Another casualty of tough times in Southern California's Orange County appears to be opera. The recent staging of "The Barber of Seville" may have been the swan song for Opera Pacific, the area's professional opera company. The company was founded in 1986 and has been going strong for years but currently a limited circle of patrons has been unable to swing the $4 million to $5 million in donations needed to fund a season's budget of about $7 million to $8 million. The LA Times reports that the company has canceled its two remaining operas "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Salome" and has put its its office, set-storage and rehearsal building in Santa Ana up for sale and laid off all but two members of the staff. Donations to the arts are often first hit when people scale back their philanthropy in tough times.

Southern California's Orange County is one of the state's wealthiest areas and it is home to many luxury brands but the OC Register reports that the world's largest Lamborghini dealer, Lamborghini Orange County recently closed. The dealership usually sold a full 10 percent of all the Lamborghinis produced in the world and Lamborghini has planned to move its North American headquarters to Santa Monica partly to be nearby its big dealer. The owner of the dealership has not commented on the situation but Pietro Frigerio, chief operating officer of Lamborghini America is quoted as saying that the dealership's financial stress is due to "several unfortunate business decisions" made by the dealership in addition to the economic stressors. At least nine Orange County auto dealers have closed since January but none were as high profile as the Lamborghini dealership. The OC dealership is now padlocked and the lot is vacant.

Another week, another condo auction. This weekend, buyers lined up in Anaheim, California for a chance to bid on 58 deeply discounted Stadium Lofts condos. Potentials buyers could save between 24 percent and 29 percent on the condos which are located near the Angels Stadium. The OC Register reports that by Saturday afternoon, developer Windstar Communities LLC had received $5,000 deposits from each person for 48 condos.

The condo project has 390 units total but the developers had some trouble selling them so they decided to put the 58 units that had attracted the least attention from buyers up for auction. A 1,082-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath condo went for about $350,000 which is approximately 25 percent off or a savings of $114,300 off the original listing price.

Today's home on the bay in Newport Beach, California doesn't have a lot of land or oodles of space but the contemporary style and open floor plan make it a dream bachelor pad. The home has two bedrooms plus loft space. Folding doors open out onto a waterfront terrace next to the boat dock. The home also includes commercial space with a separate entrance and parking. The downstairs has fabulous built-in shelves. The magic hasn't quite spread to the upstairs which seems rather banal. It is listed at $4.995 million. After the jump, bring your books!

We've mentioned the droolworthy Saleen cars before, now the boutique auto maker has a store. The Saleen store is located in Orange County, California at the Irvine Spectrum. The store is split in half with one side devoted to "lifestyle" (gear, posters etc.) and one side devoted to the technical side including interactive displays about Saleen performance. The store features a dissected Saleen Mustang under glass so you can really check out what is under the hood. The store also has two driving simulators that let you race a Saleen S7. To fill up you and your car there is the Saleen N2O Bar that offers ice cream, oxygen, Red Bull and soda for people and nitrous oxide and hydrogen for cars. The Irvine manufacturing plant is located nearby and factory tours can be scheduled.

Frank Pritt, founder of software company Attachmate Corp, is selling his custom-built Corona Del Mar estate and if it hit its list price of $75 million, it would set a record as the most expensive residential home sold in the United States. The 30,000-sq. foot home, interestingly named the "Portabello Estate," stretches to all the property lines on its 1/2 acre lot, adding the additional square footage (1/2 acre = 21,780-sq. feet) in additional floors. It boasts 8 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, multiple pools and a private grotto, though the beach that it sits on is not private. Most realtors don't think that the Orange County house is likely to make its asking price not only because it is far more expensive than any neighboring properties, but the house is right on a main road and offers virtually no privacy.

Full details are listed at the website of the realtor, John McMonigle.

 

Tonight is the season finale - possibly the series finale - of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County, a show set in the heart of Orange County, California, in a development called Coto de Caza. Since the show is ending, it's only fitting that our estate of the day is from the area. Coto de Caza is a large development with approximately 4,200 homes. It has a private golf club, with a course that has been rated one of the best in the country, a tennis club, an equestrian center and a nearly 500 acre wildlife park.  Homes start around $500,000 and go up to multi-million dollar estates. This Tudor-style equestrian estate is one of the multi-million dollar homes.

 

 

Yet another story about posh car dealerships comes from the OC Register which reports on a $65 million new Lexus dealership which is said to be one of the most expensive car dealerships in U.S. history. The new Lexus dealership is located down the street from Fletcher Jones Motorcars, the nation’s largest dealer of Mercedes-Benz. The amenities are pretty sweet in both places. The Fletcher Jones dealership has a valet, the Newport Lexus dealer will have a service concierge. Fletcher Jones has a Starbuck’s and the Lexus dealer will have a Wolfgang Puck Café. There are also entertainment options including large TVs and a putting green. I’m not quite sure why they need this in the O.C. but there will be a year-round fire in a cozy fireplace at the Lexus dealer.  A BMW dealership in Santa Ana also a Diedrich Coffee shop and is building a $31.5 million showroom that will include iPod stations and individual televisions at every seat and a barbershop that will offer haircuts. All this might actually make going to have your car serviced a fun trip rather than a chore.