Seems like Florida is a very popular place for wealthy athletes to call home. Maybe that has something to do with the lack of personal income tax in the state but that's neither here nor there (learn something new everyday, don't you?)
Thanks to the good people over at Jeff Realty here are pics and a video of the BallenIsles Country Club home of tennis star sisters Venus and Serena Williams, which has recently been upgraded to include a 4000-sq. foot, state-of-the-art training facility. Here some info and pics of the Williams BallenIsles home, as listed on the Jeff Realty:
The Williams sisters built their massive estate a decade ago. Besides the unique 2 master wings, the property grounds are triple guarded. BallenIsles Country Club is a manned, gated community of 1562 homes. Grand Key, where they reside, also has its own private gate. In addition, the Williams’ own home in Grand Key Estates has its own gate as well. Not even Buckingham Palace has this many gates! The addition still leaves the property with loads of parking, as the aerial shows a plethora of Range Rovers to roam about.
The interior architecture of the Williams home while quite complex in design, is simply stunning looking. Their architect, using a circular theme thru-out, repeated that detail in unique ways in the foyer, breakfast, dining, library and 2 story glass enclosed sitting rooms off each master bedroom. Each sister has massive double walk-in closets with literally miles of hanging space and built-ins. Both Venus and Serena have separate wings and galleries for trophies and mementos. Their master baths are all marble and granite, with beautiful cabinetry.
As you can see in the second picture, the Williams sisters have "2 Blue Williams Courts", with the blue color being used to mimic conditions the sisters are accustomed to competing on (the blue courts were first used during the Australian Open several years ago and players found it easier to pick up the yellow ball on the blue background, as opposed to green).
Here is video also provided by Jeff Realty detailing the Williams property:
Must be nice to be rich. Once I have a son and he becomes a super three-sport athlete I too may own a campus such as the Williams home. (We can all dream, right?)
You can see the property and more details on BallenIsles here. Credit goes to Jeff Lichtenstein for the info and links.
-ALR
