Darwin Deason, a tech billionaire who founded Affiliated Computer Services, got a mansion built for himself after he sold his company to Xerox in 2009 for $6.4 billion. He died in December 2025, leaving behind one of the most extravagant private homes ever built on the American coastline. Inspired by French Palace of Versailles, the home has glittering chandeliers, gold-accented ceilings, marble floors imported from Greece, antique statues and sand sourced from the Augusta National Golf Club. It sits on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in one of California’s most coveted neighbourhoods. And after failing to find a buyer at $108 million, it has just had its price trimmed, and is now available at $87.5 million. The Sand Castle, a 13,000-square-foot oceanfront mansion in La Jolla, San Diego, is back in the spotlight after its latest price adjustment. Interestingly, it remains the most expensive residential listing in San Diego’s history even after the price drop.
Deason built personal ‘Versailles’
Deason’s inspiration came from two of Europe’s most opulent addresses: the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, a legendary five-star retreat on the French Riviera that has long been a favourite of the global celebrity circuit.After purchasing the original property and a neighbouring parcel of land for around $26 million, Deason spent approximately $60 million over six years transforming the site into what it is today, according to the Wall Street Journal. By the time it was complete, he had put roughly $86 million into the project before the listing price was even considered.
What $87.5 million buys you
The Sand Castle is split between a seven-bedroom main house and a three-bedroom guest house, the latter modelled on Le Petit Trianon, the château within the Versailles estate. According to the report, the main house opens into a two-storey entry hall and features a wraparound ocean-facing terrace and an oval dining room that seats 16 beneath a 19th-century crystal chandelier. Reportedly, fireplaces throughout the property were imported directly from France. Custom mosaics by New Ravenna, a Virginia tile maker considered among the finest in the country, appear across multiple rooms. There are 18 and 24-karat gold details throughout, 14 full bathrooms, three half-bathrooms and nearly every furniture was custom-made for the space, the report noted.There is a nautical-themed bar (like Deason’s yacht, Apogee) that features walnut finishings, onyx marble surfaces and 18th-century mermaid statues. The pool, lined with blue Thassos marble tiles, sits within steps of the ocean, and an elevator carries residents down to a private beach elevated ten feet above the waterline.That beach, incidentally, features soft white sand that Deason had imported from Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters tournament. He reportedly spent $40,000 on the sand alone.
Why the price has come down
The Sand Castle was first listed in October 2024 at $108 million. Despite the property’s singular qualities, that price point reportedly proved to be a psychological barrier in a market that had never seen a transaction anywhere close to that figure.“Buyers are very conscious of being the first person to buy a property in San Diego over $100 million — that would be a very big deal. So when you’re trying to break that barrier, sometimes $100 million is too high psychologically for the first person to do that. Now if we’re below $100 million, we all of a sudden become accessible,” listing agent Brett Dickinson of Compass told Mansion Global. Even at its reduced asking price of $87.5 million, a completed sale would nearly double San Diego’s existing record. That benchmark was set in 2023 when private equity billionaire Egon Durban paid $44.1 million for a property in the area.
