With the Pacific Palisades in Its Real Estate Prime, a Look at Some of the Highest Home Sales to Date
1. Designer Dream
With soaring double-height ceilings, walls of glass and black metal accents, a $32.5-million Paul McClean-designed dwelling combines striking architectural lines and all-encompassing views with a grade-A location and serene outdoor eden with a showpiece pool.
Conceptualized for entertaining on a grand scale, the L-shape creation is unambiguously modern yet warmed by rich travertine and walnut woods. The heartbeat of this home is its three-story waterfall/courtyard with walls of glass on three sides reflecting bold, dynamic design. Photos: Simon Berlyn
2. California Modern
With every element of a quintessential California Modern abode, including sweeping views and sharp lines, this sleek $21-million offering is a Gunderson Matkins’ masterwork—lavished in glass and wrapped in light, a jewel in its illustrious Riviera neighborhood. Gesturing to modern design from the start, a board-form concrete wall, garden and fountain at the entry sets the stage for a procession of spectacular showcase spaces. As good-looking as it is, it also functions fully to today’s standards with features such as underground parking and a second kitchen for catering. Sold for $21 million, with a handsome outdoor area, this is a house tailor-made for A-list gatherings, moving fluidly from indoors to out.
3. Over the Top!
Shelve any ideas that luxury living has reached its peak in LA. Case in point: the $83 million homage to organic modern design commanding a promontory with Pacific views and the attention of admirers everywhere. Glossy and glazed—a citadel of the highest-grade stone, wood, and metals available—the house pulls out all the stops with a Nobu design kitchen, outdoor cinema, Zen gardens and spa, rooftop deck with pool/jacuzzi, ballistic safe rooms, a curved 40-foot-tall statement wall and an extraordinary, made-for-the-movies master suite accessed by retinal scanner with a customer-designed retractable roof for stargazing. Alas, a house in its own universe.
4. Compound Interest
Sold for $51 million, this original Cliff May from 1940 is a Westside prize, shrouded in nature and immersed in sweeping views. With three structures on one compound, the well-bred property is finished in white plaster walls, light hardwood floors and steel doors and windows, and enjoys a vast surround. With sumptuous bedrooms, splendid stone-clad baths, and a gourmet kitchen, with an art room, dance studio, gym, and Dolby Digital theatre and more, this address defies the idea that a house can’t have it all.
5. Contemporary Expression
Designed by development duo David and Eliana Rokach, with magnificent ocean and canyon views, this Huntington neighborhood highpoint is chic personified—a clean-lined and white edifice with au courant touches and extravagant glass openings that show the house in its best and most abundant light. Intuitive design disguises methodical decorative calculations made by a deft yet light hand. Finessed is the feel, and at scale too—every inch of this 13,600-square-foot spectacle is high taste and, with a bona fide “auto gallery,” high speed too.
6. Isn’t It Romantic
An LA estate to envy, valued at $21 million with priceless views from Palos Verdes to Malibu, is a refuge from the world. Marked by scenic gardens with outdoor living rooms, olive trees and a postcard view of the sea, the property is just shy of an Impressionist painting, with a series of entertaining rooms that open the enchanting grounds. Couple with a host of modern conveniences, this is an address of seemingly two worlds—old and new.
7. A View to Thrill
With a striking, dark-toned façade, sleek glass openings and streamlined silhouette, a $31 million innovative beach aerie embraces white-water views to beyond. The property’s true value, however, starts with its coveted Huntington Palisades Coastal Bluffs location and continues to every corner of its nearly 14,000 square feet. Marked by showcase kitchens and a jaw-dropping master with dual spa-quality baths, the house makes way for four secondary suites, guest quarters and a trophy lower level to beat all—media/theater, game room, bar, wine room, gym, and five-car display garage with turntable. Garden oasis, you say? With a private outdoor living room with spa and zero-edge pool included.
8. Class Act
A jewel in the Huntington Palisades crown, this refined $25.5 million traditional home with a dashing drive and dramatic columned entrance exploits unobstructed views of from Palos Verdes to Malibu for its own gain.
Namely, supreme quintessential indoor/outdoor living with a flow-inducing floor plan and parade of posh public and private spaces, including a lavish master, gourmet chef’s kitchen, theatre and gym. With ocean views backdropping the pool and spa area—and a spectacular glass pool cover, ushering in more space for entertaining—this is a one in a multi-million property. Photos: Ryan Lahiff
