the caviar.
La Jolla had two of San Diego County’s five most expensive home sales in 2023 and three of the top 10 as the county’s luxury housing market had a big year with record high purchase prices, insulated as the rest of the home market was impacted by rising mortgage interest rates.
Several of the year’s buyers used limited liability companies to shield identities, but the practice might get more difficult in the future. The U.S. Treasury Department will be launching a new database this year in an effort to unmask shell companies in real estate. While wealthy buyers in San Diego may simply be trying to limit exposure, the federal effort is aimed at illicit actors who launder money through real estate.
The following list compiled by The San Diego Union-Tribune of the most expensive home sales of 2023 is based on properties that were publicly listed for sale. It is possible that other large purchases may have been made off-market.
1. 2940 Sandy Lane, Del Mar — $44.1 million
This sale in October was San Diego County’s biggest-ever home sale in a single transaction.
The beachfront home at 2940 Sandy Lane was previously owned by Hollywood real estate developer C.E. Toberman. The sale was off-market. Property records list the buyer as Sandy Ln LLC, a business ed in Delaware.
The home includes a beach house, guesthouse, detached apartment, tennis court and swimming pool. Altogether, it has eight bedrooms and 7½ bathrooms.
2. 5385 Linea del Cielo, Rancho Santa Fe — $23.5 million
Linea Del CieloThis 12,800-square-foot mansion was built last year and marks one of the biggest-ever sales in Rancho Santa Fe.
Property records list the buyer as Tu Jianhua. That’s the same name as a Chinese billionaire who made his fortune in motorcycles and recycling. Real estate agents involved in the sale declined to say whether it was the same Tu Jianhua.
The listing, which featured a Lamborghini Aventador parked in the living room, said visitors would be “greeted by a striking cantilevered steel beam standing boldly, a testament to the home’s modern aesthetic and structural elegance.”
The house is the biggest in the top five and has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms. Features include a room with 21-foot ceilings, a 130-foot infinity pool, a two-bedroom guesthouse, an artist studio, a home office, a showroom for cars, a vineyard, a wine cellar and a custom surround-sound system. The home sits on 10 acres.
3. 5228 Chelsea St., La Jolla — $22.5 million
5228 Chelsea StreetThis home was built in 2022 and was purchased by Reza Amirrezvani, founder of the Phoenix-based chain Super Star Car Wash.
The 7,581-square-foot oceanfront home was designed by architecture firm Blue Heron, which also designed other new homes in the Bird Rock area that broke sales records. It has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and three half-bathrooms.
It features an unobstructed southern view of Crystal Pier, Point Loma and Coronado, a heated balcony outside the primary bedroom, and a rooftop entertainment space with heaters, a fire pit, barbecue pits, a wall of television screens and a powder room.
A pool in the rear of the property faces the ocean — rare for that part of La Jolla and for oceanfront properties. Recent setback rules typically prevent pools facing the ocean because of coastal erosion concerns, but one was already there when the property was sold for $4.68 million in 2016 and later demolished to make way for the new mansion.
“To have a swimming pool on the waterfront is next to impossible now, unless it is grandfathered in,” said listing agent Brett Dickinson of the Dickinson-Clark Team at Com.
4. 5410 Calumet Ave., La Jolla — $17.4 million
5410 Calumet AvenueThis property next to Calumet Park features 100 feet of ocean frontage — large by coastal mansion standards.
The 5,534-square-foot home has five bedrooms and six bathrooms and features a pool and spa, walk-in closets, a bar, a housekeeper’s room and a three-car garage.
Property records list the buyer as New York-based 32 D LLC.
The home had been purchased for $7 million in 2021 and underwent an extensive remodel. It was then listed for sale for $19.5 million in early January last year and sold for $17.4 million in May.
5. 15250 Las Planideras, Rancho Santa Fe — $16.75 million
15250 Las PlaniderasThis 8,928-square-foot, newly built property on nearly three acres was previously owned by Bridge Diagnostics Chief Executive Jason Hansen and his wife, Kim. It was sold to a Stockton-based personal trust called Casa En La Colina.
“It wasn’t like a [typical] spec home at all,” said listing agent Khaki Wennstrom. “Everything was custom. It was the best finishes, the best marbles, custom hardwood floors. The home is warm, inviting.”
Features include a yard with drought-tolerant Bermuda grass, an infinity pool, raised garden beds, a den with four TVs and a golf simulator, a theater room, fireplaces, a climate-controlled wine room, a sauna, a six car garage and a 46-foot-long electronic glass sliding door to the backyard.
There are seven bedrooms and 7½ bathrooms.
The rest of the top 10:
6. 532 Neptune Ave., Encinitas — $16.25 million
7. 6368 Calle Ponte Bella, Rancho Santa Fe — $16 million
8. 7505 Hillside Drive, La Jolla — $15.8 million
9. 5940 Ladys Secret Drive, Rancho Santa Fe — $15.5 million
10. 1844 Ocean Front, Del Mar — $14 million ◆
