By Sandra Fleishman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 29, 2005; Page F01

Dwight Schar is definitely doing his part for the housing industry.

The chairman and chief executive of NVR Inc., the biggest home-building company in the Washington area and the eighth largest in the nation, paid $70 million at the end of last year for a home in Palm Beach, Fla.

And now, as for millions of other recent home buyers, it's time to renovate.

The price was the highest ever paid for a residential property in the United States, according to an educated guesstimate from the National Association of Realtors that has been repeated by Palm Beach newspapers and others. The previous high was $50 million for a Lake Tahoe property.

Schar's purchase was somewhat complicated, consisting of three deals, according to recent reports on the deed transfers. He paid $45 million for Casa Apava, a historic ocean-facing mansion on six acres owned by billionaire Revlon boss Ron Perelman and his wife, actress Ellen Barkin. He paid an additional $18.6 million for a boathouse on a lakefront lot across the street. And he reportedly shelled out another $6 million or so for furnishings and fixtures.

The 26,000-square-foot main house includes seven bedrooms, 18 bathrooms and a movie theater. There's an oversized outdoor pool, a pool house, several guest houses, a spa, an updated gym and what the New York Post described as a "walk-in humidor for [Perelman's] priceless cigar collection."

By buying both the main house and the lot across the street, Schar got an ocean-to-lake domain -- a relatively rare opportunity in the tony resort, according to Palm Beach real estate experts.

But even the most expensive house, it seems, can be spruced up. To that end, Schar has hired architects Digby Bridges, Marsh & Associates in nearby Delray Beach.

The firm has submitted plans to Palm Beach town officials to add a three-car garage, extend the driveway and enclose a balcony on a bridge from the guest quarters to the main house.

The property sits on an expensive strip of oceanfront property that has for nearly a century been home to some of the nation's wealthiest people. Old money has made way for new money in recent years. Schar's neighbors include Netscape founder Jim Clark, Sotheby's owner Alfred Taubman and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer. Donald Trump recently bought a fixer-upper nearby for $41.35 million at a November bankruptcy auction, and told the Palm Beach Post this month that he plans to build another house on the 43,000-square-foot estate before selling it.

Of course, Trump, 58, the star of NBC's "The Apprentice" and owner of Palm Beach's Mar-a-Lago estate and club, and Schar, 62, have bigger budgets than most homeowners. Schar received $94.3 million in pay and stock options in 2002 and $58 million in 2003 from McLean-based NVR, and sold at least $155 million in stock last year, according to company filings.

In 2003, Schar picked up a $200 million share of the Washington Redskins. That year, he cashed in $178 million in stock.

None of the details about Schar's second home have come from the intensely private builder, who three years ago bought a gated mansion in McLean on 10 acres overlooking the Potomac. Nor did they come from NVR officials.

"No comment" was the response from the company on Schar's transactions and on other published reports that NVR's chief financial officer, Paul C. Saville, has paid $35 million for an oceanfront estate two doors down the beach from his boss.

Instead, the particulars are mostly the result of aggressive reporting by the Palm Beach Daily News and the Palm Beach Post, which are tracking a flurry of over-the-top home sales in the trendy area last year and continuing into the new year.

Those newspapers first began naming Schar as the buyer in late October, attributing the information to unnamed sources because the real estate agents involved had all signed confidentiality agreements. The sales, like many other mega-mansion deals over $10 million, are recorded under the names of trusts.

Schar was referred to by name during a town meeting Jan. 19 when his renovation plans became public knowledge. Any exterior changes must be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission because the main mansion has landmark protection. Architect Digby Bridges said the new owner, Schar, would be receptive to a visit by the commission.

The house was designed in 1918 for Chester Bolton, an Ohio congressman, and his wife, Frances Payne Bolton, who was the heir of Standard Oil treasurer Oliver Howard Payne.

Though the proposed exterior changes aren't seen as substantial, according to Robert L. Moore, the town of Palm Beach's planning, zoning and building director, the commission determined Jan. 19 that the architects' presentation didn't make clear what was going to happen to the balcony.

So Schar will experience at least one frustration that homeowners commonly run into when they renovate -- bureaucratic delays. The commission wants a tour of the house in February before signing off on the plans.

Staff researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this report.

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