American Billionaire's Cliffside Mansion Is Up For Sale For $108 Million

American businessman Darwin Deason's La Jolla estate, ‘The Sandcastle', has been listed for $108 million, a potential record-breaking price for San Diego County real estate. If sold at the asking price, it would surpass the current record of $44 million, held by billionaire Egon Durban, who bought a Del Mar oceanfront property earlier this year.

Mr Deason's estate spans nearly 13,000 square feet and features stone columns, balconies and a private elevated beach. The interior is inspired by old-world Europe, with gold accents, marble floors and mosaics. The guest house is modelled after Versailles's Le Petit Trianon. The billionaire, who founded Affiliated Computer Services and sold it to Xerox for over $6 billion in 2009, purchased the estate and a neighbouring parcel for $26 million that same year. He has since invested an estimated $60 million into its construction.

Credit: sandcastlelajolla.com

Mr Deason enlisted renowned designer Timothy Corrigan, who has designed for Hollywood elites and royalty, to craft the interiors. Designed with French elegance and inspired by the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, the estate features custom-made furnishings, a dining room that seats 16 and a nautically themed bar. The grounds include a pool, fitness centre and a beachfront boathouse with slate roof tiles imported from China. 

Credit: sandcastlelajolla.com

Mr Deason also brought in $40,000 of imported sand to match Augusta National Golf Club's signature white shade. “Everyone who watches the golf tournament knows it is a spectacular shade of white,” he told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the listing. The property also includes two natural caves at its base. 

Credit: sandcastlelajolla.com

Despite the lavish design, Mr Deason, a Dallas-based businessman, says he doesn't use the property as much as his other homes. “In the history of La Jolla, there has never been and will never be another property built on the waterfront like The Sandcastle due to the present oceanfront construction standards established by the State of California,” agents Brett Dickinson and Ross Clark from Compass said.