224 Sea Cliff Avenue

The Sea Cliff home at 224 Sea Cliff Avenue that’s owned by Brugnara Properties, as in the infamous Luke Brugnara who was sentenced to seven years in federal prison last year for having $11 million worth of art delivered to the home’s garage and then refusing to pay, has just been listed with a $19.675 million price tag.

Purchased for $7 million in 2002, the 5,552-square-foot home (per property tax records) was facing foreclosure back in 2012 with $7,983,898 owed on a 2007-era first mortgage for $6,000,000, to which a second note for $11,350,000 was added in 2008.

And while the property appears to remain under the control of Brugnara Properties, numerous liens, notices of default and new deeds of trust have accrued over the past four years.

30 thoughts on “An Infamous Sea Cliff Hideout Is Listed for $19.675 Million”
  1. I was going to make a snarky comment about how a $20M home features a basketball net above the garage, DirectTV antenna, splotchy paint touch-ups, and dying landscaping – but I guess the notes in the article explain it all.

  2. Does this price make any sense? For this price, shouldn’t the house be further east, say PresHts, PacHts, Russian Hill? Also, it is risible that the broker states: “Once you’ve enjoyed the shopping and dining along Clement and Geary Streets, you may never want to leave.” Who is he trying to fool?

    1. The house clearly needs work, but the location is not an issue. SeaCliff has been for several decades one of the most expensive San Francisco neighborhoods to live in (because it has ocean views and it is rather secluded while still being located within the city).

  3. Assume this is an example of asking price that is commensurate with how much he’s in debt. Because there is no way this property is worth $20M when completely redone much less when still “full of potential. bring your contractors, architects and ideas” state. this will close on city hall steps for $10m tops pending what’s going on inside. I can only imagine what this guy did with $11m he picked-up on his 2008 2nd mortgage. Maybe related to this guy.

  4. $20mm is probably a little high but considering a smaller “teardown” lot/house a few doors down sold for $11mm+ it may not be too far off. Another home completely remodled just sold for $20 and a few in need of some help sold for 15 with no bridge views. I would not be surprised at all to see this sell for $15 but doubt they can afford to sell it at that price.

  5. You may be right Eddy. I only see the $17.8M sale at 164 Sea Cliff which has great gg bridge views and looks to clock in at $1838/sq ft. (based on 9684 total sq ft per county records) And that place is amazing. This guy is asking almost $3K/sq ft in current condition. There are two out at 308 and 320 that are asking north of $3K/sqft. Will be interesting to see what they ultimately go for. Top end of market homes have seen a slide but rarity of address may overcome logic. Again all speculative on what the inside looks like and how many additional millions it would take.

    Maybe part of my perspective is I can’t fathom why someone would pay so much to live in this neighborhood vs pac heights or even Belvedere. exclusive address yes… but wouldn’t be my cup of tea if I had that kind of coin.

    1. Yeah. Zero “curb appeal”. You can pick up a huge “custom” tract house like this in Danville for less than $5 M

  6. I live in the neighborhood and have been waiting for this thing to play out. I see the wife and daughters come and go. I’m sure they’ll be glad to close this chapter. The place is an absolutely dump up close/in person from the curb. No upkeep/maintenance for quite some time. Prime lot though. This will be a tear down IMHO.

  7. btw that 308 sea cliff ave is the party pad of that salesforce guy (ceo.) the for sale sign has been out there forever but redfin says listing is 2 days old. weird.

      1. After looking at the interior shots of 320, that house actually looks like the Hammett home. He’s a known collector of horror film memorabilia.

        1. I also heard 308 was Hammett’s… maybe he has both places. I remember 308 being a difficult sale a decade ago. It lingered forever on the market. Someone working on 300 mentioned that the house (308) had some sort of problems, but I can’t recall for the life of me if it was structural or what, but it was a major fixer then and I was advised to avoid the place. Seems odd it would come on at almost 4k per foot with no noticeable upgrades.

          224 was always a fright. I have no prediction what will become of it. It would be a great house to demo and start from scratch… for someone with 40MM to burn.

        2. Both 308 and 320 Sea Cliff Avenue would appear to be owned by the same individual, an individual whom would appear to be an attorney rather than a rock god or local CEO.

          1. It’s not uncommon for attorney’s to be trustees listed as owners of celebrity real estate. This is something I’m intimately familiar with.

          2. Daughter’s friend worked at two parties held at 308 by the local CEO. Obama or Biden even was there for a democratic fundraiser. Another tidbit. Local CEO bought ANOTHER house on Sea Cliff Ave, to house his security team. It was taken down to the studs and is currently being rebuilt. That’s why I was surprised to see 308 listed.

  8. What’s the deal with the broker posting 3 listings on the street at the same time, all fixers? Even though plugged in folks would recognize that the empty fixers have been available for sale, it’s still odd to list them like that.

  9. To see why this property is appealing look at the Google satellite image in the right column of this page. Be sure to “turn” the picture to get a view of the “back” of the house to see the private staircase to the beach. Quite an amazing property.

    1. Fair, although I think the staircase could have been designed to blend in more. The beach at the bottom looks cold and treacherous, and perhaps disappears at high tide.

  10. Luke’s appeal of his 7-year criminal sentence was heard at the court of appeals today. Doesn’t look promising for him from the judges’ reception of his argument. Even his own lawyer said at one point that her client was “one of the most obnoxious people” she’d ever met. Doubt he’ll see Sea Cliff Ave. for another 6 years or so.

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