$150M listing catapults Manhattan Beach to top of ultra luxe market

Listing prices in Manhattan Beach have approached the low end of the ultra luxe markets in Malibu and Beverly Hills, but a new entry goes far beyond what most mansion in L.A. County’s ritziest neighborhoods ask.

A nearly 13,000-square foot mansion located at 212 The Strand in Manhattan Beach is listed at $150 million, in news first reported by The Wall Street Journal and Daily Breeze. 

The three-level beachside mansion was listed by Rob DeSantis, an early angel investor for LinkedIn. No relation to the Florida governor who shares his last name, DeSantis is a co-founder of real estate platform True Parity. Started in 2021, the platform aspires to create a forum where agents will compete for listings by submitting proposals, according to a description of the site.

Branden Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates is an investor in True Parity. He and Rayni Williams, his wife and business partner, are co-listing the Manhattan Beach home with Eric Fonoimoana and Brook Billings of Compass.

Earlier this month, DeSantis listed the house for rent for $150,000 a month. He wanted to test the market and confirm that selling is the best course of action. 

“You never know how you feel about the house until it’s being taken away from you,” DeSantis told The Wall Street Journal.

DeSantis started developing the mansion in 2000, when he bought three adjacent lots for $13 million. When he started developing the home, the Manhattan Beach City Council formed a “Mansionization Committee” and passed an ordinance prohibiting building big homes on triple lots. The DeSantis mansion was grandfathered in because it was in development before the law was passed.

The home was completed around 2009. Its design features stone and teak for what DeSantis describes as similar to the style of the Tommy Bahama fashion and restaurant brand. There is a pool, which is on the second level of the sloped property. It has glass windows on the bottom, so swimmers can be seen from the steam room and shower area below. 

DeSantis installed solar panels on the roof and a geothermal system in the mansion which cover more than 80 percent of the home’s utilities. 

– Andrew Asch

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