Lazydays RV founder’s Florida estate sells for $16.7 million

The sweeping Thonotosassa estate belonging to a co-founder of Lazydays RV dealerships has sold for $16.7 million. The sale closed on April 26, according to the Multiple Listing Service, for what is the highest sale price so far this year in Tampa Bay and one of the highest prices ever for the region.

The estate, dubbed “The Oaks,” was listed for $22 million in February 2019, and then the price was lowered to $17.5 million early last year. It sits on 36 acres on Lake Thonotosassa, about 16 miles from downtown Tampa.

The former owners, Donald and Erika Wallace, combined four adjacent properties to form the sprawling grounds. They also created hills and planted hundreds of trees, including live oaks and imported Italian cypresses.

The main chateau, done in French-Normandy style, has six bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and seven half baths, with an elevator connecting all four floors, according to the listing. Its amenities include a wood-paneled men’s lounge, steam and sauna rooms, a bowling alley and a game room with retro decor.

In addition to the house, there’s a workshop, guest house, gatehouse, horse barn with a grazing pasture, indoor and outdoor saltwater pools, a 20-car collector’s garage, jogging trail and even a go-cart track.

The buyer was a Coral Gables company, which lists its manager as Steven Lempera, a South Florida real estate investor.

Mary Pond, a real estate agent with Smith & Associates, represented both the buyer and sellers and said the property is truly one-of-a-kind.

“The Oaks is an architectural masterpiece of epic proportions,” she said. “Even though the property itself ... including the guest house is over 36,000 square feet, it feels comforting and inviting.”