21-02-2025
$25 million Boca Raton home decorated with dragons, mermaids featured on Zillow Gone Wild
A whimsical Boca Raton home whose baroque design is an ode to mythology, folklore and the four elements is on the market for $25 million.
The more than 12,700 square-foot estate on the Intracoastal Waterway has 12 bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms and three pools, including one shaped like a fish and one designed for fish pedicures.
A hand-carved enclosed wooden slide from the second floor to the foyer is likely included in the deal.
A Norse-style 20-seat kitchen table shaped like a Viking long ship with a carved dragon head rising from its bow is negotiable.
The unique elements of the custom-built home came from the imagination of Angela Nalbantu, who owns the 0.53-acre property in the Sun & Surf Club with her husband, Thomas Shrager.
With just two of seven children left at home, the couple has decided to downsize from the house it took Nalbantu more than five years to design with themed rooms where every inch off floor to ceiling is tiled, muraled or stained glass.
More: Iconic pink building in West Palm Beach to get facelift, and $150 million mansion for sale on Manalapan
'The spaces speak to me,' said Nalbantu, who has a degree in philosophy and math. 'We tried to make it a life-affirming place. I also try to put in something whimsical because if you are very serious, life will trip you up.'
Crystals were put into the home's cornerstones. The concrete foundation was mixed with gallons of holy water.
An elevator represents several levels of Norse mythology's nine realms, including the ash tree Yggdrasill, which connects the worlds. Midgard, the world of men, Asgard, the world of gods, and Niflheim, the world of frost giants, are also included.
Outside, three large basalt columns represent the Oregon mountain peaks called the Three Sisters.
Joyce Schneider, owner of Castles by The Beach Realty, is representing the owners in the sale of 1201 Marble Way, which was featured on Zillow Gone Wild. She said she held an open house for agents that was scheduled to run between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
"Everyone stayed until 11," Schneider said. "No one wanted to leave. The house has such a sense of euphoria. It's amazing."
Nalbantu said she has artist friends in Germany and Canada who visited her to help with specific details. Ceilings were painted by professional French artist Narbero.
'Originally, I told my husband I wanted to make it only by myself, and he said, 'I don't have 100 years to wait for this,' ' Nalbantu said. 'So, fortunately, I have many friends, and everyone said they wanted to make something for the house.'
Room themes range from mermaids to dragons to Archangels to peacocks to roses to horses to Buddha. There is a frog-themed bathroom, a steampunk bathroom, and one dedicated to sunflowers.
Nalbantu, a native of Romania, said she always decorated elaborately, even before she had money to do so with high-end finishes. In an apartment in England, she painted the walls in a jungle theme and hung veils from the ceiling so they would add movement to the rooms as if a breeze was blowing.
The Dirt: New private club debuting in West Palm Beach is in historic hotel with notorious past
She said she's surprised about the number of views her home has racked up on some social-media sites. And she said it will be hard to give up the home into which she has put so much passion and effort.
But there's always the next house.
'I just go with the flow,' Nalbantu said. 'Everyone should make their home a representation of who they are on the outside and inside.'
Stay up to date on South Florida's sizzling real estate market and sign up for The Dirt weekly newsletter, delivered every Tuesday! Exclusively for Palm Beach Post subscribers.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@ Help support our local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: $25 million waterfront Boca Raton home is a zillow-gone-wild kind of place
