Casa de la Paz, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Sep 2nd 2007 at 1:02PM

Today's home is a walk through Southern California history. The home in the gorgeous beachfront area of La Jolla, California was once owned by actor Cliff Robertson. Robertson is probably best known to modern audiences as Uncle Ben in the Spiderman movies but he also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in "Charly" (based on the book Flowers for Algernon). Robertson bought the 1922 Spanish Colonial in 1963. He restored it and named it Casa de la Paz (house of peace). Real estate developer Ronald Baldwin and his wife Amie bought the home from Robertson in 2005 for $14.5 million (but Mr. Big Time has unearthed the fact that Robertson originally asked $25 million for the home). The eight-bedroom compound has around 6,100 square feet of living space on 1.4 acres. It includes a main residence with multiple fireplaces and a one-bedroom guest house with a kitchen.

The home was designed by and home to Philip Barber for whom La Jolla's Barber Tract (where this home is situated) was named. The home is a registered historical site and therefore qualifies for a tax break. The sellers haven't changed the property but they were planning to. They have massive renovation plans that are in the final stages of review by the city and the Wall Street Journal reports that the two-year process cost about $500,000 in architectural design fees. The addition would turn the main house into a five bedroom, 9205 square foot home with a den, exercise room and sauna. The plans also including adding an oceanfront pool. The home was listed at $28 million but is now $22.5 million. Any guesses on a final price? I'm guessing under $20 million.
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Gallery: Casa de la Paz