An oceanview Newport Coast estate owned by billionaire businessman Paul Merage, inventor of microwave-crisping Hot Pockets turnovers, is on the market for $40 million.
Currently, it’s the most expensive listing in guard-gated Pelican Crest on the MLS.
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The 11,041-square-foot residence in a Mediterranean style has six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. It stands two stories high on a third-acre-plus lot with an expansive underground level featuring a wine cellar and tasting room, gym, home spa and garage lined with walls of storage closets.
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Records show the property has belonged to Merage since June 1998.
Completed in 2001, it has been “designed with a calming transitional style and finished to the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship,” the listing reads.
Beyond the expansive foyer with a staircase is a wood-clad office, minimalist kitchen and light-filled living and dining areas where French doors and glass doors flow out to the resort-style grounds.
There’s an infinity pool, spa and heated loggias backed by panoramic views.
Those views abound from throughout the house, including the upstairs primary bedroom where French doors open onto a wraparound balcony. The room includes two walk-in closets and two bathrooms, the largest of which has a soaking tub and separate glass-enclosed shower.
An elevator services all three levels.
Rex McKown and Marcy Weinstein of M | W | A at Compass hold the llisting.
Merage, 82, is co-founder and former CEO of Chef America. The Iranian entrepreneur and his brother, David, sold their frozen-food business in 2001 to Nestlé for $2.6 billion. In 2005, Merage donated $30 million to UC Irvine’s business school that now bears his name.
