Sale of $18 million Pebble Beach estate benefits local organizations

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (KION) An $18 million estate in Pebble Beach sold this month, and the proceeds from the sale will benefit local organizations.

Charles de Guigné owned the estate on 17-Mile Drive, and in his trust, he asked that the title be transferred to the Community Foundation for Monterey County. He requested that the foundation should sell the property and give proceeds to the SPCA for Monterey County and the Montage Health Foundation.

The property sold on Nov. 8 to Houson Astros owner Jim Crane, and the Charles de Guigné Charitable Foundation was created to benefit the SPCA and Montage Health Foundation. The CFMC said the $18 million property is the largest gift it has ever received.

The Charles de Guigné Charitable Foundation is an endowed fund, so the principal is invested and a percentage is paid out every year. CFMC estimates that the fund will make grants that total more than $800,000 each year, and in time, the grants will be more than the original gift.

The property is nine acres of land with a home originally built in 1930 on it. It is made up of two lots between Cypress Point and the Lone Cypress. The home is 9,700 square feet with six bedrooms, nine full baths and three half baths. There is also a one bedroom, two bath guest house.

De Guigné came from a Bay Area family with roots in French nobility. He inherited the Pebble Beach property, the family's vacation home, as well as an estate in France. After selling the estate in France, he returned to Pebble Beach in 1999.

Crane, the new owner, has been in hot water recently after the Astros became the subject of an electronic sign-stealing investigation. It is still unknown if Crane will move to the Central Coast full time.