Vicki Gunvalson Gives It Another Go

SELLER: Vicki and Donn Gunvalson
LOCATION: Coto de Caza, CA
PRICE: $2,695,000
SIZE: 5,400 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5.25 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: The Real Housewives of Orange County's old-timer Vicki Gunvalson–the only original member of the cast–has (again) heaved her house in Coto de Caza, CA on the market, this time with an asking price of $2,695,000. Listing information also indicates that Miz Gunvalson would consider leasing the property at an unknown (and unadvertised) monthly rate.

The hard-charging insurance selling dynamo and her mellow soon-to-be ex-husband Donn first attempted to sell their 1-acre family homestead in the upscale gated community down behind the Orange Curtain way back in June of 2007 when it was listed an asking price of $3,750,000. Unlike back in 2007, the property is not listed with Miz Gunvalsons' former b.f.f. and former Real Housewives of Orange County cast mate Jeana Keough.

Their intent–at that time–was to downsize into a house they'd bought in April of 2007 for $1,650,000. Within a month Mister and Missus Gunvalson had a real estate change of heart and flipped the house back on the market with an asking price of $1,780,000. After the property was de- and re-listed almost a dozen times, it was finally taken off the market in late October of 2009 and property records show the house is still owned by Miss and soon to be ex-Mister Gunvalson.

Property records reveal that Mister and Missus Gunvalson acquired their Coto de Caza casa in December of of 2001 for $1,100,000. The erstwhile couple–who still live together in their love tank drained home–recently gave some of the interior spaces a face lift that included the installation hardwood floors on the lower level and the replacement of the staircase banister and spindles. The renovation work was done in a valiant but probably futile effort to squeeze an extra $250,000 of value out of the property.

Current listing information shows the house measures (approximately) 5,400 square feet and includes 5 bedrooms and 5.25 bathrooms. Listing information from 2007, it shall be noted, shows the property includes 5 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms. Make of that what you will.

The house itself, which listing information classifies as "French," is about as ordinary as all the other over-sized "French" mcmansions in Coto de Caza. Where Miz Gunvalson might have a slight edge over other homes in the community of the same magnitude is her half million dollar resort-style backyard that includes expansive terraces, shaded patios with built-in ambient heating system, an outdoor kitchen with built-in barbecue, built-in fire pit with seating and a lagoon-style swimming pool and spa with waterfall, water slide and Playboy Mansion-style grotto outfitted with a television and full bath.

There are, according to Redfin, three other homes on Miz Gunvalson's cul-de-sac currently on the market–including the property immediately next door–ranging in price from $1,999,000 to $2,595,000. That's a lot of damn competition on a street with just 13 residences. In 2009 and 2010 Miz Gunvalson's former b.f.f. Jeana Keough unsuccessfully attempted to sell her gigantic house, located just a few door down and across the street from Mister and Missus Gunvalson, but somehow managed a loan modification that, apparently, allowed the financially struggling real estate agent/reality tee-vee denizen to remain in residence.

What Miz Gunvalson's real estate plans are (if and) when she sells off her house are not known but Your Mama would fall right out of our easy chair if the woo-hooing insurance broker left the immediate area and/or didn't buy herself a luxurious but perfectly quotidian bachelorette pad in or around Coto de Caza.

photo: Google Maps