Glass elevator highlights $34.5 million house

The Laguna Beach house known as “Cresting Wave” has curving copper roofs, formed to resemble the surf mere feet away. It also has cylindrical skylights and a glass-covered, 64-foot gallery along the upper, stone-paved floor.

But the highlight of the four-story, 9,759-square-foot house is the cylindrical glass elevator, topped with a conical skylight. A spiral stairway encircles the elevator shaft just in case you’d rather walk than ride between floors.

The residence is one of 14 homes along Emerald Bay’s sand-front “street of gold,” considered one of the two most valuable blocks in Orange County. The other, Rivera Drive, consists of five sand-front homes just north of Emerald Bay.

County records show that Cresting Wave, located at 112 Emerald Bay, sold for $34.5 million last February, O.C.’s second-highest sales price.

Architectural plans on record with the county Planning Department show a home with eight bathrooms, five bedrooms (including the master suite), a wine cellar, theater, a built-in aquarium and a 1,000-square-foot garage.

A dumbwaiter links the kitchen with the master suite above and the basement play area below so occupants don’t have to schlep snacks and drinks up and down the stairs (or the elevator). But for $34.5 million, you still have to deal with these slight inconveniences:

The living room is two floors below the entryway — meaning guests must walk past the master suite. Then again, they can take the elevator to maintain privacy.

Based on the plans, there doesn’t appear to be a dining room. There is, however, a breakfast area next to the kitchen with an ocean view that can be used for entertaining. And a deck for outdoor dining when the weather’s agreeable.

The man who sold the home in February, William Shopoff, declines to comment about the house, citing a confidentiality agreement. But Shopoff noted that two new homes now being built at 110 and 116 Emerald Bay are even more grand than his former abode. Estimated values of $40 to $50 million for each of them are not unreasonable, he said.

“My guess is you’ll see homes top $50 million along that stretch,” Shopoff said.