Deep within Palm Beach County, where the suburbs blend into the wetlands, land that was once overlooked has become incredibly valuable.
This transformation has taken place inside the gates of Stone Creek Ranch, a secluded enclave near Delray Beach with only 37 homes spread across 187 acres. It sits as far inland as possible before the landscape shifts to Everglades swamp.
Stone Creek is among many gated communities that have risen from land formerly used for farming sugarcane and bell peppers. With names like Seven Bridges, Stonebridge, and Boca Bridges, these neighborhoods offer affluent buyers homes starting at $1 to $2 million.
Not long ago, Stone Creek was similar to its peers—pleasant, but not especially distinguished.
Today, however, this gated community is attracting headline-grabbing deals and buyers from the billionaire class.
Stone Creek’s once low-profile reputation has shifted as prominent new owners have moved in. In October, Mark Wahlberg purchased a fully renovated 17,800-square-foot mansion on 2.7 acres for $32.6 million. The property boasts seven bedrooms, a theater, wine room, gym, sauna, cigar lounge, guest house, and a pool—features considered standard for Stone Creek.
According to Talbot Sutter, broker and owner of Sutter & Nugent, Wahlberg’s purchase sparked a surge in demand for homes in the community.
“Everything in Stone Creek basically went under contract after Mark Wahlberg bought that house,” Sutter said, noting his own listing was among them.
Sutter’s colleagues in more established markets are puzzled by Stone Creek’s meteoric rise in South Florida’s luxury real estate scene. Longtime Palm Beach agents, familiar with the billionaire clientele, question why such high prices are being paid for homes in what they consider the outskirts.
While there are neighborhoods offering closer access to prestigious clubs, trendy restaurants, and the ocean, those aren’t the priorities for Stone Creek’s buyers. Instead, residents value security and privacy above all else—something harder to guarantee in Palm Beach, where the public can come and go freely. Stone Creek attracts those who want advanced safe rooms and reinforced protection.
The community’s rapid ascent is also tied to the post-pandemic influx of wealthy buyers seeking isolation and primary homes rather than just vacation properties.
“Stone Creek Ranch checked every box,” said Russell Weiner, founder of Rockstar Energy, citing the neighborhood’s size, price point, privacy, and amenities.
“Why in the hell that location, I have no clue.”
Weiner, who legally changed his last name to Savage and is an active luxury real estate investor, moved quickly after Wahlberg’s purchase. He went under contract on two Stone Creek homes: one at 16071 Quiet Vista Circle listed for $20.9 million, and another at 9303 Hawk Shadow Lane at $22 million.
While these figures are extraordinary for homes not on the water, they still don’t top the neighborhood’s record sale.
In January, a Cafaro family member bought a 2.5-acre spec estate for $41.5 million. The Cafaros, founders of a Niles, Ohio-based development company known for pioneering the American mall, named their nearly 19,600-square-foot mansion Casa Maranello after the Italian city where Ferraris are made. The estate features a 12-car garage, 12-seat theater, salon amenities, soccer field, sport court, and putting green. The sale was officially recorded at $41.5 million, but including furnishings and personal items, the total reached $55 million, according to listing agent Senada Adžem of Douglas Elliman.
Stone Creek’s appeal isn’t new, though. The Weeknd has toured homes in the area, and Mets owner Steve Cohen acquired a 31,000-square-foot mansion there in 2021. While the community’s rise seems sudden, its journey has been 25 years in the making.
Adžem, who has sold homes in Stone Creek since 2018, recalls when the average home sold for about $6 million.
“It was not known unless you were local,” she said. “Now, living in Stone Creek Ranch has become a point of prestige.”
Cane fields and dirt roads
Sutter, a lifelong Palm Beach County resident whose grandfather was among the region’s first real estate agents, earned his license after graduating from the Benjamin School in 2007. Soon after, he met Ken Endelson, the founder of Kenco Communities, who had launched Stone Creek in 2000 as an enclave for massive estates. Unlike neighboring communities, Stone Creek would have no golf course, clubhouse, or shared tennis courts—just a select collection of sprawling, private homes.
At the time, the area was surrounded by “cane fields and peppers. The 441 was still a dirt road,” Sutter recalled. “Why in the hell that location, I have no clue.”
Sutter was skeptical, but Endelson envisioned Stone Creek as a future destination for the global elite. When the financial crisis hit, Kenco needed buyers. While some homes were completed and sold, much of Stone Creek remained undeveloped. In 2009, Endelson sold the 19 remaining lots to an affiliate of Axiom Group for $10.1 million. Over the following years, Axiom sold the lots, and buyers constructed custom megamansions.
Despite the economic downturn and Stone Creek’s relative newness, influential buyers arrived. Wayne Huizenga Jr. purchased a five-acre parcel for $1 million in 2009, built a mansion, and later sold it to Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith for $6.7 million in 2017. Huizenga Jr. is the son of the late billionaire H. Wayne Huizenga, founder of companies including Waste Management and Blockbuster Video.
Insurance executives Seth and Brad Cohen of Insurance Care Direct also built and sold homes in Stone Creek for $17 million and $19 million, respectively, after purchasing their sites for just $800,000 and $900,000.
According to industry insiders, these prominent buyers created a snowball effect—well-known names drew in even more high-profile residents.
The latest wave of buyers, especially since 2020, sought even more: space, security, and comprehensive amenities under one roof, all in newly built homes. Many appreciated that Stone Creek had no shared club, which meant no dues, no club politics, and no club staff moving through the community.
“Their whole thing is their house is their club house,” Sutter said, describing home spas that “make the Ritz-Carlton look like child’s play.”
“These homes are so big and extravagant, with every imaginable feature,” he added. “It’s
