An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Susan Sontag. She was a wife, mother, and foundation leader.
The person who buys the home at 1185 Ponte Vedra Blvd. in Ponte Vedra, Florida, will acquire a palatial estate with 320 feet of oceanfront, but other people may benefit even more from the sale.
That’s because the proceeds from the $18 million asking price, after the commissions and closing costs are paid, will go to the Sontag Foundation to fight brain cancer.
Rick Sontag and his wife, Susan, started building what was to be the couple’s “dream home” in the late 1980s. Construction on the 9,780-square-foot house was completed in 1994.
“Two and a half months before we moved, my wife had a stroke and was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer,” Sontag told Homes.com.
Rick, who has a degree in physics and a Harvard MBA and owned and sold an aviation company, decided to devote the rest of his life to his wife's health and brain cancer research, creating the Sontag Foundation.
When she was diagnosed, "I switched gears to do something about this disease,” he said.
Home was built for entertaining
Savannah-based Hanson Architects designed the Spanish Colonial-style home with an open floor plan for entertaining. The five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath house features a wide living room with a vaulted ceiling and a 16-by-30-foot skylight.
In addition to the family gatherings they hosted, the couple held fundraisers for their foundation and others.
“It was very much a family and friend house for us,” Sontag said. “We used the house to its fullest.”
The nearly three-acre estate comes with beach access, and the agents said another two lots with an additional 320 feet of beachfront can be added to the purchase for a negotiated price.
In quieter moments, Susan liked to walk the boardwalk from the home’s perch on the bluff to the beach, where she collected shark teeth, according to Rick.
Over time, Susan was less able to host, but Rick said she still lived an impressive life after her diagnosis. “She was given three years to live, and lived 28,” he said.
She died in 2022.
Rick lives in a smaller residence nearby now; he transferred the house into the name of his foundation. He said the proceeds from the sale will go to research grants and training, as well as a subsidiary he started that gives direct aid to patients.
“I’ve learned a lot about the disease through this process,” Rick said, “and I’m excited every day to come to my office and help people the way we do. … We’re going to use this money to fight the scourge of brain cancer.”
Michelle and Jack Floyd of One Sotheby’s International Realty are the listing agents.