Author Dean Koontz Sells Famed Newport Coast Compound For $50M

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — Newport Beach best-selling horror author Dean Koontz made a record home deal this year, selling his Newport Coast compound for $50 million, according to property records.

The just over 27,000 square foot home features two pools, a 20 seat home theater, library, views of Newport Beach, Pier, Balboa and beyond, and more. The property was named "Amazing Grace" due to the graceful lines and feeling it evoked in the author and his wife, the Register reports. It is the third-largest private property in Orange County.

Koontz and wife Gerda built the home "from the dirt up" on four lots, amounting to 2.5 acres in the Newport Coast community, and it took seven years to fully complete. Architect Leason Pomeroy designed the structure, the Register reported.

Koontz has sold over 500 million copies of his horror stories, according to his website. He holds a record for having 14 titles land on the New York Times Bestseller list, many of them written at this property. None of it would have happened without Koontz's wife, Gerda, who supported him in the early days of his writing career.

According to their account, Gerda offered to support her husband for five years, to see if his writing career would get off the ground.

"If you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it," Koontz wrote on his biography. After five years and a successful start to his career as an author, Gerda quit her job to run the business end of her husband's writing career. His titles have ended up on both the small and big screens.

"Undercover Billionaire" star Glenn Stearns purchased the Newport Coast home in April, according to the Register. A report on Dirt.com says the Koontz's have downsized to a 12,000 square foot home they purchased in May for $10.5 million in Irvine's Shady Acres area.