I say it's spinach, and I say to hell with it

circa 2025

546 Lake Avenue was purchased from the estate of Donald Jonas (Marine, art collector, founder of Lechter’s - an interesting man) in May 2023 for $3.888 million (started at $4.4 in 2022), gut renovated and expanded and placed back up for sale in September 2025 for $10.5 million. That drew no takers, and the listing was allowed to expire at the end of December, by which time the price had dropped to $9.870.

It’s back on the market today; the same house, but with a new agent, a new price of $8.995 million, a new name, “Chateau Chadeline” and new listing photographs featuring a borrowed Ferrari parked in the driveway to replace the original listing’s photo shown above.

I don’t know, maybe faked-in lighting and a loaned — or AI created? — car will do what the older picture couldn’t, but I’ve always found that it’s the price that ultimately moves a house, not doctored pictures or a faux fu-fu name. But, owners do expect a new agent to do something different from the former one — because why else exchange one experienced, talented agent for another one? — and I suppose this sort of stuff excites and pleases them. We’ll see what the third agent does in 2027.

Next year’s agent might take a different approach: