HOMES OF THE TREASURE COAST
A uniXue design element is the Ialcon` aIoe the entrance to this :ailfish 7oint home, although the high ceiling in the fo`er maRes it inaccessiIle Bonus
rooms are located above the his and her two-car garages.
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Charlie and Peggy Russell can’t resist buying
large homes and then completing extensive
renovations, but their third home in Sailfish
Point will be their last.
Originally from Kentucky, the couple has
bought, remodeled and sold a dozen homes and condominiums
in Palm Beach and Martin counties. Their oceanfront
residence in Stuart was the biggest challenge yet, since it
was Must an unfinished shell when they purchased it three
years ago.
´:e buy them and fi them up with the idea of selling
them,” says Charlie, who went from cleaning asphalt tanks
for $1.99 an hour to working as an executive for Ashland
Oil. He also founded Kentucky Farmers Bank. “When it
comes to the money, we win a few and we lose a few,” he
says.
Built in 2008, the six-bedroom, 12,539-square-foot home
was a foreclosure from the banN. 7he million finishing
worN included new paint inside and out with new Áooring
in one bedroom. Bathrooms needed lights, mirrors and door
Nnobs. 1ew light fitures now have LE' bulbs throughout.
“This house was built on pilings to withstand a tsunami
while the wave goes right underneath the home,” says
&harlie. ´:e were the first people to live in this place.µ
When the couple begins a home project, they are all in
every day, bringing lunch with them while they supervise
and actually work, such as repairing drywall. Peggy did the
lower work and he did the higher work on the ladder.
“Charlie and I are together when we choose a house,”
says Peggy, an accomplished pianist and painter in all
;his is the last of homes renoated I` *harlie and 7egg`, who get
their hands dirty in the process.