A Newport Beach ultra-luxury mansion taking shape in Crystal Cove behind double gates has hit the market for $89 million.
That makes it the most expensive listing in Orange County.
Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty, one of two agents who represent the Newport Coast trophy estate still under construction, told the Southern California News Group in October 2023 that OC is increasingly producing the kind of high-end luxury builds with the potential for $100 million-plus sales.
“Historically, nobody has built properties to meet that demand, but over the next three to five years, I think you’ll see the best sales in the United States here in Orange County because you’re starting to see people build homes that will fetch those prices,” he said then.
Now, here’s an example of an upward price trend — a mansion marketed as “a masterpiece of engineering and design” with natural light from an atrium to illuminate each level, extending two levels above and below ground.
The nearly 15,000-square-foot, four-story house will have five bedrooms, eight bathrooms and a car museum when it’s completed in 2025, according to the listing, as a collaboration by architect Geoff Sumich, builder Ryan Hill of Hill Construction Co., and designer Errol Dejager .
Sited on a three-quarter-acre bluff lot, the property overlooks Pelican Hill Golf Club and offers unobstructed ocean and coastline views. It’s a quick drive to Crystal Cove State Park, Crystal Cove Shopping Center, John Wayne Airport and Fashion Island.
The house fronts a private street in the Crystal Cove Estate Collection neighborhood. From the streetside, a staircase descends to a bridge over a pond from which Sumich, in a video tour, envisions fog emanating at night.
“When you’re walking across the bridge, you’re literally walking across a cloud as you get the entry,” he said.
Arched glass entry doors open into the foyer flanked by offices, and an interior bridge to the living areas and kitchen passes through the multi-level atrium.
“You stand at the bridge, and you look into the volume of that courtyard,” Dejager said in the video. “It takes your breath away.”
The property is owned through a California limited liability company managed by Scott Mather, a former Pimco portfolio manager who retired at the end of 2022. County records show Mather and his wife, Nicole, have been linked to it since January 2007. Thee couple transferred it into an LLC in February 2018. In October 2023, the unfinished home hit the market at just under $50 million and resurfaced on Jan. 12 at its current ask.
According to the listing, the main floor seamlessly flows into the backyard swimming pool, spa, and loggia.
The atrium carries natural light two levels down to a basement-level shallow pond with an acrylic bottom that illuminates the subterranean level below. It has a swimming pool with a spa and waterfall, a wellness center with a sauna and steam room, a gym and the car museum, accessible by lift from the garage one floor up.
Together they hold a minimum of 13 cars.
Other property highlights include a bar lounge, home theater and wine room with storage.
Smith shares the listing with Georgina Jacobson of Coldwell Banker Realty.