A private compound on Turks and Caicos’s Parrot Cay island formerly owned by actor Bruce Willis is coming on the market for $37.5 million. If it sells for that price, it would set a record for Turks, according to Nina Siegenthaler of Turks and Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty, one of the listing agents.
The sellers are Mark and Robyn Jones, founders of Goosehead Insurance, a multibillion-dollar, publicly traded insurance agency based in Westlake, Texas. The Joneses purchased the compound from Mr. Willis and his wife, Emma Heming-Willis, for $27 million, less than its original $33 million asking price, in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The property is one of about a dozen on Parrot Cay, famously home to big names such as Donna Karan and Christie Brinkley. Mr. Willis bought the site around 2000 and completed the construction of the compound in 2004. He and Ms. Heming-Willis married there in 2009.
The property sits on more than seven acres directly on the beach. Images: Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty
One of the world’s largest private estates, the roughly 7.4-acre property includes a 13,500-square-foot Asian-inspired compound with a main house, a pavilion and several guesthouses that the Joneses connected with a boardwalk. Altogether there are 12 bedrooms. Amenities include a yoga pavilion, a children’s playground with a large novelty pirate ship, a beach volleyball area, a fire pit and four pools, including a children’s splash pool.
The Joneses said they first decided to check out the property after their daughter spotted it in The Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section. They were drawn to it because it could accommodate their large family, which includes six children, their spouses and 16 grandchildren. They said they like to travel regularly “as a tribe.”
They converted a large bedroom in the main house into a bunkhouse and game room so as to have space for the grandchildren when they visited. Every year, Ms. Jones said she hosts a “grandma camp” for her grandchildren, where all the moms and kids head to one place to hang out with her. Last year, she hosted in Turks.
They also redid all the interiors.
The property includes 12 bedrooms across the main house and guesthouses. Images: Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty
Mr. Jones said the couple, based in Texas, is selling because the family is spending more time in Montana, where they have built an even bigger vacation compound in the Whitefish area to accommodate the family. “This is too beautiful, too magical a place to not be used all the time,” Ms. Jones said.
They were grateful to have been on the island when the Covid-19 crisis took hold in 2020. “It was like we had our own dreamy bubble, when all this craziness was going on in the world,” Mr. Jones said.
The Joneses said they have enjoyed watching their grandchildren spend hours paddleboarding, canoeing, kayaking and wrestling in the pools. Because the island has barely any vehicular traffic, they mostly get around on golf carts. Mr. Jones said he lets the youngest grandchild try to drive. (He just lets them think they’re driving. Really, he is in control.)
Meanwhile, Ms. Siegenthaler, who is co-listing the property with colleague Joe Zahm, said the Turks market has been active over the past year, with prices hitting historic highs. Annual sales volume surged to $751 million in 2021 from $290 million the year before, according to a recent report from Sotheby’s. Average sales prices jumped 30%, to $2.25 million from $1.72 million, the report showed.
Originally published on Wsj.com
