This 137-Acre SoCal Estate Has a Massive Car Museum. It Can Be Yours for $125 Million.
An extravagant estate long owned by the late Orange County Air Force major general turned homebuilder and civic leader William Lyon has roared onto the market in Southern California. The asking price? A jaw-dropping $125 million, though that amount might seem far less outrageous when you consider the property’s lavish features—a 24,000-square-foot car museum, a private gas station, and a helipad, just for starters.
Should the place go for anywhere near that amount, it would set a record for the most expensive residential real estate transaction ever recorded in the area—eclipsing the $61 million sale of a Newport Coast mansion to LoanDepot founder Anthony Hsieh in 2020. Waiting in the wings, however, is the 42-acre Casa Grande estate in San Juan Capistrano that’s currently listed for $150 million.
“Whoever gets the opportunity to own this piece of real estate history will be owning one of the most iconic properties in America, said Mauricio Umansky, CEO and founder of The Agency, who shares the listing with Josh Altman of Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
The founder of William Lyon Homes—which was acquired in 2020 shortly before his death at age 97 by Taylor Morrison as part of a cash and stock deal valued at around $2.4 billion, including debt assumption—and his wife Willa Dean designed and built the spread in the 1980s. Sited in the affluent guard-gated community of Coto de Caza, where The Real Housewives reality TV franchise made its debut in 2006, the estate includes a Georgian-style main mansion and multiple other structures spread across 137 acres, replete with scenic views of the Saddleback Mountains.
The hilltop compound is perhaps most famous for its car museum, a nearly 24,000-square-foot showstopper built to house Lyon’s epic personal collection, with room for 70 vehicles (none included with the sale, unfortunately), as well as an auto shop and wash and gas stations. Among the slew of other perks are a private helipad (sans the helicopter) and equestrian facilities encompassing a 10-stall barn and riding arena. Adding to the abode’s appeal is its list of distinguished visitors through the years, most notably President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Steps off a circular courtyard sweep up to the front entrance of the eight-bedroom, 11-bath primary dwelling, which was inspired by the family’s previous home near Mount Vernon in Virginia and offers 21,000 square feet across three levels. Standing out is an elegant fireside living room, as well as a chandelier-topped dining room lined with murals and an opulent primary bedroom adorned with a tracery ceiling. There’s also a brick-clad wine cellarWine CellarA temperature- and humidity-controlled space for storing wine, from a small cabinet to a dedicated underground room or custom-built vault. Proper cellaring allows wines to age gracefully, and a well-designedGo to Wine Cellar Glossary and a handsome wood-paneled library warmed by a fireplace.
Additional structures include three guesthouses—one with two bedrooms, a bath, and a full kitchen, and the other two each offering a single bedroom and kitchenette. The spectacular resort-inspired grounds are showcased by several patios ideal for grand-scale entertaining, a pool and spa, a sauna-equipped pool house, a championship lighted tennis court, a greenhouse, two irrigation lakes, a pond, and a 41-acre orange orchard with 4,500 trees planted more than 30 years ago.
A particularly enticing bonus: The sale comes with pre-approved plans for a 64-acre development of 25 homes in a new gated enclave at the southern end of the land.
Per The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the listing, the family is selling because it’s “not the same place” since their parents passed away. The family has a lot of good memories at the property, the couple’s son Bill Lyon said, but after his mother’s death in 2024, they feel it is time to move on.
This article originally appeared in Robb Report US.