Southern Living Idea House in Nassau County listed for $6.85 million

A house that put Nassau County on the architectural design map is back on the market.

The Southern Living 2019 Idea House at 50 Cord Grass Court is available for $6.85 million.

Crane Island Real Estate LLC Vice President and broker John Allen Hillman is marketing the property, referred to as “a river home like no other.”

Its address is Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island.

The price includes the home, all of the furniture, a boatlift and a 27-foot Boston Whaler.

The almost 6,800-square-foot, two-story house comprises 4,500 square feet of enclosed conditioned space, 1,400 square feet of porches and the remainder in garages.

It comprises four bedrooms; a bunkroom that sleeps four; five full and one half-bathrooms; four porch locations; a resort-style pool; an outdoor summer kitchen; and a fire pit.

A detailed view and description are at craneisland.com.

The house sits on 0.53 acre on Crane Island, between the Intracoastal Waterway and Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport. 

As the Southern Living Idea House, it was open for paid tours in the last half of 2019 and early 2020. The furnished home was sold Jan. 22, 2020, for $3.55 million to 50 Cord Grass Court LLC, managed by Jamie Levitt. 

“The owner has enjoyed it immensely since 2020 but their family is back in Colorado and the travel has just become too much for them,” Hillman said by email Feb. 13.

“They actually spent quite a bit of money on many of the outdoor spaces that are highlighted in the email with the new pool, summer kitchen, and really lovely outdoor fire pit space.”

Crane Island Real Estate markets it as:

“A River Home that helped define a community and inspired thousands across the US. From the moment the design team set foot on the property, this was to be a home that would honor local architectural tradition, embrace the joy of outdoor living, and show what is possible when good people come together to design a timeless River Home.”

Southern Living Magazine chooses a Southeastern location for an Idea House to provide design ideas for homeowners and homebuyers.

The 2019 Idea House design, featured in the August edition that year, is the work of architects, interior designers, builders and landscape designers to showcase a house with features that people can incorporate into their homes.

The home initially was listed for $3.99 million with all the furnishings.

It was open for paid tours from June 8 through Dec. 8, 2019, and reopened Jan. 15 through March 2020;

Part of the $22 admission fee benefited the Amelia Island Museum of History.

Among the property amenities are a large kitchen; a game room; a sunroom; a two-car garage and cart shed; two fireplaces; an elevator-ready closet; and other living spaces.

Atlanta and New York-based architectural firm Historical Concepts designed the home as a Low Country-style generational home to appear as if additions were made over time, by mixing materials, textures and extensions to the building.

The floor plan was designed to allow open views from the front entry through the back to the Intracoastal Waterway. The house features outdoor living space.

The master suite is semidetached, but internally accessed, from the main house as is the guest bedroom over the semidetached garage. Three bedrooms and the bunk room are on the second floor along with front and back porches.

Porches and rooms overlook the salt marsh along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Hooten Land Design Inc. designed the landscape with native vegetation to allow the home to blend into the natural marsh landscape.

The home interior design by Birmingham, Alabama-based Heather Chadduck Interiors & Textiles portrayed a coastal style with a palette of blue hues and neutral tones.

Jacksonville-based custom builder Riverside Homes began construction of the Idea House in November 2018. The model opened to the public in June, meaning a seven-month construction schedule.

Crane Island is a master-planned community of 113 single-family lots on 185 acres, preserving 100 acres. The community features a bird sanctuary, park and gardens, walking and biking trails and a dock.

The Nassau County Property Appraiser lists a county taxable value of the design house as $3.53 million.

The marketing email calls it “a river home nestled amongst the ancient live oaks along the shores of Crane Island & The Intracoastal Waterway. This home is new but has a timeless and refined soul to it.”  

The 2020 Idea House was along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, North Carolina, followed by 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky, and 2022 in coastal Oriental, North Carolina.