This 11-acre estate at the top of Three Arch Bay, a guard-gated enclave in Laguna Beach, California, will look familiar to fans of one of MTV’s most popular reality shows.
The home, listed earlier this month for $26.5 million, was designed by architect James Conrad, father of reality TV star Lauren Conrad, and the estate appeared often on “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.”
The property occupies by far the community’s largest lot and overlooks the coastline, with views of waves breaking along the shore below.
The nearly 8,000-square-foot house spans six bedrooms, six
The nearly 8,000-square-foot house spans six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and a half bath plus a heated saltwater pool with an infinity edge facing the Pacific Ocean.
“Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” aired from 2004-06 and followed a high school friend group and their drama. Its star, Lauren, became known in the millennial zeitgeist as LC, and went on to launch fashion lines, young adult fiction and other ventures.
The house appeared on the show from its first season. In the pilot, LC and Stephen Colletti walked through it while it was still under construction. Once it was finished, the cast gathered there for pool parties, barbecues and get-togethers before prom, and Conrad’s on-camera relationship with castmate Jason Wahler developed there.
Fans can’t drive up to the property
Fans can’t drive up to the property. Guards staff the entrance to Three Arch Bay around the clock, but drivers on Highway 1 can see the house high on the hillside. Listing photos show the coastline stretching from north to south, with the rooftops of the community below and, to the south, a sandy beach, Monarch Beach Golf Links and a headland jutting into the ocean.
“You can see all the way to Los Angeles to the north, and you can see all the way down to Coronado Island, San Diego, to the south. And so it sits on this little knoll that affords a view that, really, nobody else in Orange County has,” said Richard Trey Dewey of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty, who has the listing.
The lot covers 11.36 acres along a private road. “Not only is it not typical for Three Arch Bay, it’s not typical for Orange County or even Southern California on the coast. It’s truly a one-of-one property. I would say the next largest parcel in Three Arch is a 2.5 acre parcel. And then from there, they go way, way further down,” Dewey said.
To get the house permitted and built, roughly
To get the house permitted and built, “roughly nine of the acres are dedicated to open space preservation,” Dewey said.
The land is divided by the private road, then extends across the hillside and to the gulch at the bottom of the canyon. Hiking trails cross the hillside.
A fire road on the property starts at the back door of the house and links to trails at the top of Three Arch Bay, so the owner can hike without using the public trails. “You get your own little park,” Dewey said.
With prospective buyers, I walk them right out
With prospective buyers, “I walk them right out to the balcony, because that view is just so rare,” Dewey said.
The balcony overlooks a flagstone terrace and the pool. The pool curves around a planted island of palms and succulents, and its infinity edge runs along the ocean side with a cove beach below. A stone staircase descends the hillside beside an iron fence from the terrace.
According to public records, the property is owned by Ming Hsieh, who founded biometrics technology company Cogent Systems.
Dewey said that Hsieh maintained the property, but made no significant renovations or additions.
“It’s still very much the original old Conrad house,” Dewey said.
Hsieh didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
The listing describes the architecture as Santa Barbara
The listing describes the architecture as Santa Barbara style, with materialsls under a red clay tile roof with stone chimneys, along with arched windows. Inside is a private office, two family rooms and formal living and dining rooms, with terraces facing the coast. The house is positioned so that almost every room has an ocean view
“There was a property in Italy called Villa San Lorenzo. And that is exactly what the house was modeled after,” Dewey said.
Residents of Three Arch Bay have a clubhouse, tennis courts and access to the community’s beach. HOA fees run about $3,000 per year.
The main thing here, really, is about
“The main thing here, really, is about the beach lifestyle and having access to Three Arch Bay beach,” Dewey said. “I believe there’s only three beaches in California that have this [level of privacy], and that’s Irvine Cove, Emerald Bay and Three Arch Bay.”
Along with the guarded gate, the community has a 24-hour security patrol and cameras with motion sensors along its boundaries, Dewey said.
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