The listing says the lot is 104,000 square feet, according to the listing, which is almost 2.4 acres.
Well…the footprint of the house IS huge!!
Yup. That’s what the listing says. 2.3 acres. The house probably sits in the middle of it. Lots of postage stamp lots can be carved out of it under the right circumstances. But it does not look like it is possible here.
If the zoning allows smaller lots, it makes sense to demo the existing structure, even if it sounds crazy. A house sold for $2.1M kitty corner from us. It was sitting in the middle of a .4 acres. Nice house. The builder buyer tore it down and will build 2 boxes that he will sell for $3-4M. Will still make a sizeable profit.
“national historic registry” means the exterior cant be changed.
but for only $192 per SQUARE FOOT[!!!] it is a STEAL!!
The Rosecroft Estate has quite a history; check out its entry in Wikipedia. It’s where in 1966 Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy to be governor of California. The original owner was a renowned gardener of his time and developed over 100 varieties of begonias at the estate which at a later point became public gardens. In fact, the placement of the property on the National Historic Registry is primarily due to his prominence as a horticulturist and secondly for the architecture. (I just learned all this from reading the registry’s supplemental information sheet.) Fascinating local history going back to Lomaland. And how the 1% lived in the olden days. It’s one of the largest lots, if not the largest, on Point Loma. I think it really would be a steal for $3 million 
.
This house is very historic in the neighborhood with presidents and dignitaries visiting over the years. Current owners have had a lot of charity events. But they have obviously moved on since the house is empty. I think the issue is that people who have the high dollars are looking for ocean or harbor views. I think this house had viewsa long time ago when it was built but the neighborhood grew up around it.
They have been trying to sell it since July 2016. Started at $7.9mil and took it off the market last month at $5.4 mil. The opening bid amount of $2.9 mil is a teaser, there is probably a reserve set. I think the owner owes more than $2.9 in loans
The land is very valuable and they could subdivide the back of the lot where the tennis court is located.
I’m adding the link to the National Registry continuation sheet because it makes for such fascinating reading. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/370fddca-266d-441c-8c1a-f65334417bf8/ The original owner’s story would make a great book or miniseries. Romance, tragedy, begonias, and western and San Diego history all rolled together. I think of particular interest are the descriptions of the original rooms on pages 7 & 8, and Alfred D. Robinson’s personal story starting on page 9. Note the second wife - like a classic romance novel (or simple expediency).
It was also interesting to see what it takes to become a National Historic property.
Great detective work Marilyn!! The Lomaland Theological Society history is fascinating for someone that has lived here forever. I hope the main part of the property stays intact.
They are having an Open House today. I might swing by. And it might be fun just to go to the auction as a fly on the wall. But the way the Harcourts auctions work, they will take offers at any time so usually the house sells and the auctions never happen.
Oh Lordy! Thought I had seen it all!
Today was a frantic day. I got an email and phone call about 10:30am this morning. A lawyer acquaintance sent out a Distress Sale. It’s a crazy story, hope I’m not revealing too many personal details. He has a client who was robbed at gunpoint about 7 yrs ago in his business. $500,000 stolen and he had no insurance. He had to borrow against his house to pay the bills and get new inventory, at a very high interest rate. Hasn’t paid his mortgage, etc for years.
Bottom line, house is being foreclosed on Monday and they have decided he needs to sell ASAP to pay off the loans and recoup a bit of equity he still has. Lawyer says house is in “excellent” condition
I rush over for an inspection and OMG!!! This guy has erected giant ugly gates around the house. Two walled and keyed gates to get into the house. Exterior in poor condition. Gutters and fascia trim are purple! Overgrown weeds everywhere. Not looking good
But that was nothing compared to inside. House is packed to the gills with crap, which owner explained was “estate sale” items he was storing because he no longer has a showroom. Probably the ugliest stuff I’ve ever seen. On the side of the house, and connected to the Living Room there was DIY ‘atrium’ full of birds and all their glorious mess. Stunk to high heaven.
Could not even enter the bedrooms, packed to the gills. Pool has been turned off for months and it’s a green swamp. The house is full of dogs and carpet looks like a pet toilet. House smelled really bad. Then my lead carpenter and I go to the side of the house, crawling through overgrown brush, to look into the crawl space. OMG OMG. Dead rats everywhere, mummified. I bolted, but my lead persevered to at least get a flashlight under house. He didn’t get far with his ‘inspection’
And the Seller wanted to show me his Jacuzzi tub in the hall bathroom !! I had to crawl over piles of clothes to admire it to just to be nice
There were about 3 other buyer groups waiting outside for their turn to enter.
I’ve calculated my numbers, lined up my investors and I’ll keep you posted
Oh good lord!!! That is a very glamorous house hunting experience!
Yikes!!
OMG, cb. If there’s a bottom line that makes sense for you to flip this mess of a house, I can only hope that the other prospective buyers will be so turned off by its current state that they will run away. Crossing my fingers (with a hefty dose of hand sanitizer) that this may be a hidden gem in the making for you.
We got back in the car and I didn’t even want to touch my steering wheel. I was convinced that we both stunk of pet urine so rolled down the windows whole way back. Used up a lot of hand sanitizer when we got back to the project. Slathered it on hands, neck, face, any part exposed.
Pet urine is the hardest to remove from a house. Have only had to deal with it one time before. If it doesn’t go away after removing all flooring, we may have to tear off all drywall
CB, we had good luck with Odoban for pet urine. Cats do not pee on walls… some dogs do. So it might be wise to remove some of that drywall anyway.
Fingers crossed.
Why would someone (who is not in an illegal business?) keep $500k in cash on hand?!
Maybe that was valuable stuff like jewelry?
Jewelry store robbed. I cannot believe the jewelry inventory was not insured.
Ahh, I see. Wow - no insurance!
You have to wonder…if the agent says this is excellent condition…what would something he says is
in poor condition look like??
There are various commercial products that use enzymes or other methods to bind up urine and get rid of the smell. When I had 4 geriatric cats it got a lot of use.
After the house is cleaned out and carpet removed, spray the whole house a few times.
If it sank deeply into the hardwood flooring you will probably have to replace the flooring, as refinishing will just bring out a fresh supply of odor. Sub-flooring can be painted with Kilz (the good stuff, not the water-soluble one) to seal it in.
You can use a black light to see if the walls got hit.