Hot Home News: Florida's Original Spring Break Party House For Sale

Online, March 19, 2013 (Newswire.com) - This week's Top 10 homes spotlight at TopTenRealEstateDeals.com includes a look at one of Fort Lauderdale's most famous estates. Back in 1938, Adolphus Busch III used some of his Anheuser-Busch beer money - much of it contributed by college students - to build his winter vacation home on the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale. The 12,533 square foot Manga Reva is a short boat ride or long swim to the Fort Lauderdale Swimming Hall of Fame. According to "spring break" legend, Fort Lauderdale's location as the spring break hotspot for college students began in the 1930s when northern college swim teams traveled to the city in the spring for practice and competition.

By the late 1950s, Anheuser-Busch was the largest beer brewer in the United States. Then in 1960 came the Connie Francis film "Where the Boys Are" that also took place in Fort Lauderdale, and the annual spring party was on for millions of college students. By the early 1980s, as many as 350,000 college kids were doing the annual March - April Fort Lauderdale party scene. But then the city cracked down on rambunctious parties, the kids went away and Fort Lauderdale's spring time is now mostly families and retired baby boomers (former spring breakers).

So, now the Busch estate is for sale at $15 million. The Mediterranean-style estate was designed by Addison Mizner protege Francis Abreu with 6 bedrooms, 11 baths, guest house, 60' lap pool, 130' dock and 525' of waterfront. The home even had a bit part in the "Where the Boys Are" movie. Some of the home's partying neighbors have included Lee Majors, Dave Thomas and Sonny & Cher.

In other home news:

Zsa Zsa Gabor's Bel Air home finally sold after two years on the market. Built in 1955 and designed by Howard Hughes, Zsa Zsa purchased the house in 1974 while she was between husbands four and five. Elvis Presley owned it for a while, and Queen Elizabeth and U.S. presidents have dined and been entertained here. Today it's a film star in its own right, having appeared in the Oscar winning film, "Argo." Coming up is another star role for the house in an HBO film about "Liberace, Behind the Candelabra." Asking price was originally $28 million, later reduced to $14.9 million. Sale price not yet disclosed.

A Georgetown coach house where Abe Lincoln's oldest son, Robert Todd, lived just sold for $7.6 million. Robert Todd bought the home in 1915 and lived there until 1926, when it was sold to the granddaughter of J.P. Morgan. The original main home was split off from the coach house and is currently owned by Ben Bradlee, former editor of the Washington Post.

Also, Dick Clark's rock house with views of the Pacific, the Boney Mountains, Serrano Valley and the lights of Malibu was recently reduced from $3,500,000 to $3,250,000. And Bugsy Siegel's place, where an FBI raiding party came looking for Siegel in 1940 to arrest him for the murder of fellow mobster Harry Greenberg, was for sale at $49.5 million. It just sold for $19.5 million.

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