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Really, why even live in a La Jolla oceanfront home if you’re going to have just 4900 square feet in which to do it?

Anyone who’s tried to buy or refinance a house lately will tell you that these are the toughest of times for such an endeavor. Interest rates have nearly doubled since the beginning of the year, putting the squeeze on typical buyers, who need to finance 80% or more of their purchase price. Rising rates mean higher monthly payments, which means more borrowers are forced to either dig deep or face being priced out entirely. (While typing this intro, I got an email notifying me that rates have risen for the third time since markets opened this morning.)

Of course, if you’re an Unreal Estate kind of buyer, these concerns are as easy to wave away as the province of mere mortals. What matters to you when it comes to real estate, especially that of the oceanfront variety in La Jolla’s famed Barber Tract, is that they’re not making any more of it, and there are only so many chances to get your hands on a piece.

You can rest easy knowing there’s an easement ensuring that this view will never be blocked.

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Enter “Villa Paradiso,” per its Zillow remarks “a rare and exclusive oceanfront on a large, elevated lot at the white sandy beach of Marine Street.” The 4900-square-foot mansion, built in 1995 on just over a quarter-acre and more commonly referred to as 7310 Vista Del Mar, sits on an curiously shaped lot that narrows at the back to accommodate a neighboring property on Sea Lane so that it also gets a slice of sandy beachfront. Shall we have a look?

Our photo gallery opens with a sunset shot of the ocean from a sitting area outside the house. We don’t get any whitewater breakers up here (in luxury parlance, the only thing better than an ocean view is a whitewater view), but that’s because the lot slopes down quite a bit to get to the beach. Up here, we’re enjoying our privacy, not venturing so close to the sand that we might encounter some commoners walking along the public shoreline.

Next, we back up to the street, taking in the arched double doorway in the property’s perimeter wall that leads us into the gardens, and from there straight down to the beach. Given that this is California, we don’t actually own that beach, so if we’re going for an ocean swim, we’ll have to make nice and share. That might not be too much of a problem, however, as next we visit the grassy lawn and pool/spa deck that occupy that finger of the lot that juts down to the beach (per the listing, we wouldn’t be able to build a pool so close to the ocean if we tried to do so today). And an aerial shot of the backyard shows us a full three levels of the home looking westward, from a structure that towers over its southerly neighbors.

After a handful of artsy sunset shots of the exterior, we finally make it into the living, room, where multiple sets of French doors open to a seaside balcony. The room itself is rather spartan, home to just a large sofa and ottoman looking toward a large wall-mounted TV and smaller fireplace below, plus a foosball table off to one corner.

The bedroom we come to next looks like it was ripped straight from the style guide of a mid-’90s Vegas penthouse suite: a teal sofa and chair surround a small gold coffee table, the white leather bed is decked out with a purple comforter, and some mirrors and shelving are outlined by an orange neon glow. The doors to the exterior get a similar treatment in pink. Another bedroom and dining area that follow are more tastefully done, if a bit plain. After just a handful of additional interior photos, we’re back outside to a spacious upper-level patio with outdoor fireplace, from whence it appears our first ocean view shot was taken. A few more aerial pictures round out our tour.

Wait, you may be saying. There weren’t many shots of what’s ostensibly an eight-figure mansion, were there? This is hardly a full tour! Well, despite carrying a list price in excess of $15 million, you’re not really buying Villa Paradiso the mansion so much as the lot on which it sits. You see, 1995 was ages ago when it comes to contemporary estate building, and 4900 square feet just isn’t that impressive to buyers today. The only proper thing to do is tear the old girl down and start over. To that end, the listing “includes a fully approved Coastal Development Permit to build an approximately 9700 sq. ft. home with an attached 4 car garage designed by award winning Dodge Design Group” allowing the buyer to “forever enjoy a permanent view easement in place benefiting this property.”

You could live in this house if you must, or you could remodel and expand it, but why would the sellers (a limited liability company that purchased the home in 2017 for a reported $11 million) have gone to all the trouble of getting you the plans to double its size if you were going to be so unimaginative? Villa Paradiso, or at least the lot on which it stands for the time being, was listed for sale in mid-June with a $15,498,000 price tag that remains unchanged to date.

• 7310 Vista Del Mar | La Jolla, 92037
• Current Owner: Vista Dm LLC | Listing Price: $15,498,000 | Beds: 5 | Baths: 5 | House Size: 4900