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OC’s Top 5 home sales of 2022 include Heather Dubrow’s $55 million manse

February 24, 2023

Last year amid a cooling housing market, “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Heather Dubrow quietly sold her palatial Newport Coast mansion.

The $55 million off-market deal ended 2022 as Orange County’s most expensive home sale, followed by other waterfront properties starting from $28.825 million. Those big-ticket deals closed out a year that started looking like it might repeat 2021’s record-setting pace but fell short as mortgage rates more than doubled from the historic low.

“Yes, demand slowed, but there are still sophisticated buyers that understand value,” said Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty, who “had three of our best sales last year from July through December,” including a $43.5 million Laguna Beach home in August.

And people have continued to pay big prices while shopping for deals among O.C.’s low inventory, which agents interviewed for this story agree is undervalued relative to other major metropolitan areas.

“Orange County has always been a destination, but not it’s really become a major destination where people with money who can afford to live here or have a second home here want to be here as opposed to say L.A. or New York,” said John Stanaland of Douglas Elliman Real Estate who was with Villa Real Estate when he closed on $29.888 million Laguna Beach home in February. “We’re an ‘it’ destination now.”

With L.A.’s Measure ULA “mansion tax” approaching April 1, agents have seen an upsurge in interested buyers to O.C. The one-time transfer tax of 4% on properties sold from $5 million to shy of $10 million and 5.5% on deals of $10 million and above aims to increase affordable housing and reduce homelessness.

“A lot of the high net-worth individuals we sell houses to find the market and lifestyle and just everything about Orange County extremely appealing.” said Josh Altman, co-founder of The Altman Brothers at Douglas Elliman Real Estate and star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.”

Off-market showings make up more than half of all showings for The Altman Brothers which officially expanded into Orange County in 2020. The team has a 15-year lease on the Old West Bank building in Corona del Mar, which is in the process of converting into the Altman Brothers’ O.C. flagship, set to open this summer.

“There are tons of buyers sitting on the sidelines just waiting for a deal,” Altman said. “I get emails by the hour — Do you have this? Do you have that? There’s not a lot. And look, we specialize in a lot of different areas out there, but waterfront properties? It’s near impossible to find what you want. It’s such a micro market with not a lot of inventory and not a lot of wealth, it’s going to continue going upward.”

Here are O.C.’s five most expensive home sales of 2022:

The 22,000-square-foot home known to “Real Housewives of Orange County” fans as “Chateau Dubrow” sold off-market for $55 million, making it Orange County’s most expensive sale of 2022. (Google Earth)

$55 million: Newport Coast

Home: “Real Housewife” Heather Dubrow and her husband, “Botched” surgeon Terry, built the 22,000-square-foot French chateau-style mansion on a nearly three-quarter-acre lot. It’s over-the-top luxurious, right down to a doorbell in the walk-in closet for Champagne service and twin offices with hidden bars.

Other highlights include a temperature-controlled wine wall the housewife kept well-stocked with Champagne, as well as a mirrored gym, a 21-seat movie theater and a backyard terrace featuring a pool and spa.

List price: Off-market sale on Oct. 20

Sold by: “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” siblings Josh and Matt Altman of The Altman Brothers at Douglas Elliman Real Estate represented the couple.

C.J. Light Associates designed this 4,981-square-foot Laguna Beach home across the street from Emerald Bay Beach. It sold for $43.5 million. (Photo by Toby Ponnay)

$43.5 million: Laguna Beach

Home: This 4,981-square-foot spec home’s claim to fame is that it’s the most expensive new construction in Orange County per square foot.

At $8,733 per square foot, this C.J. Light Associates creation has all the luxurious amenities one could want in an Emerald Bay Beach-front home, and then some. it boasts “a wellness center” with an outdoor shower, in-ground spa and Nordic infrared sauna, an open-air spa bathroom in the primary suite and a built-in catering station in the four-car garage. The beach is accessible by foot only to residents of the guard-gated community.

List price: $48.995 million; sold Aug. 12

Sold by: Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty held the listing. Tad Baltzer of Triibe Real Estate represented the buyer

An aerial view of the Monarch Bay home that sold for $33 million, making it one of Orange County’s most expensive sales of 2022. (Photo by PreviewFirst)

$33 million: Dana Point

Home: Retired showbiz investor Gordon “Gordy” Crawford purchased this newly remodeled four-bedroom, 7,700-square-foot Monarch Bay house in guard-gated Monarch Bay.

The blufftop house wraps around an inner courtyard with a pool and spa and a covered built-in barbecue area. Disappearing glass walls frame unobstructed coastline and ocean views that co-listing agent Phil Immel of The Immel Team at Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty likened to standing on the bow of a ship.

“It’s pure oceanfront and sits out further on the point than any other house,” he said.

List price: $35 million; sold March 22

Listed by: Phil and Ryan Immel, the father-son team at The Immel Team of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the seller. Samantha Nugent and Todd Davis of Compass represented the buyer.

The workout area is visible through the outdoor glass terrace and the transparent underwater wall of the infinity-edge pool. (Photo by The Luxury Level)

$29.888 million: Laguna Beach

Home: Within this home’s 8,140 square feet of living space is a workout area that sits beneath the outdoor glass terrace, offering a glimpse into the infinity-edge pool through a transparent underwater wall.

Glass, as it turns out, is a prominent feature of this property in upscale Montage Ocean Estates. So do quality materials such as an ocean-inspired mahogany ceiling in the living room, a custom wooden tub in the primary bathroom and illuminated onyx countertops in the kitchen.

List price: $30.888 million; sold Feb. 9

Sold by: John Stanaland and Logan Montgomery, formerly of Villa Real Estate and now with Douglas Elliman Real Estate, held the listing. Allen McMurtray of EJM Realty Group represented the buyer.

The view from the loggia of this 11,613-square-foot Crystal Cove home that sold for $28.825 million in 2022, the same year it was completed. (Photo by Tyler Bowman / Bowman Group Media)

$28.825 million: Newport Coast

Home: This five-bedroom, 11,613-square-foot home with 10 bathrooms has all the amenities you’d expect to find in a new structure of this caliber, including what the listing calls “indulgent luxury entertaining” at the basement level.

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Features include an exotic car display, open game room and wet bar with a 336-bottle climate-controlled wine room. There’s a gym with extras like a massage room, sauna and steam shower.

Elsewhere vanishing glass walls extend the indoors out to where ocean views create a backdrop on this three-quarter-acre-plus lot. The grounds feature a saltwater infinity pool and spa, an outdoor kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, a gas fire pit, and a courtyard with a fireplace and fountain.

List price: $34.9 million; sold Sept. 29

Sold by: John Cain of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty handled both sides of the deal.

Orange County Register

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OC’s Top 5 home sales of 2022 include Heather Dubrow’s $55 million manse

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