Laguna Beach Mansion Sells for $110 Million in Orange County

An elusive mansion in Laguna Beach’s coveted Emerald Bay sold for $110 million, setting an all-time price record for Orange County, The Real Deal has learned.

The 2021 sale of an 18,000-square-foot home in Abalone Point held the previous record at $70 million.

Public details about the home are miniscule, and insiders are bound by nondisclosure agreements. The Agency’s John Stanaland represented the buyer and seller, who are “very private and highly sophisticated,” he said.

The off-market deal was the first sale for the 10,000-square-foot beachfront home, yielding a price per square foot of about $11,000. The buyer reportedly paid all-cash for the contemporary home, which was built within the last five years.

“The build itself is probably the highest end I have ever seen, and I sell a lot of high-end real estate,” Stanaland said. To date, Stanaland has closed $4.5 billion in residential sales.

The home received several unsolicited offers close to the $110 million sale price during construction, as ultraluxury pricing is on the way up, Stanaland said. More estates in Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove are likely to join the $100 million-plus club, as sales of lots alone are reaching the $70 million mark, he said.

While neighboring Los Angeles will always be a high-end market, Stanaland said, he’s seeing “more and more of the high-end down” in Orange County. The pandemic, the wildfires and city policies such as the mansion tax have led to a migration to Orange County.

There are currently four homes listed in Los Angeles for nine-figures, including two in Bel Air: a 70,000-square-foot megamansion asking $400 million and a 28,725-square-foot home listed for $170 million, according to Zillow.

Los Angeles has had some of the priciest trades in Southern California, but it has a lower median home price at $882,875 compared to Orange County’s $1.2 million.