Deco offers diners more than facade

By Stephanie Murphy

09/04/2005

A slice of 'Calypso' — Rodney Dillard of Palm Beach, president of Illustrated Properties International, recently participated in the sale of singer Harry Belafonte's oceanfront Plum Beach estate on the Caribbean island of St. Martin/St. Maarten.

Belafonte's home on 3.3 acres sold for $2.2 million. Dillard cooperated in the sale with Frances LaCour, owner of Carmio Real Estate in St. Martin, which has shared sovereignty with France and the Netherlands.

"The buyers were two South Carolina businessmen who purchased an incredible property designed by world famous architect Robertson Ward," Dillard said. Belafonte decided to sell "because he was traveling a great deal these days and not spending as much time vacationing in the Caribbean."

The site has 360 feet of ocean frontage, four bedrooms, and an oval swimming pool flanked by tropical landscaping. The location is near the world-renowned La Samanna Hotel.

Dillard, formerly with Sotheby's, opened the Palm Beach office of Illustrated Properties in 2003. He is an expert on properties in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, having handled sales of islands — such as Whale Cay, Rudder Cut Cay and Norman's Cay in the Bahamas and the Rockefeller Resort in St. Croix. Recently, he also participated in the sale of three homes on Mustique, a 1,400-acre private resort island in the Grenadines.

Founded in 1975, Illustrated Properties is an independent real estate firm with sales of $1.6 billion. It has 24 offices in Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties and in Naples.

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