See and be seen

Many of San Diego’s elite seek privacy on sprawling country estates or in gate-guarded private communities. This abode, however, is all about being seen.

But 3675 Ocean Front Walk has 55 feet of ocean frontage along the boardwalk of South Mission Beach, one of San Diego’s most popular pedestrian routes, crowded with joggers, bikes, skateboards, and tourists on weekends and virtually all summer. A quick hop over the seawall lands you in the sand, and restaurants, bars, and Belmont Park with its roller coaster are within a few minutes’ walk.

A 5900-square-foot three-story residence built in 2008 (tax records show 4143 square feet of living area) and six-car garage are wedged onto the 4321-square-foot lot.

All three stories feature massive, “fully retractable curved windows and doors” that open out onto the ocean, with balconies on the second and third floor and a ground-level stone patio with tiki torch-lined sitting areas, a barbecue, and a gate opening directly onto the boardwalk.

Inside, the home has eight bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms, including multiple master suites. Nearly all rooms in the house offer a beach view, including the breakfast bar installed along a west-facing wall of glass adjacent to one of the two kitchens.

One of the master suites has a glass shower also looking onto the beach; others have large jetted tubs similarly situated. One features a freestanding gas-burning fireplace. All bedrooms, and many other areas throughout the residence, are adorned with large flat-screen televisions mounted on floating pedestals extending from the ceiling.

The property was designed and built by Ocean Pacific Properties, a real estate developer and vacation-rental firm that since 2004 has torn down older units and rebuilt extravagant oceanfront properties in Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla, according to the firm’s website.

Tax records show the property is owned by Lloyd Jay White of Lynnwood, Washington. White is listed as the president of Wesco Sales Group, a Seattle-based supplier of manufacturing equipment.

The beachfront estate last sold for $4 million in 2006, when a 1000-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom residence was situated on the lot. The current property is assessed at $6.6 million. The new house was originally listed in November 2009 with an asking price of $13,478,000. Counting two expired listings and the currently active one, it has been on the market for 1411 days (as of September 19, 2013) with no adjustments to the listing price.