Golden Knights Owner Bill Foley Scores $23.8 Million Carpinteria Mansion
Business magnate William P. “Bill” Foley II has had a long and storied career. The Air Force veteran-turned-corporate attorney made a bundle by buying struggling title company Fidelity National Financial and turning into a Fortune 500 juggernaut with more than $8 billion in 2019 revenue. Decades later, the 75-year-old has made subsequent fortunes by becoming a major wine merchant, and eventually a prolific investor in real estate and various retail businesses. He’s also now the majority owner of the Vegas Golden Knights, the professional ice hockey team, through his Black Knight Sports & Entertainment holding company.
For times when he’s seeking a slower change of pace, Foley can recharge with some luxe rest and relaxation at his fancy new vacation home. Located on the scenic shores of the Pacific Ocean in low-key Carpinteria, Calif. — the quaint beach town that’s just a quick jog south of the far more high-nosed Montecito neighborhood — Foley’s purchase ran him a hefty $23.8 million, according to property records. That’s significantly more than the $19 million the seller, tech entrepreneur Lynda Weinman, paid for the property in 2015, though a comparison of listing images from then and now reveals she renovated the mansion’s interiors during her ownership.
The house also has a celebrity history. Originally built in 2001, it was owned from 2003 until Weinman’s 2015 purchase by stand up comedian/talk show host/conservative political commenter Dennis Miller. During his ownership, the Cape Cod-style home sported inoffensive and mostly traditional-style interior decor, though Weinman transformed the place into an ultra-contemporary showcase filled with snazzy tech wizardry.
There’s a massive great room with a suspended swing chair, an oversized stone fireplace, and separate dining area. Wide-plank hardwood floors flow into the adjacent kitchen, which has been completely transformed into a top-of-the-line modern space with gunmetal-hued cabinetry, a breakfast bar, and designer appliances. There’s also a hulking wine refrigerator capable of storing dozens — or maybe hundreds — of bottles.
Other downstairs spaces include a cozy den with built-in bookshelves, a guest bedrooms suite, and a breakfast room with its own fireplace and direct access to a stunning ocean-view patio. A high-beamed, chandelier-lit stairway leads to the upper level, where there are two family bedrooms, both with ensuite baths, and a lavish master suite with its own sitting room, private office, spa-style bath, and a wraparound balcony with coastline vistas.
Above the garage — and accessed via a discreet exterior staircase — is a separate bonus area that could easily be converted into a gym or quarters for a live-in housekeeper or security guard. The grassy backyard sports a firepit and direct access to the sandy beach, where the Foley family can frolic in the sun or meet their nearest neighbors, who include Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, George Lucas, and Kevin Costner.
As a jetsetting mogul — various online resources peg his net worth at well north of $500 million — Foley maintains an eye-popping portfolio of luxury homes that includes a Las Vegas mansion and vast estates in Whitefish, Montana, and Santa Rosa, in California wine country. And once upon a time, the Foleys owned a majestic blufftop estate in Santa Barbara that was sold in 2010 for $18.4 million to its current owners, British-born food exec Tim Brown and his longtime wife Diane.
Barbara Koutnik of Coldwell Banker held the listing; Susan Pate of Compass repped Foley.
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