Home for the ages
This modernist masterpiece in Newport Beach, California, has been the backdrop to almost six decades of idyllic family life. Now, it’s in need of a new family to make it their own
Rod Rinker enjoyed an idyllic arcadian childhood, roaming the countryside on horseback, learning to hunt and fish, and immersing himself in nature. And yet Rod’s family home was in the exclusive, and distinctly urban, Californian surfing mecca of Newport Beach.
The Rinker family managed to live a double life – part city sophisticates, part country escapists – thanks to their unique ranch-style home set in grounds designed to encourage wildlife to flourish. “It was the most magical place to grow up in,” Rod recalls. “My younger brother and I spent our time fishing for bass or catching bullfrogs – we were country boys in the city.”
The house was built by Rod’s father, Harry Rinker. After his death in 2021, at the age of 100, his widow, Diane, 85, has decided to downsize. The house is now on the market for the very first time in almost six decades.
It was back in 1965 when Harry Rinker first decided to build an oasis of a house for his bride and their future family. Harry, a successful property developer, paid $100,000 for a 2.7 acre plot and hired the cutting edge mid-century architect, Philmer J. Ellerbroek, to draw up the plans. Given free rein, Ellerbroek created a surprisingly modern- looking property with generous space for entertaining, an open-plan layout and acres of floor-to-ceiling glass.
“The architecture was way ahead of its time,” says Rod, 56, a real estate investor who now lives on a ranch in Sun Valley, Idaho. “The architect was given carte blanche to create something as spectacular as he could imagine. One room flows into the next, and each room is delineated by the carpet and how the furniture sits in it. Every room has floor to ceiling glass to allow nature in. You are continuously looking out of the window.”
Outside, the 5,872 sq ft, five-bedroom house’s timber-clad exterior has echoes of the humble cabin in Toronto, Canada, where Harry Rinker was raised. The focal point of the garden is a lake, teeming with fish and attracting varied birdlife from the local area. It flows around the swimming pool and beneath a section of the house itself.
Harry went to great lengths to create the perfect private wilderness. Quite apart from the stunning location and gardens, he imported flocks of exotic pheasants to live, wild, in the grounds. The birds were not to be hunted, explains Rod, but simply so that their colourful plumage could be admired from afar. His father also bought in a flock of Mandarin ducks to swim on the lake. Descendants of these original water birds still return to nest at the property each spring.
Although Diane Rinker has decided to relinquish ownership of the family’s beloved property, she plans to stay in Newport Beach. “While she loves it, she feels the time is right for another family to enjoy this special house,” Rod explains. “I hope that it is passed on to someone with young children in the family who can really enjoy the wonderment of this place.”
2342 Mesa Drive has a guide price of $32,000,000. To make an enquiry, contact jason.mansfield@knightfrank.com. Explore more properties for sale in California, or contact one of our agents to request a market appraisal.