A five-bedroom lakefront estate at 635 Crest Road in Palm Beach's coveted North End has sold privately for $57 million, according to a deed recorded on February 18, 2026. The off-market transaction underscores the fierce demand for waterfront property on the island, particularly parcels with deep-water access along the Intracoastal Waterway.
The sellers, Lili C. and Ambrose K. Monell, had homesteaded the property as their primary residence. The buyer purchased through a land trust named after the address, with Cameron Casey serving as trustee. Casey is co-chair of wealth management at Choate, Hall and Stewart, the prominent Boston-based law firm. The use of a land trust is standard practice in Palm Beach's ultra-luxury market, where privacy is prized above almost everything else.
Kourtney Pulitzer represented the sellers in the transaction. Gary Pohrer of Serhant, who previously worked at Douglas Elliman, represented the buyer.
The property sits on just under 0.9 acres and features roughly 145 feet of Intracoastal Waterway frontage with a private dock. The Bermuda-style residence, built in 1950, encompasses 7,779 square feet across five bedrooms. Crest Road itself is a quiet cul-de-sac that connects to Plantation Road, located about a third of a mile south of Palm Beach Country Club.
What makes this sale particularly notable is the property's history. The estate was once considerably larger, spanning approximately 1.5 acres with 250 feet of lakefront. In late 2021, the Monells sold a vacant lot on the south side of the house for $25 million in another private deal. That earlier transaction effectively split the compound, but even at its reduced size, the remaining parcel commanded a price that reflects just how scarce lakefront land has become on the island.
Combined, the Monells have now pulled in $82 million from the two sales.
Ambrose Monell comes from a family with deep roots in American industry and philanthropy. He is the grandson of the late industrialist and financier Ambrose Monell, and he serves as president of a New York City-based charitable foundation that bears the family name. Lili Monell's late father, John Hayes Crichton, once maintained a Palm Beach home of his own, tying the family to the island across generations.
The $57 million price tag places this sale among the upper tier of Palm Beach transactions so far in 2026. While oceanfront estates on South Ocean Boulevard routinely grab headlines with nine-figure asking prices, lakefront properties with deep-water dockage represent a different kind of rarity. There are simply fewer of them available, and when they do come to market (or trade privately, as in this case), they tend to move quickly.
Palm Beach's North End has quietly become one of the most desirable pockets on the island. It's residential, leafy, and removed from the bustle of Worth Avenue and the commercial stretches to the south. Properties here tend to attract buyers who value privacy and waterfront access over proximity to the social scene. The area's appeal has only grown in recent years as inventory across the island has tightened.
The off-market nature of this deal is worth noting, too. An increasing share of Palm Beach's highest-dollar transactions never appear on the MLS. Sellers in this bracket often prefer discretion, and buyers with the means to spend $57 million typically have agents with the relationships to find these properties before they're ever listed publicly. It's a market that operates largely on connections and trust.
For the new owner, the property offers something that money alone can't always buy: nearly an acre of lakefront land with a private dock in one of the most exclusive communities in the country. Whether the 1950s residence gets a renovation or eventually gives way to new construction remains to be seen, but the land itself is the real asset here.
In a market where oceanfront lots regularly trade above $100 million, a $57 million lakefront compound with deep-water access might just look like a bargain.
Photo: Claudia Altamimi / Unsplash
