Douglas Elliman's Lourdes Alatriste brings Fox News Digital inside the $18.9 million home in Coconut Grove, where history meets luxury.
After months of touring South Florida's most rugged islands and brand-name lodges, the last stop in the “billionaire” state revealed a shift in the expensive mind.
A rich transplant no longer just buys safety – it buys history. Behind the lush, landscaped grounds of the $18 million Gothic modernist building, the era of “Silicon Grove” has arrived. Here, the basement is not a modern glass box, but instead features large spaces, hand-hewn stonework and a giant chessboard on the ceiling that feels more like a European cathedral than a Miami residence.
As taxes loom in the Northeast and West Coast, top industrialists are discovering that true luxury in 2026 means a private booth, an infinity pool and the freedom to go to the local bookstore without a security detail — including Google founder Larry Page, who recently launched more than $188 million in the area.
“People like that do their homework before they buy anything. No matter how emotional or impulsive, they are always guided and taught where to buy and where not to buy, and their advisors told them that Coconut Grove was the place,” Lourdes Alatriste of Douglas Elliman, who has a long list of A-list News clients, told Fox News Digital.
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“And that makes it everything I've always said: Coconut Grove is a hidden gem. It has everything … from the water, to hiking, to parks, to shopping, to family.”
Homes in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Getty Images)
Coconut Grove is the oldest area of Miami-Dade County, having been settled by settlers in the 1870s and annexed by Miami in 1925. Its rise began in the 1960s when it was called “The Grove,” and it attracted a lot of Bohemian musicians, singers and writers. During the 1980s, money began to flow from the height of America's cocaine boom, and while Coconut Grove retained some of its hippie vibe, new residential developments took over.
Fast-forward to today, and “suddenly, it started picking up again because [people] notice, when you have a place, when the world is gone, and you have a place that fulfills all your desires like in schools, like in parks, like in shops, in the way of life, privacy, you go. You start building,” Alatriste explained. “You take good places and make them even better.”
The home the top agent showed Fox News Digital is a mix of social history and new-age excess. As you enter, the grand hall greets you with 30-foot vaulted ceilings and polished marble floors that exude a cool, solid feel. Large, smooth-coated white chandeliers act as anchors, while the old glass windows – set high like translucent stones – cast colorful, geometric shadows on the modern white bouclé chairs and French-cast brass chandeliers.
The first bedroom balcony overlooks Biscayne Bay. | FOXBusiness
According to Alatriste, the price of the $18.9 million home is actually “slightly below” expectations.
“When I give prices, there are always three prices for me: The wow factor… And then there [are] normal prices like comps in the area, and there is a price I have to sell tomorrow. So, with that said, I think Coconut Grove has kept its element,” he said.
“You have a chance now, I don't know if you will get it later [prices rise] and as more people come in, because we still have more people, and remember, Florida doesn't just have something [migration demographic]like New York or California, they have everything. They have Mexico. They have Brazil… Chicago… It's a melting pot of different regions and countries coming here.”
Douglas Elliman Exclusive Group founder Devin Kay is taking Fox News Digital into a multimillion-dollar Allison Island home in the same location where Google's Sergey Brin moved.
While Indian Creek Village, Four Seasons Surf Club and Allison Island rely on private security forces, the Grove relies on a culture of “respectable distance.” The homes are designed to allow high-profile owners to interact with the world on their own terms, featuring outdoor spaces that look out of sight.
Some of the most notable citizens include Madonna, LeBron James, Sylvester Stallone, Jimmy Buffett, Derek Jeter, Christian Slater – and for the sake of history, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell.
“You want to go to dinner, don't come back [have] fear of anything. You want to take a trip and you want to know that your area is covered, that you don't have to worry. There will always be something we can't control, but basically, the people who live around you will always take care of you,” Alatriste said of the sense of community in Coconut Grove.
Mick Duchon of the Corcoran Group gives Fox News Digital a tour of the $21.95 million unit at the Four Seasons Residences in Surfside, where former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz recently bought a bathroom.
For tech giants like Page and other industry powerhouses, the draw to Florida is suspected to be more of a lifestyle change than purely business.
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“I think they will always talk about taxes. Money is crying,” said Alatriste. “But in that case, your lifestyle is more important than money.”
“Life, authenticity and community… Those are the three words that best describe Coconut Grove.”
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