Shortly after World War II, William Lyon started building houses in California, launching his eponymous firm William Lyon Homes.
In 1986, though, he took on a special client: himself.
The decorated military veteran and builder constructed an elaborate estate with nearly 50,000 square feet of living space on about 140 acres of land in Orange County. It served as the Lyon family's primary residence, but now, the property is on the market for the first time — with a $125 million price tag.
Put another way, if a buyer made the standard 20% down payment — equivalent to $25 million — they’d be looking at a monthly payment of more than $704,000 to pay off a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, according to Homes.com.
It’s a worthy price for a home with such history, though, especially in the area surrounding Los Angeles, according to listing agent Mauricio Umansky of The Agency.
“It has all of the legacy,” Umansky told Homes.com. “You don’t see that often in Los Angeles. You might see that on the East Coast somewhere, but it’s certainly not in LA.”
More than its historic ownership and origins, the estate’s legacy also includes a visit from former President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, according to Umansky, who is representing the property alongside Josh Altman, Matt Altman and Doug Skoro of Douglas Elliman, as well as Jon Grauman and Zach Goldsmith of The Agency.
“It’s fun to have a house that has so much history and is built by one of the best homebuilders in the country,” Umansky said.
A home that's hard to re-create
The property’s main house is a three-story, eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom residence. Three guest houses, ranging from one to two bedrooms, are also located on the property. Inside, wood-paneled walls and ornate crown molding adorn the living spaces.
The “absolutely exceptional” quality speaks to Lyon’s expertise, according to Umansky.
“Everything flows,” he said. “It’s just great, architecturally speaking.”
Amenities include a private helipad, a pool, a spa, a pool house and horse stables. There are also 41 acres of orange orchards, two lakes used for irrigation, a pond and a greenhouse.
And there are other traces of Lyon’s touch, too, Umansky said. Take the 24,000-square-foot car museum, for example.
“It’s just one of the best car museums I’ve ever seen,” he added. The museum has space for 70 vehicles — sorry, it comes empty — and it also has an auto shop and wash station.
Umansky said he expects the buyer will be an end-user, but he said there is a business opportunity for whoever purchases the estate: At the southern end of the property, there are 64 acres that can be used to develop up to 25 homes.
Umansky said his team’s pitch to buyers is “the opportunity to own something that would probably be impossible to replicate today.”
“A, because of the size of the land in that area just doesn’t exist … the cost would be exorbitant,” he said. “The other opportunity is having the choice of all that isolation and the spaces to do whatever you want all kind of in the middle of the city.”