Inside late fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer's $8.5millon Palm Beach estate - but will the new owner
- The property has had a price cut from $11.5million to $8.5million
- Pulitzer died earlier this month at the age of 81
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The late Lilly Pulitzer's name is synonymous with bold tropical prints. Now, as her showstopping Palm Beach home is given a $3millon price cut, it is clear to see where she got her inspiration.
The 1.4acre estate, which comprises 9,000sq ft of living space across a four-bedroom house, a three-bedroom 'casita' and a two-bedroom pool house, was the home of the fashion designer for over 30 years until her death earlier this month.
It has been for sale since January 2011 at $11.5million, but last week that figure was chopped to $8.5million.
Designer style on discount: Lilly Pulitzer's home has been for sale since January 2011 at $11.5million, but last week that figure was chopped to $8.5million
The Pulitzer look: Faded prints and palm trees adorn furniture both indoors and outdoors
The agent selling the property is Pulitzer's daughter, Liza, who admits she hopes the new owners do not simply buy it for the land, and destroy the family home.
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Share'It's the largest (non-waterfront) Estate Section lot,' she told The Palm Beach Daily News. 'We're marketing it at land value. When it goes, there won’t be another interior lot of this size'
She added to the New York Observer: 'We would hate to see the house torn down, but the house is not landmarked.'
Family home: Pulitzer and her second husband, Enrique Rousseau, purchased the plot in 1980 for just $565,000. The various accommodations on the site were built in 1983
The property was initially put on the market because Pulitzer was finding its upkeep a challenge.
Style legend: Lilly Pulitzer, pictured at fashion week in 2004, died this month at the age of 81
She told the Wall Street Journal at the time: 'It's just magnificent, but I'm old and I'm cranky and I can't keep it up the way it should be.'
Pulitzer and her second husband, Enrique Rousseau, purchased the plot in 1980 for just $565,000. The various accommodations on the site were built in 1983.
The decor and gardens are typical of the designer's style. Faded prints and palm trees adorn furniture both indoors and outdoors, while tropical landscaping and the pool make for a sensational backdrop.
'We were very Cuba,' Pulitzer wrote in a book about herself and Rousseau.
Lilly Pulitzer launched her business in the 1950s - by accident. She was socialite with time to spare and a wealthy husband who owned citrus groves, so she started a juice stand on a busy shopping street.
She needed dresses in tropical prints (no dowdy aprons for Lilly!) that would hide stains. The loose, sleeveless cotton shape that came to be known as the shift was perfect for the task and local climate.
'I designed collections around whatever struck my fancy . . . fruits, vegetables, politics or peacocks! I entered in with no business sense. It was a total change of life for me, but it made people happy,' Pulitzer told The Associated Press in 2009.
'Her clothes were transporting,' said Adam Glassman, creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine. 'You automatically think of Palm Beach, or sunny California in a Slim Aarons photograph.'
Style signature: Lilly Pulitzer, pictured in her Lilly shift in 1965. She became known for cheeky prints and easy cuts that women across America loved
Fashion darling: Pulitzer pictured in 2002 after her spring 2003 catwalk show in New York
The brand was purposefully inclusive, said Janie Schoenborn, now the vice president of creative communications of Lilly Pulitzer's former company.
Gilded by Lilly: Pulitzer's designs became popular for baby showers, weddings, and garden parties
'If someone is wearing the same print, you high five them! I don't want to use the word "club," though, because that seems exclusive. Anyone who is happy and wants to have a good time can come to our party.'
Schoenborn said Lilly Pulitzer occupies a unique spot in the fashion world. 'It's so not fashion-y, but it is fashion because it has such a strong point of view.'
'The look is colorful, it tends to be preppy - it's an iconic American look based on a lifestyle that's based around these prints,' Glassman said.
Pulitzer also paved the way for today's popular lifestyle brands, including Tory Burch, Tibi and Milly, and even Ralph Lauren, Glassman added.
It was a different business than the avant-garde catwalk designers showing in Europe during the '60s. It was about loyalty and longevity instead of drastic swings of the pendulum.
Then-first lady and fashion plate Jacqueline Kennedy, a former schoolmate of Pulitzer, wore one of the shifts in a Life magazine photo spread, confirming the look's legitimacy.
Pulitzer retired from the day-to-day business in 1993 after a rough patch in the Eighties era of power dressing. But the company and its hallmark prints have returned to profitability.
Sales of the brand were strong in the earnings period that ended Feb. 2, according to parent company Oxford Industries' report. Revenue increased 26per cent to $29.1 million.
Pulitzer's attitude is still pervasive at the company and in new products, said Schoenborn. 'If we've put a twinkle in your eye, then we have honored her.'
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