“Now look at this house!” The former Southern California home of Dr. Seuss, complete with a nod to “The Cat in the Hat,” has traded hands for $9 million.
The La Jolla home was built in 1950 for Theodor Seuss Geisel, two years after he and his first wife, Helen, bought the 1.5-acre hillside lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
“It boasts some of the most stunning panoramic ocean, coastline and mountain views in all of San Diego,” said the seller’s agent Jason Barry of Barry Estates.
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When Geisel bought the property, there was already a Spanish Revival-style observation tower from the 1920s on the land, and his architect, Thomas L. Shepherd, designed the Spanish-style home so that it would wrap around the tower.
Geisel lived in the home until his death at age 87 in 1991, writing 42 of his 68 published titles there. The study where he did much of his work remains, as the workspace and the observation tower have been formally designated as historic by San Diego’s Historical Resources Board.
Following his death, Geisel’s second wife, Audrey, had the house extensively renovated and arranged for the property to be donated to University of California San Diego upon her death, Barry said. She died in 2018.
Because the property was owned by the university, it had to be sold in a sealed-bid auction per the state’s Stull Act. The buyers are Ralph Bratch and his wife, Jodi Bratch, who owns the La Jolla children’s bookstore Bird Rock Bookshop. They couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Meridith Lacey of Compass represented the Bratches—she didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Though it’s been decades since Geisel lived in the home, a door that leads from the pool area inside pays tribute to one of his most famous works—stained-glass panels depict the hand of the Cat in the Hat tipping his hat.
The single-story home unfolds over about 5,000 square feet. There are four bedrooms, including a primary suite with vaulted ceilings, a fireplace and a window seat looking out at the wide Pacific Ocean views.
A red-brick patio surrounds the pool and hot tub, off which is a pool house that’s separate from the main home.