San Diego

Subterms

    Latest story

    175 Shares199 Views

    A Private Equity Billionaire Paid a Record-Breaking $44 Million for This San Diego Home

    by

    Back in October, an oceanfront Del Mar house sold for a whopping $44.1 million, sending shockwaves through the quietly posh Southern California beach town and setting a new record for the most expensive San Diego County home ever sold. The out-of-left-field, off-market transaction came even as the San Diego real estate market has effectively stalled over the past year, with the deal pipeline choked by high interest rates, recession fears and low inventory. And the transfer also eclipsed Bill Gates’ recent $43 million purchase of an arguably more impressive house on the same strip of sand.

    Property records indicate the $44 million house was purchased by a mysterious Delaware-based LLC, a common business tool used by the wealthy to cover their real estate tracks. But it’s certainly worth noting that the mysterious entity is managed by a longtime associate of Egon Durban—the high-flying, billionaire Silicon Valley dealmaker who has a known affinity for both record-breaking transactions and high-end real estate. Durban, the co-CEO of private equity giant Silver Lake, sports a personal net worth that tops $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.

    Built circa 1940s, the ranch-style compound includes three separate buildings and parking for 20+ cars.

    Google Earth

    Since the house was never on the market, photos are virtually nonexistent and details are few. But certainly the vast majority of its value lies in its oceanfront location—the property spans just over an acre of flat land, right on the sand—rather than the structures themselves. The main residence is unremarkable, large and well-maintained but visually dated. The property was built decades ago by prominent Hollywood real estate developer C.E. Toberman, founder of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Bowl, and remained in the extended Toberman family until Durban’s purchase.

    In addition to the U-shaped main house, which is single-story and painted a deep navy blue, there are two ancillary buildings on the property. Each of those includes a two-car garage and additional living space, likely for guests or live-in staff. The oceanfront compound also boasts a full-size tennis court—a very rare thing on the shores of Del Mar—and a gated, blacktopped driveway with off-street parking for dozens of cars. There’s also an outdoor swimming pool, plus a sizable backyard with a grassy lawn and a wooden deck with stairs descending to the sandy beach. Altogether, the estate sports eight bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms.

    The estate spans more than one flat acre and is one of only a handful of oceanfront Del Mar homes that includes a tennis court.

    Google Earth

    Durban has yet to confirm his ownership of the Del Mar compound, but he’s certainly no stranger to ultra-high-end real estate. Back in 2019, records reveal he and longtime wife Abby dropped $24 million to buy a brand-new mansion in prime Atherton, the small Silicon Valley town famously home to scores of the nation’s wealthiest tech executives. The couple also own a vacation home in California’s scenic Pebble Beach neighborhood worth approximately $10 million.

    The Durbans have also long maintained a seriously impressive blufftop mansion at the exclusive Kukio Golf and Beach Club on Hawaii’s Big Island, where one of their nearest neighbors is fellow billionaire Michael Dell—a longtime Durban business associate and the brash dealmaker’s ownership partner in the professional bull riding team Austin Gamblers. And astute soccer fans will know that Durban was also behind the $500 million purchase of a minority share in Manchester City, a landmark transfer inked in 2019. More

    More stories

    • 175 Shares159 Views

      in Luxury

      In San Diego, a Documentary Filmmaker’s Longtime Victorian Beach House Lists at $3.6 Million

      by

      Just across the bay from downtown San Diego—on a charming isle best known as the site of the famed Hotel del Coronado—a historic residence long owned by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker/psychotherapist Ira Wohl has recently come on the market for the first time in almost three decades, asking a smidge over $3.6 million.

      Built way back in 1890—and affectionately referred to by locals as the “red Victorian”—the two-story dwelling lies in the desirable Golden Triangle area and is said to be one of the oldest surviving Queen Anne Victorian-style structures on all of Coronado Island. Three bedrooms and two baths can be found in 1,200 square feet of well-preserved and updated living space, all of it boasting vividly hued rooms complemented by fir floors, wide arched doorways, high ceilings, detailed woodwork, and the original doorknobs and double-hung wood windows. There’s an unfinished attic to boot.

      Steps lead up to a gated and ornately columned wraparound porch, with the front door opening into an entrance foyer displaying a vintage fireplace, as well as a powder room resting beneath a curving staircase. From there, colorful living and dining rooms flow to a small but modernized kitchen outfitted with newer stainless appliances, and other main-level highlights include a window-lined family room.

      Constructed in 1890, the home is one of the oldest surviving Queen Anne Victorian-style structures on Coronado Island.

      John Phillips

      Elsewhere is an upstairs primary bedroom featuring a cozy window seat, plus a tiled bath equipped with a pedestal sink, clawfoot soaking tub and separate shower. Outdoors, the private grounds span less than a quarter-acre, and host an al fresco dining patio flanked by a grassy lawn, along with a lounging spot warmed by a stone fireplace.

      Probably most recognized as the 1979 recipient of a “Best Documentary Feature” Oscar for his film Best Boy, portraying his intellectually disabled cousin’s journey toward greater independence, Wohl went on to produce the sequels Best Man and Best Sister, as well as People Say I’m Crazy, which tells the story of his own struggle with schizophrenia. He’s also a licensed social worker, and has been active in the Academy of Motion Picture’s documentary division and Coronado Island International Film Festival.

      Last sold to Wohl in 1997 for $500,000, and listed by Whitney Benzian of Douglas Elliman, the property falls under the Mills Act, meaning homeowners are eligible for reduced property taxes in exchange for preserving the historic house.

      Click here for more photos of Ira Wohl’s Victorian beach house.

      John Phillips More

    • 200 Shares169 Views

      in Luxury

      On the Heels of Her Wedding, Frances Bean Cobain Buys and Sells Cozy San Diego Houses

      by

      Earlier this month, rock ‘n’ roll heiress Frances Bean Cobain married Tony Hawk’s son Riley in a small but highly publicized ceremony officiated by R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe. How legendarily ’90s-chic is that?

      Perhaps in preparation for her new marital status, Cobain has also been busy on the real estate front. Property records reveal the only child of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love is changing addresses in the San Diego area, having recently thrown down about $2.3 million to buy a single-level house in the coastal city of Oceanside. Shortly after that, as first reported by Realtor.com, the 31-year-old sold her Point Loma home of two years for nearly $2.5 million.

      Cobain’s purchased this Point Loma home in 2021 and recently sold it for $2.5 million.

      Google Earth

      Built in 1990, Cobain’s former home appears quite modest from the street, fronted as it is by a single-car garage and single-car driveway. But inside, the open-concept floorplan features more than 1,800 square feet of harmonious living space wedded together by new hardwood floors, crisp white walls and a freshly redesigned kitchen with stone countertops.

      Other highlights include three bedrooms, walls of glass doors that spill out to a wooden deck overlooking a heated swimming pool, AstroTurf lawns for carefree maintenance, and tropical landscaping that surrounds a fire-pit seating area and covered lanai. At the far rear of the 7,000-square-foot lot lies a detached two-car garage with discreet alleyway access.

      Cobain and Riley Hawk recently settled into this breezy Oceanside property, a 1920s ranch-style home surrounded by dense landscaping.

      Google Earth

      Cobain’s new house is only slightly smaller than her old place — weighing in at a still-very-reasonable 2,000 square feet — but offers five bedrooms and an impressively large lot with a half-acre of flat land. The property is also located in a more laidback and family-friendly area of town.

      Originally built in 1926 but fully revamped and expanded in recent years, the new Cobain-Hawk digs sport extensive “green energy features,” per the listing, including native landscaping, a new reverse osmosis water system, a solar energy system and EV charging stations. Other notable amenities are a saltwater swimming pool and a separate cedar hot tub, a loft-like room that would be ideal as an art studio, Italian porcelain floors and a kitchen with premium Sub-Zero appliances.

      Cobain, who controls the publicity rights to her famous father’s name and image, previously owned two multimillion-dollar homes in L.A.’s Hollywood Hills. Both those properties were sold off within the last few years, records confirm. More