245 Valencia Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Significance

The house stands in the El Cid Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 31 August 1995 under reference number 95001064. The district contains 281 contributing buildings and is bounded by Flamingo Drive, South Flagler Drive, Dyer Road, and South Dixie Highway. It was developed between 1923 and 1926 by Jay Phipps of Pittsburgh on former pineapple fields, on land homesteaded earlier by Benjamin Lainhart in 1875 and 1876 and by Elizabeth Wilder in 1883. The house dates to 1925, inside that development window, and the county record confirms the year built. No architect, builder, or original 1925 owner was identified in the sources reviewed.

Documented timeline

1. 1875 to 1883

   Area homesteaded

   The land that became El Cid was homesteaded by Benjamin Lainhart in 1875 and 1876 and by Elizabeth Wilder in 1883.[6]

2. 1920s

   El Cid developed

   Jay Phipps of Pittsburgh developed El Cid on former pineapple fields; the National Register record dates district development to 1923 through 1926.[6]

3. 1925

   House built

   The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and the listing record both give the year built as 1925.[1][5]

4. 1995

   District listed on the National Register

   The El Cid Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 31 August 1995, reference number 95001064.[6]

5. 2013

   Offered at $2,295,000

   Listed 16 October 2013 at $2,295,000 under MLS 13-2255, with Stephen R. Simpson of The Fite Group shown as the listing agent.[4]

6. 2014

   Sold for $2,250,000

   A sale of $2,250,000 closed 3 March 2014, per the Compass listing history and a county-record aggregator.[4][7]

7. 2016 to 2018

   Offered at $4,950,000, listing expired

   Listed from March 2016 to March 2018 at $4,950,000. The listing expired without a recorded sale.[4]

8. 2020

   Warranty deed transfer for a nominal $10

   A warranty deed dated 1 December 2020 conveyed the property to the current owner of record, individually and as trustee, for a nominal $10. A transfer at that figure is consistent with an estate or trust transfer rather than an arm's length sale.[5][7]

9. 2025

   Offered in the $14,900,000 to $17,900,000 range

   The Compass listing history shows a December 2025 listing in the range of $14,900,000 to $17,900,000, and separately states that this listing was cancelled in June 2026.[4]

10. 2026

    Active status unconfirmed

    As of September 2026, IDX aggregator pages continue to display MLS RX-11146831 as active at $17,900,000, while the Compass listing history shows the listing cancelled in June 2026. The conflict cannot be resolved without a live MLS pull.[1][3][4]

Ownership of record

Title of record is held by an individual owner, individually and as trustee, per the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser; the owner is not named here. A county-record aggregator corroborates the record. Current occupants are not identified; this dossier describes recorded and reported transactions only.

Current status

Marketed as the Grand Dame of El Cid under MLS RX-11146831 at $17,900,000 on aggregator pages, while the Compass listing history shows the listing cancelled in June 2026. Active status is therefore unconfirmed as of September 2026. The current listing agent and brokerage were not reliably confirmed in the sources reviewed; the Compass page shows only the 2013 listing agent, who by date cannot be the current one.

Buyer diligence

• Confirm with the City of West Palm Beach Historic Preservation Board whether a certificate of appropriateness is required before any exterior work, and what the review timeline looks like.
• Ask the City of West Palm Beach whether its historic property ad valorem tax exemption for qualifying rehabilitation may apply to planned work, and on what terms.
• Pull the current FEMA flood zone designation and an elevation certificate; the parcel is reported to carry 140 feet of Intracoastal frontage, which raises the weight of flood, elevation, and sea wall questions.
• Confirm the contributing status of this specific address in the district survey rather than relying on the district boundary alone.
• Confirm the year built, parcel control number, and the 2020 deed terms directly with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and the Clerk and Comptroller.
• Verify listing status and the current listing agent directly with the MLS, since aggregator pages and the Compass listing history conflict.

What the record cannot show

• The architect, builder, and original 1925 owner were not identified in any source reviewed.
• A warranty deed recorded at a nominal $10 documents a transfer but not the consideration, the relationship between the parties, or the terms of the underlying trust.
• Descriptions of style and of historical importance here come from marketing copy, not from National Register nomination findings.
• Public records do not establish whether an MLS listing is presently active; only the MLS does.