CRYSTAL COVE:

Style Captures Flair Of Designer Amini

A newly built Crystal Cove estate referred to as the Palais de Cristal has hit the market for nearly $70 million.

Michael Amini, founder and chief executive of Pico Rivera-based homefurnishings company Amini Innovation Corp., is the owner of the extravagant 15,500-square-foot property, which counts seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms.

If sold near its listing price of $69.8 million, the home would shatter the $61 million price paid for Orange County’s most expensive home. That deal was reached last year for another property in Crystal Cove.

Rex McKown and Marcy Weinstein of McKown Weinsten & Associates of Compass have the listing for the home at 6 Midsummer.

King of Bling

Amini acquired the half-acre parcel in 2007 for a reported $5.1 million and started construction on the home in 2013; it finished work earlier this year.

The home is being sold fully furnished. Some of the more custom home touches include elaborate chandeliers, a glass domed ceiling over the entrance, interior and exterior marble floors, a mosaic pool with handmade tiles and resort-like grounds with sculpture gardens.

The home’s design echoes Amini’s over-thetop style, such as his flair for bedazzling furniture with Swarovski crystals.

Amini Innovation reportedly sells its products through more than 3,000 retailers in over 80 countries. The company was reported to employ about 200 people as of a couple years ago.

Top Deals

Crystal Cove’s newer, larger homes carry some of the biggest price tags in OC, such as last year’s $61 million deal for 15 Del Mar. That home was bought by loanDepot’s Anthony Hsieh.

The recently listed home at 6 Midsummer is down the street from 28 Midsummer, a nearly 18,868-square-foot home that sold in March for $41 million.

It’s the second sale in two years for the five-bedroom 28 Midsummer home, which was the area’s top sale in 2019 when it traded for $38 million.

Listings

The enclave of 700-plus homes in the hills of Newport Coast, developed by the Irvine Co., frequently acts as the source of top home sales in Orange County due to its location and supply of newer inventory and larger lots.

Midsummer is an example of a street within Crystal Cove that has seen higherthan-typical construction activity, as custom and speculative builders complete build-outs on front row streets, with development moving upward.

Front-row streets typically bring in higher prices, though a recent shift has shown that buyers may prefer new, modern builds more than the location of the home.

Irvine Co. is reported to have sold all of the lots within Crystal Cove, with just two vacant lots remaining to be built.

There are nearly 20 active listings in Crystal Cove, with the most affordable home there starting around $5 million.

McKown Weinsten & Associates have several of these listings, including 31 High Water, which has an asking price of $59.8 million; and the newly built 16 Coral Ridge, on the market for almost $40 million.