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1667-9 Fisher Island SUN JAN 17 1988 ED: FINAL SECTION: LIVING TODAY PAGE: 1G LENGTH: 50 .50" LONG ILLUST: color photo: house on FISHER ISLAND, sandy baech, condo, bar, (FISHER ISLAND) ; photo: staircase in former Vanderbilt mansion, clubhouse (FISHER ISLAND SOURCE: JANE WOOLDRIDGE Herald Staff Writer DATELINE: MEMO: A PREMIUM ON PRIVACY THAT' S WHAT YOU PAY FOR- AND WHAT YOU GET AT QUIETLY LUXURIOUS FISHER ISLAND Seven minutes. That ' s all it has taken to drive from one world into the next. The guard in the tropical version of a military uniform -- white shirt and dark shorts with nautical trim (all white on Sundays) -- hoses off your car, washing away the city. And there you are in the secret garden. The lush palms give way to open green as you drive up the tarmac at a sedate 19 miles per hour. An exotic bird calls, but otherwise it ' s seductively quiet -- a deserted island a million miles from anywhere. But look: a golf cart. A couple on bicycles. Reality breaks in on the painstakingly tended illusion. Turn west and you can see the skyline. You are barely out of the shadow of Southeast Bank. Welcome to Fisher Island. The $900-million condominium development that has been talked about since 1971 -- more years than 25 percent of Dade ' s population has lived here -- has finally come to fruition. A year ago, the realty partnership that owns 189 acres of the 216- acre island opened the club -- once a Vanderbilt mansion -- and sold the first condominiums. Now, construction of the rest of the planned 1, 000-plus units is under way, and developers say the condos are selling faster than they can be built. The deep water marina, a just-completed third restaurant and grocery are open, and a bank and post office will soon be ready. Many South Floridians have never heard of it. Fewer have been there. And few are likely ever to go. Oh, another exclusive, pricey condo club. But don't confuse this island with the high-glitz, high-rise, club-life enclaves that are a mainstay of many South Florida lives . In a city where slick is the rule, Fisher Island is a radical departure. If other club condos are new candy-apple red Porsche 944s, Fisher is a vintage silver Bentley, carefully refurbished and housed in a new garage designed to look old. Forget gold chains, discos and paparazzi. This is elegant tropical life in low-key. A place where a man can kick around in his comfy old clothes. Where a classical pianist plays at dinner each evening. Let Robin Leach take his Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous elsewhere. Fisher is a refuge for the rich who want their repose unscrutinized. Think of a museum turned private club a golf-cart ride away from your condo and boat slip, a ferry ride away from downtown. "We attempt to take away normal concerns, " says James Baumann, developer/manager, who works for the owning partnership, whose principals are Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co. of New Jersey and its subsidiary, Muben Realty. "Can I wear an old pair of shorts when I work on my boat? Are my children safe to play? Yet, we ' re only minutes away from an international airport. " Locals, northerners and Europeans are plunking down $250, 000 to $1. 8 million. About 65 condos have been purchased; roughly another 75 have gone to contract, requiring a 10 percent nonrefundable deposit. The 52 seaside villas -- located on the Atlantic and geared toward weekend residents -- are sold out. The largest apartment -- a $1 . 8-million, 6, 000-square-foot penthouse -- was specially created for a socially prominent widow in her 60s who is giving up her Miami Beach house. A little lonely? Or dull? Some might think so. But not the people who live here, who praise the security (the island has its own force on land and water) , the convenience to downtown (seven minutes by ferry to the MacArthur Causeway, 20 minutes by launch to downtown) , the isolation (despite the construction crews) , the apartments, boating facilities, management, amenities. After all, these people can afford all the excitement they want, and more. Though some may live fast-paced, glittering lives elsewhere, at Fisher they want privacy. The residents are primarily entrepreneurs: new money that opts for an old-money lifestyle. Their names are not likely to appear in headlines, though many are familiar: English airline magnate Sir Freddie Laker (the first resident) ; leading insurance broker Paul Andre; New York and Florida horsewoman Liz Whitney Tippett; grain broker Blas Casares; former TV anchor Tana Carli and her husband, television consultant Joe Dimino; lawyer John Schulte; CenTrust Insurance chairman Roland Baker. Even at Fisher, there are imperfections. Running back and forth from island to mainland more than once a day can be tiring. Deliveries cost about twice as much as on the mainland. The Wall Street Journal and The Miami Herald are delivered, but The New York Times is not. And one must remember to leave guests ' names with security; no name, no entree. (When a Secret Service man tried to visit Fisher unannounced to prepare for a visit by the president of Venezuela, he couldn 't get on the island. ) "You get on the ferry, and it' s like everything falls off behind you, " says Schulte, who moved with his wife, Joanne, to the island last August. "The serenity of the place is overwhelming. It ' s such a relaxed feeling. " "It ' s not a high rise, " says Dimino. "It doesn't feel like an apartment. " The plan calls for 12 condominium villages of several buildings each, with about 100 apartments to a cluster. One pod is complete; the seaside villas are almost finished, and another cluster is under construction. Instead of a square, even design, each Mediterranean-style village has varied roof heights, with the top floors eight stories or less. Each mahogany-paneled elevator serves only two apartments per floor, each with spacious, airy balconies with water views. "It ' s certainly different from any locale in South Florida. It ' s like being on a foreign island except it ' s 15 minutes from the mainland, " says horse breeder Col . C.J. Tippett. He and his wife, Liz, previously owned a house in Palm Beach and still own a house on two waterfront acres in Miami. They also have places in Virginia and Saratoga. Seven hundred-fifty nonresidents also belong to the Fisher Island Club, which is based in the restored Vanderbilt mansion at the island' s eastern shore. Membership is not restricted by race or religion, but discretion is the byword, and members who are too rowdy have been asked to step down. Local members include Old Miamians, such as Deering heirs Dick and Molly Danielson, as well as entrepreneurs Pepe and Irela Saumat, of Kaufman and Roberts, and banker Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a one- time partner in the island. The club' s role in the development is one of the big differences between Fisher and other condo clubs, Baumann says. "At a lot of other clubs, the condos are an amenity to the club. The focus is on the club. Our club is not to give us notoriety. It is an amenity for our residents and members. " Privacy is sacred here, and Fisher' s management, Cerberus- like, protects it stringently. While other developments invite parties and press coverage, Fisher is cautious. Good Morning America broadcast from the island last year in the early morning, but developers turned down Entertainment Tonight because the filming hours might have interfered with normal club operations . The sales department schedules appointments judiciously, so residents won' t be disturbed by prospective neighbors. Most South Floridians will never come here. Baumann gets numerous requests from charities that promise him groups of hundreds if he will let them hold their parties here. He will not. Parties are allowed only if they don' t take over the club during regular hours and only if sponsored by members. When major companies -- including Burdines -- have asked to hold functions here, they have gotten a negative response: The club is for members and their guests. "Those people don't come here because our picture is in the paper. They come for what they get -- not how well publicized it is, " Baumann says. Management is selective in its advertising as well and currently runs ads in a few major newspapers and magazines, including Fortune, Forbes, Art & Antiques and Nautical Quarterly. The refurbishings In the ' 20s, William Kissan Vanderbilt spent $1 .5 million building his island mansion. Two years ago the house was gutted; $5 million later, thanks to Miami decorator Carole Korn, the interior approximates its original glamour. The lounge is washed in celery shades. With antiques, wingback chairs, a fireplace and leather-bound books on the shelves, the room has the feel of an English library. The mahogany-paneled bar sits in a room to one side. A loggia leads off the other end to the small dining rooms and the main room, rich with intricately carved and painted ceilings reminiscent of Vizcaya. Upstairs are smaller spaces used as intimate dining rooms, a round lookout paneled in wood believed to be from Napolean' s chateau and the original ladies' powder room, exquisite with divan and mirrors. Behind the house is a courtyard and the aviary, stocked with toucans, toucanettes, peacocks and a rare military macaw. In front is the original pool. The sandy beach is dotted with colorful cabanas. Need a drink? Run a semaphore up the flagpole next to your beach recliner. Details, details There ' s no question: Gentility thrives at Fisher. But can it survive? Mutual Benefit thinks so. The company has put in nine years on the project and has no intention of turning back, says Ted B. Simmons, vice chairman of the insurance company. Baumann thinks so, too. "We 're working very carefully not to lose the feeling. " In a heavy-duty workhorse of a golf cart, emblazoned with "The Boss, " Baumann zips about the construction sites and through the basements of the unfinished buildings on his island, a feisty bulldog with an eye on everything. He charges onto the lawn, swooping to grab a piece of trash. "Everybody is responsible for picking up litter. Any executive who doesn't do that doesn't get the greatest review. " Proudly he points out design and construction details: orange barrel roof tiles hand formed in Colombia on a woman' s thigh; bed placement facing the best views and avoiding direct sunrises; outdoor showers for seaside villas; a whirlpool bath in nearly every apartment. The owner of a 58-foot Hatteras, Baumann tries to correct deficiencies he has found in other boating communities. The marina' s laundry room, for instance, has extra counters for folding clothes. Don' t worry about overcrowding, he says. "We have a limited number of units . When they're built, they' re gone. " At completion, Fisher will be just more than 1, 000 units -- an average of 5 .5 an acre. The condos are built on the island' s perimeter, and the interior remains uncluttered. Don' t worry that residents will be tripping over their neighbors, either. If Fisher Island Realty president John Riordan is right, only about half the families -- say, 500, usually couples with grown children -- will live here at the same time. Most of the locals likely to buy at Fisher have probably done so by now, and increasingly residents are likely to become weekending Northerners and Europeans in for the winter, a few weeks at a time. And don' t fret about the ferry system. Management insists the boats are handling as heavy a load as they ever will -- 900 people a day -- because of the construction workers. Two ferries operate at all times, with a backup in reserve and additional "people mover" power launches. Baumann and Riordan are betting that their clients will remain the same. Many residents are referred by word of mouth. "We don't pick and choose people. I think residents here tend to attract peer groups. It' s not a matter of screening people, which we don't do. But it ' s a matter of them screening us . " Tippett, a resident, is realistically optimistic. "The only answer is to wait and see, " he says. "A lot depends on the type of people who buy. Now, I don' t see a boisterous crowd that will make it unpleasant. " If planning and money add up to success, the secret garden will survive intact. Still, one longs for the days when Fisher was a one-man hideaway. ADDED TERMS: END OF DOCUMENT.