WSJ / Mansion Global -- water tower converted into home .........................
June 7, 2021
You Can Live in This California Water Tower for $5 Million
Transformed into a unique home, the facility soars 100 feet over the coastline about 30 miles south of Los Angeles in Orange County
By Liz Lucking
This water tower in Southern California has hit the market.
Sheldon / IVESTER creative inc.
Over 100 feet above the California coast, a water tower turned unique single-family home has come to the market for a hair under $5 million.
The Sunset Beach Water Tower, some 30 miles south of Los Angeles in Seal Beach, was built in the 1800s to supply water for steam trains and is now a “jaw-dropping example of stunning architecture, mysterious intrigue and the world’s ultimate beach house,” according to the listing with Scott Ostlund of Lee & Associates, who also owns the home.
Mr. Ostlund bought the tower through a limited liability company in 2016 for $1.5 million, records with PropertyShark show.
That same year, the home was meticulously remodeled.
“It was fairly run down,” Mr. Ostlund said, who met his wife in the shadow of the tower. “We went through and did an extensive renovation to make it like new, and really, we wanted to tell the history of the tower.”
Sheldon / IVESTER creative inc.
That included dedicating a bedroom, one of four in the home, to Hippolite de Bouchard, California’s early 19th-century pirate, according to Mr. Ostlund. “The stories that the tower tells of Southern California, to me, are so much fun.”
The four-level home, which listed for $4.95 million last week, is set alongside the Pacific Coast Highway and from its unobstructed vantage point has far-reaching views.
“The top room is this rotunda and you have 360-degree views of all of Southern California, as far down as Newport Beach and the Hollywood Hills in the other direction,” Mr. Ostlund.
Sheldon / IVESTER creative inc.
The unusual home also has a custom spiral staircase made of imported oak, a walk-around deck, an outdoor hot tub and seating area, stained glass windows, porthole windows and an elevator.
In the time that he’s owned it, Mr. Ostlund has opened the home to the community.
In the first instance, “I thought a few dozen people would come, and there was a line at 8:30 a.m. hundreds of people long, and by the end of the day we’d let thousands of people in,” he said. “I think everybody drives by and wants to see inside it.”
“It might be mine on the deed, but really it belongs to the community,” he added.
Sheldon / IVESTER creative inc.
The Orange County Register first reported the listing.
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