Darwin Deason's 'Sand Castle' Mansion Lists at $87.5M After $20M Price Cut

A sprawling 13,000-square-foot oceanfront estate in La Jolla, San Diego — nicknamed the Sand Castle — has been relisted at $87.5 million after a $20 million reduction from its original $108 million asking price. Even at the discounted figure, a sale would nearly double San Diego County's existing residential record of $44.1 million, set in 2023 when private equity billionaire Egon Durban purchased a local property.

The mansion belonged to the late tech billionaire Darwin Deason, who built his fortune by founding Affiliated Computer Services and selling it to Xerox in 2009 for $6.4 billion. Deason, who died in December 2025, poured enormous resources into the property — buying the original house and an adjacent parcel for $26 million before spending roughly $60 million in renovations and construction. The result is an opulent, Versailles-inspired compound featuring gold-accented ceilings, glittering chandeliers, mosaic work, marble floors, and antique statues, drawing aesthetic inspiration from both the French royal palace and the iconic Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the French Riviera.

Listing agents Brett Dickinson and Ross Clark of Compass lowered the price specifically to break what they see as a psychological ceiling in the San Diego luxury market. Crossing the $100 million threshold for the first time in the city's history is a significant mental barrier for prospective buyers, and dropping below that mark was a deliberate strategy to broaden appeal. The property's private oceanfront access — exceptionally rare in La Jolla — remains its most irreplaceable selling point.