A Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, estate made iconic by its Hollywood past recently hit the market for $52.375 million. The main dwelling served as the home of Sharon Stone’s character in 1992’s Basic Instinct, and the four additional buildings on the property were built from the ground up by owner Gary Vickers.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vickers explained that he had always wanted to own property in the idyllic bayside town after visiting every summer as a kid. “I loved the wild beauty of it,” he said. “It had a big impression on me.”
So, in the 2000s, he acquired a four-acre parcel on a cliff overlooking the ocean (which happened to be near the Basic Instinct house) and constructed four cottages from scratch. Each boasted monolithic stone fireplaces made up of 14,000-pound hearthstones, 8,000-pound mantels, and French oak floors. Vickers bought the house that appeared in the movie, which previously belonged to outdoor adventurer Steve Fossett, for $14.4 million last year, completing his compound. (The house hit the market after Fossett's wife, Peggy, passed away in 2017. Fossett, meanwhile, disappeared in 2007 after taking off for a pleasure flight in a small aircraft. His remains were found a year later.)
The three-floor main house spans 12,000 square feet and includes 16 rooms. In 2004, interior designer Paul Vincent Wiseman told Architectural Digest that he had been commissioned by the Fossetts to help renovate the home, which he called “very confused” in its decor style at the time. Wiseman called the space “part suburban tract, part French château, with Art Deco touches added by a Hollywood art director when it was used in filming scenes for Basic Instinct.” What he turned the space into was a more modern aesthetic, a more appropriate backdrop for the couple’s contemporary California art and Japanese porcelain collections. Previously eclectic wood floorboards and rustic tile were replaced with walnut, and new front doors were installed to add a more appropriate framework for the home.
Wiseman also based much of his reconstruction on allowing in more natural light and providing more views of Point Lobos below; he opened the wall separating the dining room from the gallery and kept the master bedroom palette to a more neutral tone to offset the stunning blue-centric views out the window.
Now, Vickers says he and his friends have been using the main lodge as a place to congregate during weekend retreats, while enjoying the property's fitness center, spa, and pool. He told the WSJ that the main reason for selling the spot is that he no longer needs a property so large and sprawling, and hopes the next owners will enjoy the unique space as well.
