Carmel’s “Butterfly House” goes into contract 

After more than nine months on the market, the oceanfront Carmel home known as the “Butterfly House” has apparently found a buyer.

Venture capitalist Kevin Comolli listed his property for $40 million last August with Shelly Lynch of Carmel Realty Company. The 3,700-square-foot home on over half an acre is called the “Butterfly House” for its winged roofline.

Lynch did not reply to a request for comment, but Redfin shows the 1951 home designed by Frank Wynkoop going into “contingent” status on May 31 and pending status June 22. 

Comolli, a founding partner at VC firm Accel London, is an early stage investor in companies ranging from Clash of Clans creator Supercell to Etsy. He bought the home for $16.5 million in 2013, according to public records. Shortly after the purchase, he and his wife Hannah undertook a major interior renovation of the architecturally significant home with 280 feet of ocean frontage that wrapped up in 2016, according to a Wall Street Journal story. 

The ocean view is what sold the family, which then had two young children, on the three-bedroom home, Hannah Comolli told the Journal. Over the years they have watched dolphins, orcas and otters from the private beach and swimming cove, as well as the many pelicans who like to swoop under Wynkoop’s “winged” roofline. The family was selling because they have relocated to Beverly Hills, she said. 

A little bit of Beverly Hills came to Carmel around the time the Comollis put their home on the market at nearly $11,000 per square foot. Brad Pitt bought a Craftsman-style ocean bluff home in the Carmel highlands last summer at $40 million, one of highest prices ever in the area. 

It will remain unclear until the sale closes how high the Butterfly House will rise in the list of pricey Carmel house deals.

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