In the first half of 2021, the erstwhile longtime Laguna Beach home of silver screen legend Bette Davis surfaced with a $20 million asking price. It was still available this winter, but a handful of price cuts that gradually reduced its asking price did the trick, and this summer it found a new owner. The property closed at $15.25 million when all was said and done.

The 5,472 sq. ft. property is late-1920’s vintage, and designed in the French Normandy style. The location is just shy of amazing — a high drama location, if you will — as it crowns a rocky bluff overlooking the stormy Pacific. One of the highlights of the property is the set of adventurous staircases that wind down the precipitous cliff to a natural seaside patio and, further on, the beach itself.

The estate’s details are just as compelling, though, and include stained and leaded glass, terra-cotta tile terraces and patios, black-and-white and green-and-white floor tile, wine cellar, wet bar, solid oak floors, and a spiral staircase. The nautically themed guest apartment on the property is the cozier spot, of course, with a marvelously heavyweight stone fireplace in the living room, stained glass panes in the ceiling of the galley kitchen, and a bedroom with a red brick fireplace.