Joseph Leone

Joseph Leone is a designer, entrepreneur and developer of Italian and French origin working in the United States. He is best known as the designer and developer of Le Palais Royal, a 60,000 square feet luxury mansion, which was the most expensive home in the United States when it was put on sale in 2014. Leone's other notable project was the rebuilding and expansion of the mega yacht My Seanna.

In 1991, Leone arrived in the USA (Miami), where he worked with department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. His meeting with the multimillionaire Robert W. Pereira led to his two largest and most famous projects: the design and construction of Le Palais Royal, a 60,000 square foot mansion valued at $159 million, and the rebuilding and expansion of the mega yacht My Seanna.

Le Palais Royal

The client purchased an estate with a waterfront mansion in Hillsboro Beach in 2004. After buying an additional estate for a total of 5 acres, both houses were torn down. Leone began designing Le Palais Royal in 2007 and began building in 2009. He hired Coastal Construction Group to build the estate. With construction costs exceeding $100 million, the 11-bedroom palace includes several unique luxury elements, such as the first ever home IMAX cinema in the world, a 29-foot tall waterfall, and over half a million leaves of 22 carat gold covering the gates and the interior. Leone said he wanted to "build a château in the US," designed to last like old European palaces.

In 2014, Leone's client decided to sell the house because of his frequent travelling. Internationally marketed as "The American Jewel," Le Palais Royal was the most expensive home in the United States when it was first put on sale. Its price as of mid-2016 was $159 million.

After meeting with naval architect Patrick Dupuis of Murray & Associates, Leone started the 18-month transformation project. The Rybovich Shipyard in Florida was tasked with the completion of the advanced cosmetic and structural changes to the vessel. Key to the rebuild was the extension: by adding 25 feet to the hull, she could then accommodate one of the most requested features from charter brokers: a beach club. It also allowed the upper deck to be extended so that it could include a touch-and-go helipad. A cutting edge AV system was installed, featuring an outdoor film screen on the sun deck and an underwater camera whose picture can be seen on the TV.

Completed in November 2014, it was a $17-million "total, no-holds-barred, you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it rebuild." The yacht was "thoroughly and completely redesigned from the keel up to be a pure charter machine." The boat, now 185 foot long, was rechristened My Seanna after the owner's daughter.

My Seanna was a finalist at the 2015 World Superyacht Awards in Amsterdam.