A hillside home has set a record in Laguna Beach for the all-time highest price sale east of Pacific Coast Highway.
The 6,738-square-foot house with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and disappearing corner glass walls that extend the dining room onto the pool terrace sold May 24 for $18.25 million, $255,000 over its asking price.
Listing agent Seth Nelson of the Eklund | Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate noted that this level of high-end sale is uncommon for the non-ocean side of PCH. “From our research, there have been two sales east of PCH that have achieved $11 million, and they were the benchmark up until this point,” he said by phone.
According to PropertyShark, the home bested an $11.118 million sale in April 2014 and an $11 million sale in August 2020.
“Records are meant to be broken — and this sale did just that. By a mile,” the buyer’s agent, John Stanaland of the John Stanaland Group at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, wrote in an Instagram post.
Records show the property previously sold for $3.75 million in January 2017. The existing Mediterranean-style home was then reimagined by Laguna Beach-based Anders Lasater Architects, which won a 2020 Gold Nugget Design Award for transforming the “mish-mash of architectural styles” into one “tailored to its site and optimized for coastal living,” Houzz.com reported. The same project, which the architectural firm described on its website as a “substantial remodel” dubbed “Cocktail Party,” also received a 2020 AIA Merit Award.
“We were able to transform the existing house completely while maintaining its footprint and size,” architect Anders Lasater said by phone. “The house is essentially new, only the outline didn’t change. But everything else within that outline fundamentally changed, and we expanded to the north side of the property with the pool and patio. It was a real diamond-in-the-rough project.”
The finished house has recently won a 2024 Gold Nugget Award of Merit for Best Renovated or Restored Single House.
Completed in 2023, the home sits on an oversized 1.24-acre lot. It features a privately gated driveway in the front and an infinity-edge pool with a 180-degree view from downtown Laguna Beach to the Channel Islands in the back. There’s also an outdoor barbecue center.
Natural light pours through floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights into the open-plan living space.
Highlights include an ultra-luxe gourmet kitchen with a large walk-in pantry, a center island with seating and a breakfast nook. The kitchen opens to the great room.
Walnut stairs, limestone floors and gold and black fixtures add to the house’s fit and finish, which the listing describes as “a perfect blend of Hollywood Hills chic meets contemporary coastal warmth” and “a work of art.”
In the primary suite, a walk-in closet that Nelson likened to a Chanel boutique boasts custom cabinetry, lighting and herringbone wood flooring.
Nelson co-listed the property with Fredrik Eklund of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, while Stanaland teamed up with Logan Montgomery of Douglas Elliman Real Estate to represent the buyer.
