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A Dr. K original
By SHARON L. BOND, Neighborhood Times Business Editor ST. PETERSBURG -- Baseball star Dwight Gooden's mansion, built on two lots in Pinellas Point, might seem like the kind of luxury home that would sell itself. The house has a long list of amenities and rooms of custom work. The owner is happy for his celebrity to be used in the sale. Gooden is the Major League pitcher known as Dr. K for his strikeouts and, at age 19, the youngest to win the Cy Young Award. Real estate agent Cary Bond Thomas of Tourtelot Brothers Inc. thinks the Gooden name will help, but "I don't think anybody would buy it just for the celebrity's name. You'd have to like it in that price range (just under $2-million). It's the uniqueness of the home that is the No. 1 thing." Bond Thomas, who got the listing just over a week ago, is launching a marketing campaign that extends to a listing in Christie's Great Estates catalog and a virtual tour on the Internet. Bond Thomas said that when Gooden built the house in 1993, he wanted a "drop dead" result, an original, the kind of home that could be featured in Architectural Digest. He achieved that with a lot of custom work, she said. The home had to be built in seven months; Gooden wanted it finished when the baseball season was over. He and his family are moving to Tampa. Gooden retired as a player last year, but he still works for the New York Yankees organization. The house, at 6700 30th St. S, has six bedrooms and 51/2 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, family room with a fireplace, a theater, a billiard room with a wet bar, a children's game room, a large study used by Gooden, a craft room used by Monica Gooden, an enormous laundry room, a four-car garage, and a pool area that includes a spa and outdoor kitchen. Unique points include the massive front doors and the two-story grand foyer that looks into the living room. The Goodens used individualized pairs of doors throughout the house. Those leading from the dining room to the hall galleries are stained glass, while the ones leading from the family room to the theater are padded. Curving staircases on either side of the front doors lead to the second floor. A back stairway in the children's wing comes down to the pool area. The master wing has a bathroom the size of a regular bedroom. The bath has six ceiling-high windows and a balcony. The bedroom features his and hers closets, and Dwight Gooden's closet, while smaller than his wife's, has a library-style sliding ladder for reaching the top shelves. The children's wing has four bedrooms and two baths. The baths have glass brick windows that front a breezeway that looks out over the pool. Each child's room is decorated with wallpaper and paint for the individual interests. Art Deco details can be found throughout the house from mirrors to light fixtures to furniture made for the home, including two Art Deco console tables at either end of the first-floor hall galleries. Ceilings are high in the nearly 12,000 square feet of space, about 10,000 of which is heated. Other details include $250,000 worth of electronics in the theater, near floor-to-ceiling cabinets in the laundry room that a regular homeowner would be delighted to have in a living or dining room, marble incorporated in spots throughout the house, including the circular driveway, and nonskid tile around the pool. A giant replica of Dwight Gooden's signature runs across the bottom of the pool. Decorative murals adorn the walls of many of the rooms. The children's playroom has the Gooden children in different poses as well as Thomas the Tank Engine steaming out of one wall. Those personalized effects may not be for everyone, Bond Thomas said. And that can make a custom home a challenge to sell. "It might really be unique and custom-built for what you want, but how do you know the next person is going to want murals?" she asked. Whoever buys the house has to love the contemporary look, Bond Thomas said. The house is stucco with a lot of glass. Even thought it has Art Deco styling, the house is modern. For Bond Thomas as the seller, however, the biggest challenge is the neighborhood. The block where the house is located runs down to Tampa Bay, although Gooden doesn't have a water view. "Over here, we haven't had many resales of custom homes. I have sold lots of older people's homes, where they have been there for 20 or 30 years, and they are just knocked down," Bond Thomas said. Gooden's house is the largest on the block, and from the selling point of view, that never is a good thing, Bond Thomas said. "It's called pioneering," she said, referring to the fact that Gooden's house is much larger and more expensive than any others on his block. Gooden's mother, Ella, also lives on the block, as do two of his sisters. Mrs. Gooden is moving to Tampa also, near her son. "St. Petersburg does not have a lot of inventory in the luxury home market," Bond Thomas said. According to the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office, the county had only 87 houses with a value of $1-million or higher in 2001. For anyone remotely interested in baseball, Gooden's celebrity will be a plus. Although he will take all of his mementoes with him when he moves, the large study now is filled with items from his playing days. A large collection of signed bats is behind his desk, and there is a signed photo from Pete Rose and one of Gooden and former Mets teammate Gary Carter. A photograph of Gary Sheffield, Gooden's nephew who now plays for the Atlanta Braves, also hangs in the study. Several of Gooden's jerseys are framed and on easels. Despite the celebrity, the custom work and the amenities, "Dwight Gooden's home really is a family home," Bond Thomas said. "It's not a bachelor pad. It's for a nice big family. That is very much in demand. A place for those with a lot of people visiting and his and hers offices."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Letters |
