Balboa Peninsula mansion, subject of ‘Teach Me How to Duffy’ video, sells for record $35 million-plus

A waterfront Newport Beach mansion that was the subject of a marketing campaign that included an original rap video has sold for a record $35.008 million.

The five-bedroom, six-bathroom house at 1813 E. Bay Ave. on the Balboa Peninsula had been on the market since October and was originally listed for $45 million. The previous record sale price for Newport Harbor was $35 million — set in 2008 when actor Nicolas Cage sold his former home at 2692 Bayshore Drive.

Listing agent Tim Smith of the Smith Group, a Newport Beach-based luxury property firm, captured eyes and ears at the outset of the Bay Avenue home sale process when he released “Teach Me How to Duffy,” a video as much about the Newport Beach lifestyle as the property itself.

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The roughly four-minute video, produced in less than two weeks on a $50,000 budget, featured social media personalities dancing and singing to a takeoff on the 2010 party anthem “Teach Me How to Dougie.” Smith’s take, however, incorporated Newport Beach references — Duffy boats, 5-mph harbor cruises to the Balboa Bay Club, the Cannery restaurant and Lido Marina Village, to name a few. About half the video featured details about the home itself.

Those include that the harbor-facing house of nearly 13,000 square feet features a five-car garage, an outdoor fire pit, an infinity pool, a glass elevator, two kitchens, a theater, a sauna, a private beach and a dock with frontage for eight small boats.

It was designed by architect Robert Sinclair, built by Patterson Custom Homes and finished by Blackband Design, according to the listing.

The buyer was represented by Tara Shapiro of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty.

Bradley Zint is a contributor to Times Community News.

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