Special design features helped sell a front- row home in the exclusive Irvine Terrace neighborhood of Corona del Mar.
The single-story home, nestled on the edge of the bluff at 1027 Dolphin Terrace, sold in September for $6.6 million in a cash transaction.
“It was one of those houses that everyone loved when they walked in,” said Emily Do, who works with Tim Smith of the Coldwell Banker Previews International office in Newport Beach, who represented the seller.
The buyer’s agent was Cammy Leslie of Beverly Hills-based Teles Prop-erties Inc., which has a Newport Beach office.
The four-bedroom home has glass “pocket doors” that disappear into the walls, so the view of Balboa Island and the harbor is the first thing that can be seen when someone walks through the front door. The home has a number of special features, such as “living walls” that have water trickling down, Do said.
In the back of the house there is a spa and an “infinity pool,” an in-ground style that’s designed to blend with the surroundings.
The house was listed in June for $7.5 million and closed Sept. 15.
There were two open houses and quite a few private showings.
There were two serious offers on the property, Do said.
The seller built the home in 2005, replacing an older one.
Another nearby front-row home, 1523 Dolphin Terrace, is for sale. It’s listed by Keith Randle of Coldwell Banker Previews International for $5.5 million.
It is a smaller, older home, built in 1996 and remodeled in 2004 and 2005. The price was reduced in August from $5.7 million.
Island Hopping
Newport Beach has several islands in the harbor, each with its own history.
Perhaps the most interesting island is the smallest, Collins Island. It’s at the tip of Balboa Island and has eight homes. Access is by a single-lane bridge, once a footbridge.
“It is one of the neatest places in Newport for the history, and the views are unbelievable,” said Kevin P. Smith, an agent for Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc.
Smith is familiar with the history of the island and its present-day residents.
The most recent sale on Collins Island was a home that sold for $8.7 million in 2010. It has the best view, facing the widest part of the harbor, he said.
“There’s definitely value differentials from one lot to the next.”
Many sailboat races start and finish in front of the house, Smith said.
The same home sold for $14.5 million at the market peak.
James Cagney, the 1930s actor, once owned the island.
Some say he won it in a poker game. He leased it to the Coast Guard during World War II.
Cagney sold it in 1948.
William Collins, the man who built the island, wasn’t famous— but he was a character. He built a castle that took up the whole island. It was for his fourth wife, according to the book, “Images of America Newport Beach,” which has a photo of his eccentric-looking residence.
At one point, Collins owned most of eastern Newport.
“He had a dredger,” Smith said. “This guy was way ahead of his time.”
Collins dredged and built Balboa Island, finishing that around 1913.
By 1914, he had sold 400 lots.
“Then business took a sharp dive,” Smith said.
Collins, who has been referred to as a “huckster,” made promises he couldn’t keep about improvements to the lots. Smith said he also had competition from the automobile.
“People really started wanting an automobile back then,” Smith said.
A car and a lot on Balboa Island were about the same price.
“What do you get?” Smith said. “A lot and some weird swampland or a cool automobile, instead of riding a horse?”
By 1915, his empire crumbled and Collins left the area.
Around 1930, the island was almost lost. There were plans to fill the channel between Balboa Island and Collins Island and connect them.
A well-connected resident managed to put a stop to the plan because he had a view he didn’t want wrecked, according to local lore.
Today, Collins Island has an interesting mix of people—a few who’ve lived there for at least 30 years and bought their homes for about $200,000, newer wealthy folks and vacationers.
The homes are close together, but they’re larger than the homes on Balboa Island.
On Balboa, home lots are about 2,500 square feet. On Collins Island, the lots are 4,000 to 5,000 square feet.
The residents don’t have a homeowner’s association. If they need something fixed, they get together and figure out how to do it, Smith said.
One of the homes rents to vacationers for $5,500 to $8,500 a week, depending on the time of year.
