A Spanish Colonial Revival-style home designed in 1928 by lauded architect Wallace Neff on Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula is on the market for $8.75 million.
The five-bedroom villa at 1707 E. Bay Ave. backs up to the bay and has 4,200 square feet of living space on four levels, including a roof-top “crow’s nest” room and deck with 360-degree views of Newport Harbor and Fashion Island.
According to the listing, it’s “the tallest residential structure on the Peninsula.”
In 2003, the house was updated, but its early 20th-century charm remains thanks to the red tile roof, white stucco exterior, Malibu Pottery tile, thick masonry walls and hand-hewn ceiling beams.
Other details include a courtyard with water features, a large period-style kitchen, crest-embossed fireplace in the living room and a waterfront master suite.
At the rear of the 4,810-square-foot lot, there’s a private pier with slips for two boats.
Steve High and Evan Corkett of Villa Real Estate are the listing agents.
Neff, who died in 1982 at age 87, was known for designing period revival style for Southern California’s rich and famous including Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant and Louis B. Mayer (of Metro Goldwyn-Mayer studios).
Among his most celebrated homes is the Pickfair mansion in Beverly Hills, which he designed in 1927 for Hollywood’s power couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
The listing agents said the Newport Beach house was originally built for a local civic leader named C.W. Hopkins.
