The Sand Castle in La Jolla is owned by the family of the late Darwin Deason, the Texas billionaire who founded Affiliated Computer Services. Deason died on December 2, 2024, at age 85, and his estate has had the roughly 13,000-square-foot beachfront compound at 1900 Spindrift Drive on the market ever since. As of mid-2026, it is listed at $87.5 million after two price cuts, and no sale has closed. Claims circulating online that a buyer named “Patrick Burrowes” has purchased the property are not supported by the listing record.
Who Darwin Deason Was
Deason made his fortune as the founder of Affiliated Computer Services, a technology outsourcing firm he sold to Xerox in a deal valued at over $6 billion. He bought the Spindrift Drive property in 2009 for $6.5 million. At the time it was an unfinished structure originally built around 2005 by local developer Doug Manchester.
Over the next 15 years, Deason poured an estimated $60 million into the home. He tore the original structure down to the studs and built the guest house from scratch, drawing on old-world European design. The result is a property that locals and real estate circles refer to as a cliffside version of Versailles. After his death in late 2024, his family listed the estate and continues to manage the sale.
How the Asking Price Has Moved
The Sand Castle first hit the market in October 2024 at $108 million. That figure would have shattered San Diego County’s record for a single-family home sale, which currently stands at $47 million for an oceanfront property in Del Mar. The listing drew global attention but no buyers at that number.
In February 2026, the asking price dropped to $92.5 million. By late May 2026, the property was relisted at $87.5 million, a total reduction of $20.5 million from the original ask. Agents involved in the listing have pointed to the psychological barrier of being the first person to spend over $100 million on a San Diego home. Dropping below that threshold may broaden the buyer pool, though even at $87.5 million a sale would nearly double the county record. The Sand Castle remains the most expensive home for sale in the San Diego market.
What $60 Million in Renovations Produced
The estate sits on a roughly 0.8-acre compound overlooking the Pacific. The main house and guest residence together contain 10 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms spread across three stories. Interiors feature mosaics, marble floors, antique statues, and rooms finished with solid-gold detailing. The main living room has coffered ceilings and arched windows facing the bay, opening onto a wraparound terrace. A formal dining room seats at least 16 under crystal chandeliers with gold-leaf accents.
The guest house was inspired by Le Petit Trianon at Versailles and includes a nautically themed bar modeled after the one aboard Deason’s yacht, with hand-painted sea imagery and 18th-century mermaid statues. The grounds include a pool, spa, fitness center, a wood-paneled office off the primary suite, two cabanas, and a beachfront boathouse with a small kitchen. The boathouse roof is covered in slate tiles sourced from a single quarry vein in China. Parking accommodates up to 11 vehicles.
One of the more eccentric touches: Deason reportedly spent about $40,000 to import sand from the same source used at Augusta National Golf Club because he disliked the texture of local California beach sand. The property includes one of the few private beaches in the state, along with two naturally occurring sea caves at its base.
Why It Hasn’t Sold
Price is only part of the story. The Sand Castle is expensive to hold even when nothing goes wrong. Coastal properties face accelerated wear from salt air, which corrodes metal fixtures, HVAC systems, and roofing materials faster than inland homes. Industry estimates suggest beachfront owners should budget 1.5% to 2.5% of property value annually for maintenance, roughly double what an inland homeowner would spend. For a property valued near $87.5 million, that works out to $1.3 million to $2.2 million a year in upkeep before insurance.
Insurance is its own problem. California’s homeowners market has been tightening, with major carriers pulling back from high-risk coastal and wildfire zones. Premiums have been rising roughly 8% per year, and a home sitting directly on a seawall at the edge of the Pacific is exactly the kind of risk insurers increasingly want to avoid or price aggressively. A buyer may need to turn to California’s FAIR Plan or specialty surplus lines carriers.
Property taxes add another layer. Under Proposition 13, California’s base property tax rate is 1% of assessed value at the time of purchase, plus voter-approved bonds and local assessments.1San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector. Secured Property Taxes A buyer who closes at $87.5 million would face an annual bill starting around $875,000. Combined with maintenance and insurance, holding costs likely exceed $2.5 million a year before anyone turns on a light.
Then there is the seawall. The custom-built seawall protecting the foundation from Pacific tides is a defining structural feature, and it comes with ongoing regulatory obligations under California’s Coastal Act.2California Coastal Commission. California Coastal Commission Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance – Section: Seawalls and Other Shoreline Protective Devices Even routine maintenance can trigger a new coastal development permit when it involves substantial changes to the foundation, placement of rip-rap on the beach, replacement of 20 percent or more of materials with different materials, or mechanized equipment on sand.3New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 14 California Code of Regulations 13252 – Repair and Maintenance of Activities Requiring a Permit Replacing half or more of the structure is treated as an entirely new seawall needing its own permit. Whoever buys the Sand Castle inherits those obligations along with the keys.
The Record, Not the Rumor
Despite online posts naming a buyer, the Deason family remains the owner of record. The property is still actively listed, and any eventual sale will be reflected in San Diego County records and the Multiple Listing Service, not in social-media attributions. Until that happens, the Sand Castle belongs to the estate of Darwin Deason.