The late December closing of 4105 Calle Isabella was the highest-priced sale in San Clemente in 2012.
The 10,728-square-foot custom home, in the Cotton Point Estates neighborhood where former President Richard Nixon once lived, sold for $6.1 million. That was down from $6.5 million in August.
Pauline Jordan, an agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Capistrano Beach, represented the seller.
Jennifer Norminton, an agent with Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc., represented the buyer.
The buyer and seller were local.
The seller was looking for a smaller home, and the buyer wanted a bigger home, Jordan said.
The buyer, who owned a home in the adjacent neighborhood of Cyprus Cove, made an offer just days after it was listed.
“They loved it right away,” Jordan said.
The seller received two offers on the home.
The home had been listed for two years with another agent before shifting to Coldwell Banker in August.
The home has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Nixon made the Cotton Point neighborhood famous when he bought an oceanfront mansion there in 1969.
The Nixon mansion was formerly owned by financier and oil man Hamilton H. Cotton. Cotton led a syndicate that helped found the city of San Clemente.
The Nixon estate, dubbed La Casa Pacifica, also became known as the Western White House.
Nixon and his wife, Pat, retired there after he resigned from the presidency in 1974. The Nixons relocated to New Jersey in the 1980s, when they sold the Cotton Point home to Gavin Herbert, founder of Irvine-based Allergan Inc. and owner of Roger’s Gardens, a home and garden store and garden showcase in Corona del Mar.
Herbert developed the grounds surrounding the Nixon estate, where several custom homes were built, including the Calle Isabella home, which was built in 2006.
The Calle Isabella home is one of the largest homes in Cotton Point, which overlooks the renowned Trestles surf spot.
Sixteen Homes
Sixteen homes priced $4 million and up were sold in December, making it the second highest-month for closings in the category in 2012, according to Redfin.com.
August had the most sales in 2012, with 23 closings.
There were two sales of $4 million or more as of mid-January this year.
January 2012 had six closings altogether.
Surterre Hits $2B
Surterre Properties wound up 2012 with $2 billion in sales.
The company also marked $1 billion in career sales for Jerry La Mott.
La Mott heads up The La Mott Group at Surterre Properties’ Monarch Beach office. La Mott joined Surterre Properties in 2011.
Surterre has 340 agents altogether, with 40 other staffers.
Mobile Support for Teles Agents
Teles Properties Inc. opened a new 1,700-square-foot office, called Laguna Lounge, with the aim of serving on-the-go agents.
Most agents are mobile these days, so there isn’t a need for a large office to house them, said Peter Hernandez, president of Beverly Hills-based Teles Properties.
Teles is using the money that it didn’t spend on rent to help its agents sell homes.
“They need a place to drop by between showings or listing appointments, and they need a place to meet clients and get their marketing done,” he said.
The office offers full marketing and technology support for all of its agents.
Agents can fill out contracts at the office, get tech support for their gadgets, have a website built, and get access to pertinent market surveys and research.
Laguna Lounge has a relaxed, coffee-shop feel, he said.
“We created an environment that fits Laguna Beach perfectly.”
High-Profile at $12.5M
Robert George Stehlik has reduced the price of his home at 2555 Altamar Drive in Laguna Beach to $12.5 million.
The contemporary ocean-view home was most recently priced at $13.8 million in May and reduced to $12.5 million in December.
Robert Giem, an agent with Newport Beach-based HÔM Sotheby’s International Realty, is the listing agent.
The 8,600-square-foot home was featured in The Wall Street Journal in 2010, priced at $20 million then.
Stehlik and his wife reportedly looked for a home for four months before buying the Altamar Drive home in the gated Irvine Cove neighborhood.
The home was built in 2007 and has five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
