Avant Garde architecture in Cardiff

As with just about every other facet of daily life, the spread of coronavirus has dramatically reshaped the real estate market in recent weeks.

Appraisers are working limited schedules or avoiding property inspections entirely, thus delaying valuations needed to complete home sales. Banks fear a coming wave of missed mortgage payments and have tightened lending requirements, stripping many would-be buyers of the financing they need to purchase homes. Buyers and sellers are equally wary of venturing out to tour a stranger’s home or to invite some into their own.

Despite all the chaos, while the market has slowed, it hasn’t entirely ground to a halt. Realtors’ associations have successfully lobbied to have residential real estate services declared “essential,” exempting agents from stay-at-home orders. Photographers have begun advertising contactless virtual tour services — a team enters a home, photographs it and takes video, then disinfects and vacates in 30 minutes or less — as the majority of home showings move online.

New inventory is still coming to market, but since the first month of spring traditionally serves as a kickoff for the busiest few months of the year in home sales, 2020’s selling season so far looks bleak. That’s true across the board, but the slump is particularly pronounced in the ultra-luxury market. Of the nearly 120 homes currently offered in San Diego County for more than $5 million, just a dozen were listed in the last month.

A newly-constructed 4300-square-foot home just a few hundred feet from the coastline in Cardiff by the Sea is among those recent listings.

“Inspired by the white cube aesthetic of New York City’s contemporary galleries, this home exhibits the form of Avant Garde architecture at it’s best,” opens the Realtor.com pitch for 1329 Cornish Drive in Cardiff. “The aesthetic was introduced to minimize distractions from the art, emphasizing color and light. Where the white walls framed the bare abstract canvases, this home is designed to frame you.”

Exterior finishes to the residence include “tropical wood ‘machiche’ siding and high tech ultra compact ceramics” that give way to a white stucco façade. Interior access is gained through an “extra large Pivot mahogany entry door,” and once inside, prospective buyers are treated to luxury treatments including European oak hardwood floors, Calcutta quartz counters, and plumbing and lighting fixtures “by the most prestigious contemporary designers of New York and Chicago Kitchen and Baths.”

Oversized multi-paned windows and dual sliding doors emphasize the Southern California tradition of blending indoor and outdoor living spaces, opening the property up on the main level to a covered patio with an outdoor kitchen boasting its own pizza oven that’s adjacent to the “magnificent pool with jacuzzi and Baja beach finished with glass tile and pebble and glass plaster.”A rooftop deck takes advantage of sweeping views of the famous Swami’s surf break due west of the estate.

The home’s builders had an eco-friendly buyer in mind when installing a solar system that listing materials estimate will provide for most of the home’s power needs. There’s also extra insulation for the plumbing, multiple tankless on-demand water heaters, an ultra-efficient kitchen appliance package, and a rainwater retention system that’s part of the property’s low-impact landscape design.

While the Cornish Drive estate’s listing may be new, it’s not the first time the property has been offered for sale. Originally purchased as vacant land for $1.2 million in 2015, marketing efforts for the new home began in 2017 before ground was even broken. After attracting no buyers with a $5.2 million price tag, construction was completed in 2019 and the home was re-listed, first at $7,350,000 and again at $5,850,000 — again, without attracting a buyer.

After being pulled from the market in late November, the home was re-listed in mid-April with its asking price reduced to $5,395,000, which remains unchanged to date.

1329 Cornish Drive | Cardiff by the Sea, 92007

Beds: 5 | Baths: 5 | Current Owner: Cornish Drive Development LLC | List Price: $5,395,000