The home of famed children’s author, Dr Seuss is on the market for the first time in 70 years and comes with an eye-watering asking price of US$18.9 million.
Dr Suess was the pen name of author and illustrator, Theodor Geisel, who died a little over 30 years ago and is best known for his numerous children’s books including The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
According to The Dirt, the La Jolla compound is currently owned by the University of California San Diego, which is also offering the property in four smaller increments ranging from US$3.9 million to just under US$12 million.
Situated on a hilltop knoll spanning over four acres, just north of San Diego’s Mount Soledad, much of the Mediterranean-style compound has been renovated over the years.
The compound includes a nearly 465sq m main house with four bedrooms and five bathrooms, plus a pool and spa flanked by a poolhouse — all offering sweeping ocean, coastline and mountain views.
Notably, there’s also a double front door displaying the tip of a top hat, from that rascally Cat in the Hat, etched into the glass, and the famous feline’s signature bowtie can also be spotted at the bottom of the renovated pool.
The author — fondly remembered simply as “Ted” by neighbours — and his first wife Helen reportedly enlisted local architect Thomas Shepard to build the stucco and terracotta-roof structure around an old observation tower on Encelia Drive in 1948.
The Geisel Trust gifted the property to UC San Diego when Geisel’s second wife passed away in 2018. Proceeds from the sale are set to go toward a new Geisel Fund supporting future campus projects.
