A house in Walt Disney World’s Golden Oak community was purchased by a member of the Bacardi family, owners of the namesake liquor empire.
Hilda Maria Bacardi on Feb. 10 paid $3.2 million for a house in the Orange County community, according to new county documents. Bacardi, a direct descendant of Bacardi Limited founder Don Facundo Bacardi Masso, bought the home from Celebration-based custom homebuilder Issa Homes Inc.
Meanwhile, in Central Florida, the luxury home sector thrives, drawing affluent buyers to ritzy communities like Golden Oak and Isleworth.
Issa Homes Partner and President Don Hempel told Orlando Business Journal he could not comment on the home purchase. However, Hempel noted that Golden Oak, like many regional communities, experienced increased demand after local stay-at-home orders lifted last year.
Contact information for Hilda Bacardi was not available. Bacardi spokeswoman Jessica Merz declined to comment, stating the home purchase is personal and unrelated to company operations.
Orange County in 2019 issued a residential construction permit for a three-story, 4,859-square-foot home for the site. The county also issued a construction permit for a 246-square-foot pool and 34-square-foot spa. Construction of the home is complete, Hempel said.
In addition to the home’s features, living in Golden Oak gives residents access to its many amenities. Those include a private clubhouse, pool, and fitness center. Of course, Golden Oak also offers convenient access to Walt Disney World Resort’s four theme parks and two water parks, with Epcot less than four miles away.
“Nobody can come close to the amenities Disney provides,” Tony Davids, a Realtor at Celebration-based Tony Davids Homes LLC, previously told OBJ. Davids had no involvement with the Bacardi home.
Luxurious Orlando homes are in demand, and local sales increased 105% year over year. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association reports 45 homes sold for $1 million or more in January, doubling January 2020’s sales.
Bermuda-based Bacardi, the world’s largest privately-owned spirits company, owns over 200 alcohol brands, including Grey Goose Vodka and Patron Tequila. Members of the Bacardi family have made a series of recent real estate transactions in South Florida. For example, two firms owned by the family this month sold a shuttered Miami golf course for $32 million, according to sister publication South Florida Business Journal. In November, the Bacardi family was part of a joint venture that sold a South Miami mixed-use development site for $18.95 million.
Trends in the residential real estate market are important, as every home sale in the state has an estimated local economic impact of $77,858, according to a 2018 study by the National Association of Realtors. In addition, people often consider the housing market a reflection of the local economy’s overall health.