‘Below Deck’ Star Sandy Yawn Opens Up About $1.6 Million Florida House Hell
For the past three years, Captain Sandy Yawn, best known as one of the main stars of the Bravo reality series Below Deck, has been caught up in a dream home turned nightmare development.
As reported by the New York Post, Yawn and her wife, Leah Shafer, invested all of their savings (a total of $1.6 million) into building a home at The Vista at Twenty Mile in St. Johns County, Florida. However, three years later, they still don’t have the home and the developers have allegedly ran off with their money.
“It’s been horrible,” Yawn told The Post while at a book signing at the Miami Boat Show on Thursday, February 15. “We used all the money we had, and we still don’t have a home.”
Based in the beautiful Nocatee area of Florida, the land was planned as a development area by Pineapple Construction, who were paid by over a dozen other victims to build their homes. According to The Post, some of the properties cost well over $2 million.
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However, the firm and its CEO, Spencer Calvert, allegedly went AWOL, leaving the buyers with unfinished houses and millions of debt.
“We want some accountability,” Yawn said. “This has been very difficult, financially and emotionally. This was supposed to be our dream home.”
First Coast News/YouTube
Yawn showed off her unfinished home in an interview with First Coast News. “We dipped into our bank account and used every penny we had, and this is our finished product,” she explained, gesturing towards the half-built property.
As noted by The Post, Calvert and his firm were allegedly paid to build 33 homes in the area, but only 18 were completed, leaving 15 other buyers in limbo.
First Coast News/YouTube
Yawn said she and Shafer now need to come up with another $800,000 to complete the works on what was supposed to be their dream home.
“We don’t have that money,” Yawn shared. “We’re in a position now where we have to try to get a loan.”
In a statement to First Coast News, Calvert said, “Pineapple Corporation is in communication with all parties involved to find an amiable solution. We do not disclose details of private negotiations.”
Yawn, who has been a regular on Below Deck Mediterranean since 2017, told First Coast News, “We worked really, really hard to pay for this house in cash. And it’s gone. Like, it’s gone. And so now we’re having to basically pay for this house twice.”
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