The Best View in Morro Bay
498 Orcas Street is a one-of-a-kind coastal property in Morro Bay — panoramic ocean views, a half-mile walk to the beach, and a view of Morro Rock while cooking dinner. It's the kind of home you work your whole life to call your own!
As of late 2025, it needed work. It was abandoned, demolished, and wasting away. We saw the legacy that could be lovingly restored with enough vision and hard work. This blog follows our journey. Join us!
This week was more about Demo.
We’re restoring the home by preserving its modern artistic charm.
This is a one-of-a-kind custom home. There is nothing like it, here or anywhere.
The original builder and his wife loved trapezoids, triangles, rhomboids, and fun creative angles.
We are planning to submit architectural plans in a week or two.
Guess who I got to meet today? Marvin, the original owner and builder of this beautiful house!
What a gem!
We finished up the poly wrap removal. Oh the wrap! It was quite a process. Many neighbors stopped by to thank us.
One neighbor called it a ‘ghost ship’. It flapped in the breeze like the sails of a pirate ship in a storm.
Hilarious!
In this post, I’d like to reflect on Morro Bay’s nature sanctuary.
WE DID IT!
Close of Escrow is today.
We are grateful for the many hands who have already contributed.
Today we scheduled internet at the property: Starlink (nice!)
We’re going to canvas the neighborhood to let everyone know about this website to track our journey, stay tuned for tours, or let friends know when the house is available for purchase.
After quite a roller coaster, we have finalized financing and insurance (“builders risk”). We’re moving toward legal and underwriting analyses.
We released the architectural engineer to begin finalizing the plans he originally sketched out more than a year ago!
We had the property inspected by an appraiser with deep experience in building and evaluating in this town. He couldn’t say enough about the project. He was excited for us.
The square footage in Morro Bay remains relatively high.
But “Beach bungalow” vs “coastal chateau” depends on two main factors: renovations and vista.
1) Is it fixed up and modernized?
And…
2) Can you see the Rock?
In our case, we will have both: total interior and exterior renovation and restoration PLUS the best view in Morro Bay. Nice.
I’ll list comps as we get closer to the target but we’ll see what happens near us (higher elevation) and closer to the beach (less elevation) over the next few months.
The final tally? 1.45m estimate after repair value. This is a great target to hit for the right buyer who really wants to own this house!
This is it!
It’s about time to get this train moving out of the station.
The Orca St project is moving toward a successful close of escrow. Nothing is guaranteed but we are optimistic.
This property didn’t look easy… it was intimidating.
Soon it will be love at first sight. But for now it was a shocker.
And yet – wow what a view. Every angle – from the loft, the living room, the kitchen – took our breath away.
