Touring a $10,250,000 Hamptons-Inspired Estate in California

Every home has a story, but it's rare to find a home that feels like it's been lifted straight from the pages of a storybook. Hi Luxury Home Show, I'm your host Arianna. Rare is a perfect word for this property. A private gated estate in the heart of San Juan Capistrano, featuring nearly an acre and a half of park-like gardens, and a home with the charm of the Hamptons, just minutes away from the California coastline. This one will absolutely sweep you off your feet. One of my favorite design pieces in this entire home. This is the copper soaking tub. It just reflects the light in such a dramatic way, creates this bounce of warmth and sunlight throughout the entire bathroom. This island was designed specifically with a family dog in mind. Come take a look at the garden. We have 11 raised bed planters. So I imagine you would have some favorite herbs and they'd be at your fingertips. Like with any storybook, we need to start with the first chapter. Welcome to the arrival. Upon entering through these private iron gates, you are entered into this beautiful motor court. Below me are some really stunning herringbone pavers, so it just feels like this very design forward home as soon as you enter the driveway. Down here you can start to see the expansiveness of the yard and the home itself, as well as all of the layers going on. You have beautiful mature trees, you have pavers and rocks throughout the backyard, and I just love the structure of the home. You can start to see how there are so many opportunities for gathering and moments throughout this space, but let's go check out the front yard. Since entertaining is one of this property's strong suits, you're going to want to have lots of parking for your friends, family, and other guests. Fortunately, this driveway is absolutely built for that. You have a beautiful roundabout for accessible and easy parking, lots and lots of parking spots for all of your friends, and as well as around by the three and a half car garage in the back, there's even more parking in the driveway, as well as room for a recreational vehicle, more than three cars inside the indoor garage, as well as an apartment upstairs, but we're going to get to that shortly. And for our first little moment here in the home, something I noticed is as you're wrapping around to even seeing the front of the home, I'm seeing so many charming little moments here. I see wood paneling and red brick, natural foliage, and these river rock petals. You also hear the stream that just falling through the space, and it just creates this really natural, beautiful entrance to an already charming property. Michael, so good to see you. Great to see you. Thank you so much for having us. What a beautiful property. So I know that this home has just so many beautiful moments to it, but all together creates such a feeling. What first stood out to you about this home? That's the exciting part. We're bringing something like this to the market that has a park-like environment, a sense of well-being as you stroll through the grounds, peaceful, tranquil. There's nothing like it. And we're excited to have you tour it today and show our viewers the very best. It is. It's the very best, and it's really one of a kind, right? It almost feels like in Southern California, it's increasingly rare to be able to find this kind of property. Certain. How does this compare to the surrounding areas? What we feel is so special is there's a microclimate here. So you're just 2.3 miles from the ocean. I know you felt those breezes. I'm feeling it right now. Right. And you're four miles from excellent shopping, recluse. You've got this private getaway sanctuary, your own special place, but in touch with everything else. Well, I think they've done such a beautiful job weaving in the history of this area, right? You're in San Juan Capistrano. You're close to the mission. It feels very country estate, almost like back more than 100 years ago plus when this area was founded. And they've really held true to honoring the space, honoring the land, the microclimate, but also all the conveniences of modern Orange County living, right? Right. Very often when you have 1.4 acres, you don't have full utility of all of that land. There's either an upslope challenge, a downslope challenge. But the way this is layered, you use all of that 1.4 acres. That's exciting. That's really exciting. I hear that this family who's owned the house has entertained up to 400 people. What kind of events could be hosted here? Up to 400 people is correct. So there are city events, school events, very important. And there is a wonderful service gate where your caterer can bring in tables, chairs, cooking utensils, et cetera, without disturbing the rest of the grounds. I love that feature. What's your favorite part of the gardens? I think the koi pond. We're going to feed some koi together. I would love that. That would be great. So tell me more about how the history of this home came together. Well, this home was built in about 2000. It's only got a second owner who's been here over 20 years. But they've continually refined the property during their ownership. You can see the grounds are meticulous and it's the same inside. Constant care, looking to improve at every opportunity. The result is a feel-good vibe here. It's a happy house. It's happy grounds. You hear birds chirping, even little frogs in the gardens. It's fun. There's an energy here that I feel like really can't be fought. I agree. There's a lot of really beautiful homes and I love new builds, but it's always really refreshing to come across a home like this where there's so much lived history, so much love, so much life in it. Yeah, can't wait to show it to you. Let's take a stroll. Let's go. This is all canyon stone, Bokeh canyon stone. And that pathway continues in the same stone and you'll see an array of citrus, avocado, lovely trees, healthy. And we're framed by sycamore, mature, beautiful trees. And we terrace down, we're very well drained here. And it opens up to, shall we say, a mini polo ground. This is much larger than most yards in all of Southern California. And this is just one portion of the yard. And what an opportunity to not only have your fruit trees be able to be accessible for harvesting, but that they're really part of the aesthetic and the design of the landscaping. I agree. You'll see inside the home that there are opportunities to look out to this area. It's enchanting. It is. It really is. So let's go over to the bandstand. Not only could this serve as an intimate setting, but it can also be accessible to entertaining environment. Wow. I love that it has just enough separation that it almost feels like it could be a stage. You could bring in live music. I think you can. Yeah. And what's interesting is the operation materials for our koi pond are nested below. So nothing unsightly in your line of vision. Right, right. So you can have those layers without any break in the design. Now you'll see an interesting pathway that is carved throughout. Let's take a look. This is decomposed granite. Nice hard surface. Non-slip. Michael, I love just even the sound under our footsteps here. It's so relaxing to have that texture even underfoot that's just that. That nice soft gravel. Oh, I see the kois. How about I get some food and we'll show you them swimming around closer to it. No way, really? We'll do it. I would love that. Okay, make some friends here. Okay. Hi, I'm Ariana and I come bearing food. And these guys thrive. Look at them go. They like you, Ariana. So that's their pool. What about the human's pool? Well, the human pool, you'll certainly get some exercise in it with this side. Wow. And the diving board on the deep end. A diving board? I feel like you never see that in these Southern California pools. This is so generously sized. Plenty of room to take some sun. And a beautiful finish on the pool. Also, there are motorized covers, not only for the spa, but for the pool as well. So safe for children. Very. That's important. Come take a look at the garden. We have 11 raised bed planters. So imagine you would have some favorite herbs and they'd be at your fingertips. It's complemented by what we call the orchid house. The orchid house has filtered water and drip and spray system, so you can really do some fancy plants, if you wish. So not only can I host a delicious farm-to-table dinner, but I can also grow orchids to put in the center, is what you're saying. You could. And what an entrance. Michael, thank you so much for showing us around. This has been so dreamy. My pleasure. I love being here and so happy you visited us. Absolutely. Well, I can't wait to take our audience inside the home. Enjoy. Take care. Thank you so much. Welcome to the inside. This home was designed to be a very unique blend of the East Coast and the West Coast. So you have a Hampton style design home, but of course, placed in the heart of San Juan Capistrano, you have those ocean coastal breezes, the bright Southern California sun, and this house is definitely built to match. This is a beautiful, generous open foyer. I love the flooring underneath. This is a beautiful walnut plank style flooring that leads your eyes straight into this formal living room. I love how much light there is in here. You have wraparound windows right there. On the other side is that driveway, so you can get oriented with where the sun placement is here. We have these beautiful picture frame windows on two sides, as well as a gorgeous stone fireplace here. Really gorgeous place to hang your art on all of these walls. Have some nice conversation with all of your friends and family as they come in. Join me here in the study. This room is many people's favorite of the whole home, and I can see why. This is definitely the boss's office. Whoever in your family is the boss is going to want to spend a lot of their time in here thinking, making deals, problem solving. It just has this very academic kind of boss energy. You have beautiful hardwood walnut all throughout, as well as on the ceiling, you have these copper beams that are not only walnut, but you have the tin-treated ceiling in between them as well. So much character, so much detail, bringing in that very East Coast academia vibe. This powder is so unique. You can see up on the walls, this is a hand-painted textured wall. It actually reminds me of some of the red rock that you would see in maybe Sedona or in Utah. It's very calming, peaceful. Draw your eye to some of this lighting. This is a Fortuny-style conch that you're going to see on both sides framing the living room. Behind us is the primary staircase. Beautiful, large wall space for all of your art, but we're going to come back to the upstairs later. Let's go check out the kitchen. One of my very favorite things about this kitchen is the grandness and yet the intimacy and thoughtful moments. Let me show you what I mean. Through here, you have multiple kitchen islands complete with sinks, storage, multiple dishwashers, gorgeous high-quality appliances, plenty of space for cooking. This is a dream chef's kitchen, but it's also very homey and has opportunities for the personality of the family to come through. Behind me is one of the islands, but underneath here, come check it out. This island was designed specifically with a family dog in mind. So this is its own cozy little spot that you could have the dog who just hangs out while you cook your meal. Maybe they're hoping for some scraps on the floor. Speaking of the floor, this is designed to reflect the same tone as the walnut that you saw in the foyer, but this is actually tile underneath me. It's really thoughtful in a kitchen to have something that's not hardwood, but much more livable, much more friendly to spills and water being splashed around as you're cooking and living your day-to-day life. Over here, not only do you have this wool double oven, but also we have the double sub-zero freezer and fridge, plenty of space for hosting, having your platters 36 inches side by side. And then look at this little pullout. This is for all of your little spices, things that you wanna just tuck away out of sight, but the design is just so brilliant. It's fun to have one, but to have two of these little pullout cabinets on either side bookending, chef's kiss. Above me, you'll start to see these hand-hewn beams. They just bring in this organic movement and texture into the kitchen that feels so homey. These beams extend throughout this entire living space above the kitchen, the family room and the nook area as well. These cabinets are solid cherry wood with a beautiful soft velvety finish, absolutely stunning. You have some display cabinets here and underneath this is Dutch tile that was brought in. Every single one of these tiles is hand-painted and just so unique and full of life and personality. Wrapping around here, this is one of my favorite design moments in the kitchen. This faucet is really chosen to honor the land, honor the area that we're in. So it's very mission style, this faucet, very high quality. You have the deep farmhouse sink and then overlooking the garden, you have this beautiful garden window that projects outward so that it brings in a lot of light and you can overlook your herb garden where you're growing your flowers, perhaps some of the things that you'll be cooking for dinner tonight. Just off of the kitchen, we have this, you could call this a nook, but it's so generously sized that you could very easily eat your breakfast, lunch or dinner here. It has this beautiful rounded protrusion out into that garden area as well with these gorgeous picture frame windows. You can sit down and enjoy any meal with your family in a more casual environment. Behind me is the family room, but first I want to show you this little connection to the outside. Why not take advantage of the absolutely stunning Southern California coastal weather? This is a perfect place to dine alfresco, bring out your coffee in the morning, any meal of the day and you're overlooking this stunning view of the gorgeous blue pool, the mature landscaping, the layers and layers of greenery, as well as the rest of the valley of San Juan Capistrano. Really just absolutely stunning views, 180 from this vantage point. My favorite moment. These French doors throughout the home really bring a new definition to indoor outdoor living here in Southern California. Oftentimes you have sliding or pocket doors, but I love that these really honor that Hampton's East Coast design while still bringing so much of the outdoor and the coastal breeze inside. This is a sweet family room where you could have the kids or your guests just enjoying, maybe watching a little TV show while you're cooking dinner for everyone and it all feels very connected and very family oriented. Right here is a true testament to the history of this house. There are only a small handful of people in Southern California that even build brick fireplaces anymore. With new builds, you're not able to get something like this. They have to be prefab. This one is actually the original, authentic full fireplace that can be used to heat the actual home and to feel that very traditional kind of historic feel of having a real fireplace. Very unique. This home does have a second staircase, but we're going to go upstairs in just a few minutes. Off to the side, we have a very generously sized laundry room, plenty of storage and counter space for you to keep all of your laundering nice and tidy and organized. You remember the pool outside? Well, when the kids are all running inside and want to take a little break, then it's nice to have an exit right off of that garden area for them to come in and clean up and not drag their watery shoes or wet feet all the way through the house. Now this is the garage. This is a very sizable garage. Well, we're already in here. You can fit three large cars, plenty of space for storage, lighting. You have some natural windows, windows on top of these doors as well over here. So you can feel really open and airy, even in this space. And this is the recreational vehicle garage. So whether you have a boat or an RV, it's easy to be able to pull it all the way in. This is an extra long garage. So you have plenty of space to store it, work on it, store your accessories. And I also want to note the double doors. So it's easy if you're working on your vehicle or you need to be able to service it, pull it through. All really, really thoughtfully designed so that you can store whatever play vehicle you have in here. And above that RV garage is actually a standalone apartment that we're going to show you in just a little while. But first, let's head upstairs. Now at the top of this staircase is a really sweet storybook scene here. So this is a reading nook where you have two bookcases that you can fill with either family history, photo books, albums, and just novels. So you can sit next to this beautiful window overlooking the gorgeous park-like yard. I can just imagine on a rainy day sitting up here with a cup of tea and a book and just having a really relaxing afternoon. And now the master suite. This is the hero of our storybook today. I absolutely love all the design choices. You have the hand-hewn beams above to that A-line ceiling. And one of the sweetest moments in here is these kind of picture book extra windows. This almost reminds me of a dollhouse, but to scale in this grand way. French doors going out onto this own private patio here off of the primary as well. And over here, we have a stunning fireplace to really warm this room. You have the stone foundation here and a very dramatic mantle as well. Coming into the primary en suite. One of my favorite design pieces in this entire home. This is the copper soaking tub. It just reflects the light in such a dramatic way. Creates this bounce of warmth and sunlight throughout the entire bathroom. Over here, we have these Italian style vanities. So this is very, very beautiful textured wood here. The stone tops. And then come check out this sink. This is so unique. This is an acid etched sink, but glazed for durability. I love all of the details in here, like this warmth of the mirrors. And over here is the settee where you can feel your own Hollywood glamour life. It's just so perfect set up for your makeup, your hair routine. You could definitely get ready for your party or even a big event here. Now, this is so unique. This is a mosaic and sax tile. So if you look closely, you can see this beautiful irregularity of all of these broken pieces built into this gorgeous mosaic tile here. You have the vines. This is really meant to bring that outdoor element of all the gardens into the primary bathroom. And that wraps around all around to create that windscutting. Continuing on, you have a two person shower. These shower heads are individually controlled so you can use either one. I love that you have the and sax tiling through here with those sweet little birds, the detailing. And then beneath is that natural pebble. The stone beneath your feet to feel very natural. And again, bring the outdoors in. It also has this gorgeous window. So you have natural light even as you're taking a shower. You have the water closet here complete with a bidet option. And then through here is this second walk-in closet. Something that's really fun about this house is how convenient all of these doors make it. It's very accessible. So you never feel like you get stuck in the space. Speaking of, let's flow right into the study. This space was very thoughtfully designed by the family where they wanted their children to be able to have a space to study, do their homework, maybe bring in a tutor, but where it still feels very open. And when you're done with your homework, of course you want to celebrate and have some fun. So welcome to the billiard and game room. This space is a little different from the rest of the house in that it has quite a mood to it. You have this beautiful kind of retro red chandelier that sets the tone here on your billiard table. It makes me want to grab maybe a drink and invite some friends over. It works out that you have a wet bar in here so that you could mix up a drink and have some socializing. In addition to the billiard table, you also have space for games. This could have a chess set over here or maybe just a space to play cards, chat. The walls are very unique. This was very intentionally chosen by the homeowner. This rich blue damask upholstery and it creates a coziness to the space. It doesn't feel like the sound really bounces around here. So even when you're playing billiards, it still has a soft kind of den-like feel to it. Very classy. And if you're ready for a little fresh air, then it has a private patio just off of the billiards room. What a view. This is one of two upstairs private balconies. So if you were hanging out with your friends in here, but you might be having a larger party, maybe some people are down on the lawn or in the pool, you can just come out, get a nice, beautiful view of the surrounding area, the yard, the hills and the entire valley. You can see for miles from out here. Now let's check out all of the secondary bedrooms up here. Now I feel like this could either be a bedroom or just an all-purpose room. You can see there's plenty of space in here to have your live band rehearsals. Lots of music lessons could take place in here. Plenty of space for your instruments or art supplies. Off here, you have an en suite bathroom. So great, convenient access there. A long, very, very generously sized room here and a walk-in closet. Back out into this study room, I really enjoy how thoughtful the storage was up here as well. Plenty of storage to put your board games, books. And even down here, there are places for baskets where you could easily store some toy trains, some puzzles, anything to keep the kids all up here, entertained and connecting with each other. Another secondary bedroom. This is a south-facing window over here so you can see the beautiful greenery, the mature trees. It's a very picture frame kind of window there. You have plenty of space for a chandelier, large walk-in closet, as well as this double sink Hollywood vanity here in this bathroom. This is a generously sized shared bathroom between two of the secondary bedrooms. So you have the double vanity here, beautiful white detailing throughout. You even have the subway tile wainscoting all the way through the water closet into the bathtub and shower. As promised, above that RV garage is the apartment. Whether you're hosting out-of-town guests or you have an event and someone wanted to just stay the night before driving home, this is a really beautiful, sizable, and comfortable apartment. This bed here is a Murphy bed so it could be fully closed away to have even more space if you wanted to use the area for something else. Some bookcases and storage built right in. Then over here, we have space for seating as well as a counter. Someone could sit here and maybe have a cup of coffee or breakfast. This stove, I love that it's overlooking the rest of the estate. So you have this natural light that's coming in and you feel like kind of homey that you could even cook here, have a dish and feel like you're right at home. I also love this kind of retro Hollywood black and white checkered tile. Such a fun pop. It just brings a smile to the face when I walk in here. Let's go check out the bathroom. A nice simple bathroom, that same black and white tiling here on the floor and it's just nice, clean, well-lit and has a window to itself. Connecting the private property down to the street level is this beautiful walkway. It's also gated, but as you walk through, you can connect right down to the walkway that used to be an equestrian trail and walking along this trail reminds you of the history of San Juan Capistrano being an equestrian community rich with lifestyle, sun and coastal breezes. Well, our app is just got here. We're here at the delicious Finca restaurant at River Street Market. This is definitely the go-to retail destination here in San Juan Capistrano. So we're going to enjoy this delicious bite and we'll see you back at the house. Thanks Luxury Home Show. If you want more information, you can find it in the description and if you enjoyed this tour, you're definitely going to love the next one. Welcome back to the Luxury Home Show. I'm your host Ariana and today we are exploring the one and only Sur House designed by JH2 Architects here in the coveted Crystal Cove of Newport Coast.