By Katherine Clarke

For more than 20 years, Steve Savor has been hosting lavish parties at his waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Last year, he hosted a "Barbie"-themed gala, decking out the house in hot pink and dressing up as Ken.

"I always say, if the house burned to the ground and I didn't have any insurance, I got my money's worth out of it," laughed Savor, a 64-year-old retired bachelor.

Savor is now listing the property, known as Villa de Palma, for $39 million. He said he travels frequently, especially during the summer months, and wants a home that doesn't require as much attention.

Savor, who trained as a lawyer, made his fortune in merchant banking and is the former CEO of the Pittsburgh-based communications company Com-Net Ericsson. Retiring at age 39, he assembled Villa de Palma over two decades, starting with the purchase of the main house for about $1.85 million in 2002, property records show. In the years since, he has spent millions adding more land to expand his footprint to roughly an acre, he said. One of those properties included a five-bedroom house, which he razed around 2009.

To celebrate the demolition, he hosted an "Animal House"-style toga party. He spent two weeks decorating the house to look like a fraternity house. Then, the night before the demolition, he and his pals "tore the house up" with sledgehammers.

"At the end of the night, we were throwing kegs through windows," he said.

After tearing down the small house, Savor expanded the main home, completing the project around 2010. The eight-bedroom, Mediterranean-style estate has about 15,000 square feet of living space and two large outdoor pools. It is well-equipped for entertaining, with a wine cellar and eight separate bar areas, including one inspired by the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the South of France. Savor calls another bar, on the rooftop, Tequila Tower. A giant table in the space "can hold plenty of people to dance on after the tequila has been depleted," he said.

There are two "relaxation rooms." One of them, which Savor calls the Sahara Lounge, is modeled after the Moroccan room at the Versace Mansion in Miami Beach. The property also has dockage for three yachts, including Savor's 126-foot custom yacht, Savoir-Faire.

His property is within walking distance of the beach and downtown Fort Lauderdale's main shopping strip, Las Olas Boulevard. Savor likes to sit out on the roof deck and watch the sunset. Every evening, a flock of parakeets takes off from the trees around his house. "It's like clockwork," he said.

A Pittsburgh native, Savor was drawn to South Florida after partying there as a young lawyer.

"I would come down for long three-day weekends and end up staying two weeks," he said. "When I retired, I made my playground my home."

Listing agent Chad Carroll of Compass said the market for high-end homes in Fort Lauderdale is strong. "We have all these very prominent individuals relocating here permanently," he said. Last year, a newly renovated home set a Fort Lauderdale record when it sold for $70 million, he said.

The larger Florida market has been on a tear. Last week, a waterfront estate in Naples sold for $225 million, setting a record for the state, while major sales also closed in Miami Beach.

Write to Katherine Clarke at Katherine.Clarke@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 30, 2025 13:00 ET (17:00 GMT)

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