Now Back on the Market: a $2.25-Million Fixer-Upper

One of the biggest symbols of wretched residential excess in Orange County is back on the market.

A 28,000-square-foot house on Brier Lane in Cowan Heights that was only partially completed before its owner, an Anaheim surgeon, ran into financial problems in 1991 is up for sale for $2.25 million.

The 10-bedroom stucco residence features 8,775 square feet of balconies and patios, and a separate two-story building that can accommodate an office and a six-car garage. The hilltop property was foreclosed on in 1991 by the Resolution Trust Corp. and was among a pool of properties purchased later by Beal Bank of Texas, said the listing agent, Scott Lawrence, of Santa Ana-based Robert Lawrence & Associates.

It had been off the market for several years as the banks sorted through their assets. During that time it had become a hangout for neighborhood teens, who littered the house with beer cans and graffiti.

Lawrence acknowledges that it will be no easy task to find a buyer with enough financial firepower to finish the imposing structure, which sits on 3.1 acres near other mini-mansions. Just bringing it up to code could cost as much as $600,000.

“I need a Dennis Rodman for this property,” Lawrence quipped.

Nearby, former Clothestime executive Mike D’Angelo’s 30,000-square-foot home has languished on the market for years. That property, which was originally listed at $25 million, is expected to fetch less than $9 million in today’s market.

Melinda Fulmer covers real estate for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7832 and at [email protected]