2023, a trust belonging to Quebec home product distributor Jean Aucoin paid $16.65 million for the smaller, northern part of the estate at 1465 N. Ocean Blvd. that was also once owned by Lila Vanderbilt Webb before it was divided into two parts in the 1930s.
Robert Ganger, who spent much of his childhood at first his grandfather’s and then his father’s home at 1443 N. Ocean Boulevard, called its sale “bittersweet.”
“It’s been in the family for more than 50 years,” said Ganger, 57, an event planner in Tallahassee. “It’s been the beacon and the rock. My sister and I adore the house. We’re definitely going to miss it.”
But, he said, with nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms spread over three buildings on nearly an acre of land, the estate was simply too much for him, his sister or his father’s widow, Anneli Ganger.
Dubbed Miradero, Spanish for “vantage point,” the nearly 7,000-square-foot estate with a pool was designed by noted architect Maurice Fatio, who left his mark on dozens of houses from Palm Beach to Miami. It sold for roughly $3.4 million less than its nearly $25 million asking price.
The estate needs work, Ganger said. Thankfully, he said there are strong signs that the new owners will show as much care for it as did both his father and grandfather.
Ganger declined to identify the buyers, as did listing agents Pascal and Antonio Liguori of Premier Estate Properties in Delray Beach. But, Ganger said, “on paper, at least, they’re a perfect match.”
“The family is hopeful that the new buyers will stick to their plan to refurbish the house and restore it to its full glory,” he said. “My dad would be happy with who it is and may have had a hand in it if you believe in that sort of thing.”
In a 2018 interview with The Coastal Star, the senior Ganger recalled going with his father to look at the house on Easter Sunday 1969. Left to Good Samaritan Hospital in a will, it had been vacant for years, he recalled.
A developer had an option to buy it and the one to the north and tear both down. Instead, the senior Ganger said he and his dad found a buyer for the other house and convinced the hospital to accept their offers.
After his father died in 1991, the senior Ganger and his wife moved into the house and began restoring it. They researched Webb’s plans and followed her wishes.
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