Home sells for less than half $4-million original asking price

It was once for sale for more than $4-million, but the market decided the 90-year-old Dutch colonial home built by famed St. Petersburg builder Perry Snell was worth no more than $1.9-million.

The seller of the house at 1724 North Shore Drive NE in St. Petersburg was William McGill, chairman of Clearwater yacht and boat dealer MarineMax. Thursday's undisclosed buyer was an investor keen to restore the 9,650-square-foot waterfront home.

McGill acquired the house in May, partial payment for the $10-million Belleair seaside mansion he sold to Dr. James St. Louis, founder of Tampa's Laser Spine Institute. St. Louis had lived in the Snell house for a couple of years, and his purchase of the Belleair estate set a Pinellas County record for price.

The six-bedroom, six-bath house takes up three lots in the North Shore area on Old Tampa Bay. It was modeled after Groote Schuur, the official residence of the Prime Minister of South Africa.