Laguna Beach Home With 1970s TV Cachet Sells for $20 Million

The Laguna Beach oceanfront home of the late writer and director Stephen J. Cannell has sold for $20 million.

The Cannell family trust placed the home, at 2125 Ocean Way, on the market in July, nabbing precisely what it asked for at the time of the listing, which pencils out to $4,246 per square foot.

A trust tied to Capital Group portfolio manager Barry Crosthwaite and Jennifer Crosthwaite are the buyers, according to the deed.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties’ Shauna Covington and Leita Covington were the listing agents, while Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty’s Spencer Wall represented the buyer.

The deal is Laguna’s second priciest, on-market trade this year, according to listing sites. Still, it doesn’t topple the most expensive sale to date, which was the $22 million trade of 32221 South Coast Highway in July. That gated, 3.7-acre property includes several parcels, three structures and private beach access.

The Ocean Way property was one of two residences, the other being in Pasadena, where Cannell spent his time until his death in 2010.

Property records show Cannell purchased the Laguna Beach home in 1999 for $1,093 per square foot, or $5.2 million.

The property sits atop a bluff with unobstructed views of the ocean. The home has four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms across 4,700 square feet. It’s gated and set on a 10,000-square-foot lot.

Recent upgrades include hardwood flooring, lighting and HVAC system.

One of two offices in the home was used by Cannell, whose prolific career spanned television and novels. Cannell is behind dozens of TV shows, including “The Rockford Files,” “The A-Team,” “21 Jump Street” and “The Commish.” “The Rockford Files” earned him a Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Drama Series category in 1978.

He became an independent producer with the start of Stephen J. Cannell Productions, which later became Cannell Entertainment.

There are also more than 15 novels Cannell authored, including a series involving a Los Angeles detective named Shane Scully.