…The glass tile, about 3,000 square feet, is from a company called Sicis in Ravenna, Italy, one of the finest glass tile manufacturers. The blue tiles have a copper iridescence, which take on different hues depending on how the sun hits the pool.

Perry Snell’s waterfront mansion, considered as one of the most beautiful homes in Florida, was just listed for $18 million, in the St Petersburg/ Tampa Bay area. Alona Dishy with Realty Executives, who specializes in high end, historic and waterfront homes in the Tampa Bay area, is representing the ownership.

From 1845, the year Florida joined the Union, to the beginning of the 20th century, governors of the state usually lived in hotels or boardinghouses. In 1905, the state legislature appropriated $25,000 to construct an official residence for the governor, and the home was finished in 1907, George Saxon, a banker from Tallahassee, donated four lots on which to build the residence.

Already a multi-millionaire before her 20th birthday, Sharapova decided to use $2.6 million of her tennis winnings for a home on southwest Florida’s affluent Longboat Key. Sharapova’s two-story mediterranean-style home offers four bedrooms, fireplace, swimming pool, and a boat dock.

Many of the country’s most lavish properties have dropped in price to lure buyers.

When brokers and sellers determine an asking price for a home in the double-digit millions, local real estate statistics mean almost nothing. Instead of relying on metrics like “comparables,” the industry term for similarly appointed homes that have recently sold nearby (these [...]