$24.7 million home sale is biggest in La Jolla history

The biggest home sale in La Jolla’s history — and the third-highest ever in San Diego County — took place a few weeks ago when a beachfront mansion sold for $24.7 million.

The newly built 6,071-square-foot property at 8466 El Paseo Grande sold for one of the highest amounts in San Diego County in the past 12 months — a period marked by a surging luxury market during the pandemic. The sale was completed in late December but was not announced by the parties involved until this week.

The biggest purchase in San Diego County history remains the 2007 sale of an oceanfront home in Del Mar for $48.2 million. The same house was later sold to Bill and Melinda Gates for $43 million last year.

The previous highest sale in La Jolla was 8303 La Jolla Shores for $24 million in 2018. The purchase in 2019 of the famed Razor House for $20.8 million by musician Alicia Keys might be the most well-known sale and was in the top five but not the biggest.

Listing agent Brett Dickinson said he signed paperwork that prevents him from disclosing who bought the house on El Paseo Grande. Public records list a real estate agent as the buyer, but that agent is not the actual purchaser — it is a technique for shielding the real buyer’s name.

Dickinson, who shared the listing with agent Ross Clark, said he has been inundated for months by prospective buyers from Los Angeles and San Francisco who see the San Diego area as a less-expensive option.

“It seems like La Jolla and San Diego are the place to be,” Dickinson said. “I feel like San Diego has been discovered in a new way.”

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8466 El Paseo Grande sold for $24.7 million.  (Pixer Pros LLC/Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty)

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8466 El Paseo Grande sold for $24.7 million.  (Pixer Pros LLC/Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty)

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8466 El Paseo Grande sold for $24.7 million.  (Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty)

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8466 El Paseo Grande sold for $24.7 million.
  (Pixer Pros LLC/Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty)

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8466 El Paseo Grande sold for $24.7 million.  (Pixer Pros LLC/Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty
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Agents across San Diego County reported as early as April that affluent buyers were seeking out properties in Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla and other areas as the pandemic kicked off. The reasoning was that San Diego County is more spread out than other areas of the nation, and at the time COVID-19 was less prevalent here. Dickinson said a lot of the more recent buyers are from the tech industry who think they can get more bang for their buck here as opposed to other parts of California.

The El Paseo Grande property took eight years to build because of many approvals needed from the California Coastal Commission and concerns by a neighbor, Dickinson said. The previous owners, he said, fell out of love with the home during the frustrating build and decided to sell.

Perhaps the most unique part of the property is a 1,275-square-foot deck that is directly on the beach. There are only about 30 La Jolla homes directly on the beach. The deck also has a hot tub.

The home has four bedrooms and 5½ bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, a copper roof, an elevator, two fireplaces, a gym, floors of polished concrete and European cut white oak, as well as unobstructed views of the ocean. It also has a large garage that can fit two cars and other items — rare for any home that close to a beach in San Diego County.

It was designed by Del Mar-based architect Bill Hayer and built by Tom Waters Construction.

The property took about six months to sell — fast for homes at that price point. As of late December, homes in the more than $4 million range were selling in an average of 246 days, according to Orange County-based Reports on Housing. That was much faster than the 703-day average a year earlier. ◆