The saga of the Mercer Island mega manse ends with a $13.2M sale

One of the most expensive homes listed in the Puget Sound area has finally sold. Dubbed Boulevard Place East, the Mercer Island mega-manse at 4137 Boulevard Place sold for $13.2 million to Jay Deutsch, founder of Woodinville-based Bensussen Deutsch and Associates Inc. (BDA), manufacturer of branded promotional merchandise. The deal closed the day before Thanksgiving.

Click here for a slide show of images of the home.

Deutsch, who is married with children, has been called a leader, innovator, motivator and entrepreneur by colleagues and peers.

The original owners of the home, which was completed under their direction in 2010 but never lived in, were David and Becky Sandwith. Its original price tag in October of 2010 was $28.8 million, but word is that more than $32 million went into the building of this luxury 14,000-square-foot waterfront home on Lake Washington.

It took some six years to build it from start to finish. When it was done, it sat empty for two years, as the Sandwiths, who decided to travel more, had changed their minds about moving in.

The estimated cost per square foot to build is about $1,500, not including the land, which covers 1.69 acres, with 164 feet of no-bank waterfront. There’s about 6,000 square feet of 2-inch-thick imported limestone just in the terraces and decks, which cost more than $2 million to install. Taxes were in the $100,000 range.

The architect, Curtis Gelotte of Gelotte Hommas Architecture, and interior designer Steven Hensel of Hensel Design Studios, are known for their work on luxury homes, as is Cello Technologies, which installed all of the smart-home technology features for Bill Gates' place as well.