Inside the $23.5 million mansion poised to break another local record in Southern California

A $23.5 million modern mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Southern California will officially go on the market on May 14, and in doing so, will become the most expensive home ever listed for sale in the city of Encinitas, California, a coastal community approximately 26 miles. north of San Diego.

The home’s eight-figure asking price is more than double what it sold for less than six years ago.

“Coupled with the high demand for luxury housing we’ve seen in recent years in San Diego and such rare supply, we think it’s priced as it should be,” he said. kelly Howard From Compass, one of the co-listing agents on property

The house on top of a cliff at 532 Neptune Ave. is called half Moon House, Named for one of its luxe amenities: a crescent-shaped infinity pool that surrounds a round concrete deck.

The house already broke the local price record when it was listed in 2016 for $11.1 million after just 28 days on the market. That sale remains the highest ever in Encinitas history, according to Multiple Listing Service records provided by Howard, who also accounted for the listing for that record sale.

“We are confident that this house will break its own record,” he said.

If the glass, concrete, and titanium structure reminds you of fictional billionaire Tony Stark’s waterfront mansion in Marvel’s “Iron Man” movies, that may be because it’s work of the architect Wallace Cunningham.

Cunningham also designed the ultramodern shaving house, located less than 20 miles south in La Jolla. The cutting-edge design is believed by some to be one of the real-life inspirations for Stark’s fictional Malibu home, which was created by an illustrator and brought to life with computer generated imagery.

“Nothing comes close to Crescent House, except maybe Razor House,” Howard said.

Both homes designed by the award-winning architect feature dramatic curves, bold edges, and massive glass panels that provide jaw-dropping views of the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, Crescent House was featured in Architectural Digest magazine in 2005 and in the season 3 premiere episode of HBO’s “Westworld.”

The mansion spans more than 6,300 square feet, on two levels, with four bedrooms, four full baths and two half baths, according to the listing. Almost all rooms take advantage of their perspective of the sky and the ocean with floor-to-ceiling windows.

An impressive staircase winds up to the second level, designed by the architect to resemble the skeleton of a giant dinosaur with stainless steel vertebrae and ribs.

Cunningham told Architectural Digest that the house was built to provide “the feeling of being on a ship at sea.” That’s evident in the living room, where, at certain angles, the house appears to be floating on the ocean.

Beyond the glass walls are tiered terraces that bring you even closer to the sea.

The current owners live in Florida full time, and after six years of keeping the house, they are ready to sell.

If the couple gets their asking price, the sale would net a price per square foot of more than $3,700, nearly four times the $928 average for luxury homes sold in the county, according to the quarterly Elliman Report. The report defines luxury homes as those in the top 10% of the market.

“The San Diego luxury market has seen a significant increase in price since the last sale of this Crescent Home,” said listing agent Howard.

Howard believes that the increased demand in the market, plus the pedigree design and what he says is an above-average lot size for cliff street, all work in sellers’ favor and help earn a premium. for the property.

The owners also made some improvements, including commissioning the original architect to add two state-of-the-art fire features and outfit the mansion with smart home infrastructure, Howard said.

Howard told CNBC that new coastal building regulations make it impossible to replicate a home like this on this site, further justifying the 112% price increase over 2016, he said.

Historical sales data suggests it’s not as crazy a jump in value as it sounds.

In October 2016, the last time the Crescent House was sold, the median sales price in Encinitas was just over $1.2 million, according to data compiled by the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors. Last month, that figure topped $2.4 million, a similar doubling in less than six years.

Whether the home can fetch its full asking price remains to be seen, but the offering is more than nine times the median home price in Encinitas, and finding a buyer willing to pay a record price isn’t always easy.

“The discerning buyer that connects with it and understands it will be willing to pay for it,” Howard said.