La Jolla’s Sand Castle has returned to the Southern California market with an $87.5 million asking price, putting one of San Diego County’s most striking homes back in the spotlight. The French-inspired oceanfront mansion sits on the La Jolla coastline near San Diego and remains one of the region’s most ambitious private estates.
The price marks a drop from the $108 million listing the property carried in 2024. The home’s listing describes it as a once-in-a-lifetime property, and the scale helps explain why. The compound spans roughly 13,000 square feet across a main mansion and a full guest residence, with 10 ensuite bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.
Built with what the listing calls a no-expense-spared approach, the estate mixes 19th-century antiques, gold detailing, custom mosaics and modern smart-home technology. Its design was meant to echo grand French manors, especially Versailles and the Petit Trianon, while still functioning like a California beach house. The result is a home that aims to combine old-world formality with coastal ease.
The property has a notable ownership history. Darwin Deason, who founded Affiliated Computer Services and later sold it to Xerox for more than $6 billion in 2009, bought the Sand Castle and a neighboring parcel for $26 million more than 15 years ago. Deason then brought in architect Drex Patterson of Island Architects and interior designer Timothy Corrigan to shape the project.
The estate’s setting is a major part of its appeal. It has sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding shoreline, along with a historic 1950s seawall protecting 163 feet of ocean frontage. The grounds include seaside terraces, a boathouse and natural sea caves, all of which add to the property’s rarity in a state where coastal development rules make new estates of this size and type nearly impossible to build today.
