A rare, 42-acre San Juan Capistrano estate known for decades as “Porcupine Hill” has hit the market for the first time for $150 million.
The coastal property is poised to become the most expensive home ever sold in Orange County if it surpasses the record set by hedge fund billionaire Joseph Edelman’s Laguna Beach estate, which he quietly purchased in 2021 for $70 million.
Marketed as “Casa Grande,” the estate includes an existing 21,000-square-foot structure comprised of three apartments, offices and storage space completed in 2010 and permitted plans for a 38,000-square-foot main residence on a ridgeline with 360-degree views.
The plans, more than 40 years in the making, also include two 10,000-square-foot guest houses and unlimited maintenance quarters for the existing agribusiness.
While the future residences fall under Proposition 13, the agribusiness is taxed under the Williamson Act, offering reduced property tax savings based on production.
Currently, avocados and citrus are grown here, but the property is in the process of transitioning to agave, which co-listing agent Brad Feldman of Douglas Elliman Real Estate describes as “the new California spirit hot button.”
A barn, a stable for up to 10 horses and a distillery are also approved as part of the listing, which is the priciest OC has ever seen.
Redfin shows the median sales price for a single-family home in San Juan Capistrano in May was $1.95 million, up just over 18% from the previous year.
“When we started to run numbers on this, we couldn’t find anything comparable,” Feldman said. “I started in Orange County and then opened it up to San Diego, to L.A. County, to Santa Barbara County and I just kept going up, up, up. This is a truly one-of-a-kind property because no one can duplicate it. It’s literally the most unique property we’ve ever seen because there are so many different elements to it.”
He adds there is a possibility that the agribusiness and the house may be sold separately.
John Stanaland, who shares the listing with his Douglas Elliman colleagues David Stoll and Feldman, said the property will likely appeal to wealthy buyers shopping for a second home because “if you take a look at what’s happened with Orange County, it’s always been an ‘It’ destination.”
The property, located 4.5 miles from Dana Point, is referred to by locals as “Porcupine Hill.”
Inspired by the 87 spindly date palms planted near the crest of the ridge, the name took hold during a legal battle between Orange County housing developer Robert Maurer and the city in the 1980s and ’90s, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the listing.
The project has dominated Maurer’s life since the late 1980s.
Maurer, now 87, bought the large parcel overlooking the Belford Terrace neighborhood his company developed in the late 1970s with the vision of creating a legacy property for his family. He wanted to build a home on the ridgeline, but a city ordinance preventing such development delayed his plans.
According to Feldman, “(Maurer) already had approved, permitted plans prior to the ridgeline ordinance, so ultimately, the city and the family settled, and they allowed them to build the home on the ridgeline.”
By then, Maurer’s sons told the Wall Street Journal, the developer “had begun to lose steam on the home project.”
The plans for the ridgeline development are now left to the buyer to build.
Casa Grande has two entrances, one off Ortega Highway and another through Marbella Country Club that’s gated. It also has direct access to city riding trails.
