The Wall Street Journal - 03.04.2020

M6| Friday, April 3, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Mr. Antin in Stuyvesant Town, the

sprawling rental complex on Man-

hattan’s East Side. He moved to

the West Coast in the early 1980s

to start a health company with his

brother, Robert. They later

launched VCA Inc., a chain of ani-

mal hospitals that grew to be-

come one of the largest in the

country. The publicly traded com-

pany was acquired by Mars Inc. in

2017 for about $9.1 billion. Mr.

Antin retired about a year ago, al-

though he still consults for Mars.

Before buying this property in

1996, the Antins had been living

in nearby Venice but wanted to

get their children into the Santa

Monica school system. “We looked

in this area because it had a great

elementary school,” said Ms. An-

tin, a former special-education

teacher.

After buying the house for

$750,000, they added a deck off

the master bedroom to better cap-

ture that sliver of the view.

It wasn’t until years later, with

their children grown, that the An-

tins approached Mr. Kovac about

renovating the house, which they

felt was getting dated, said Mr.

Antin.

Mr. Kovac, the founder of Los

Angeles-based Kovac Design Stu-

dio, specializes in contemporary

architecture. The Antins had be-

friended Mr. Kovac and his wife

several years earlier through their

shared interest in cycling. Mr. An-

tin had seen the house Mr. Kovac

designed for himself and was

taken with it, Mr. Kovac said.

At first the Antins planned to

remodel the house. But because of

INSIDE STORY

ThePriceofanOceanView

A Santa Monica couple tore down their longtime home and built a new one that let in the outdoors

round cutout, or oculus, in the

ceiling above the Jacuzzi.

The couple even got rid

of their old furniture

and art, buying all

new pieces for the

rebuilt house.

Their address

may be the same,

said Mr. Antin, 73,

but“itwasanewbe-

ginning.”

The Antins are origi-

nally from New York, where Ms.

Antin grew up on Long Island and

T

he California home

where Art and Pat An-

tin lived for 20 years

had a panoramic view

of the Pacific Ocean

and the Santa Monica Mountains.

The only problem? The vista was

hardly visible from inside the hill-

side house.

In the 1960s home, the only

way to see the ocean was to walk

into the Antins’ bedroom. “You

could go to the house, you could

have dinner, you could hang out

in the living room, you could go

to the pool and never know they

had a view,” said the Antins’ ar-

chitect, Michael Kovac.

So in 2015 the couple decided

to start over. They hired Mr. Ko-

vac’s firm to demolish their exist-

ing Santa Monica home and build

a brand new, roughly 7,200-

square-foot, four-bedroom house

on the site, this time with ocean

views from nearly every room.

Completed in 2018, the project

cost about $9 million.

“Everything was backward in

the house,” said Ms. Antin,

67. “We’ve made every-
    thing the right way
    now.”
    That wasn’t the
    only thing they
    changed. Their old
    house was tradi-
    tional in appearance.
    The new one is con-
    temporary and playfully
    integrates a series of
    curves: a sculptural spiral stair-
    case, a semicircular library and a

BYCANDACETAYLOR

$9

MILLION

Cost to build the new

7,200-sq.-ft. house over

three floors

MICHAL CZERWONKA FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (8)

Paid $750,000 for the home in 1996.

Located in one of the nations wealthiest zip codes. Over

30,000 sq.ft. of luxurious living space. Reception rooms

of grand scale proportions. Ballroom, his/her libraries,

north/south art galleries and wine tasting room. 12

bedroom suites. 12’ high ceilings. Elevator to all levels.

Pool house w/kitchen. 65’ saltwater gunite pool, tennis

court and indoor basketball court. Heated driveway &

gated motor court. Advanced security system. Situated

on 6 acres on the only guard gated street in Alpine.

$32,900,000.

Georgian Colonial Manor situated on 8 private gated

acres. Over 35,000 sq ft of living space, with Main

Reception Rooms that include a Banquet sized Great

Room and Dining Room, Conservatory, Library, Theater,

and Indoor Basketball Court. 11 spacious Bedroom

Suites. Separate Guest House. 8 Car Garage. Grounds

include a gunite pool, bike path & a Lighted US Open

deco turf cushioned Tennis Court. $21,500,000.

Dennis McCormack

Broker Associate

Cell: 917.566.9800 Office: 201.768.9300

[email protected]

Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty | Alpine

prominentproperties.com

Each Office is Independently Owned And Operated.

ALPINE, NEW JERSEY

8 Miles to Manhattan

MANSION

NY