Oct 6, 2020 - Real Estate

Remember that $8M lakefront castle? Looks like Christian McCaffrey could be the buyer

Brianna Crane

Last month we wrote about a lakefront castle, dubbed “Grand Lac Chateau,” that hit the market at $7,995,000. The Mooresville house sold for $7.5M and went under contract in four days, setting a record for the area’s most expensive transaction.

Quick recap of the house: At 11,595 square feet, it has six bedrooms, seven baths, and two powder rooms. The 8.5-acre property also features a 70,000-gallon pool with a 60-foot infinity edge and lake views. Grand Lac Chateau is a completely custom home that was just completed in 2018.

[Full story on the house: This $8M lakefront castle is the most expensive home for sale in the Charlotte area right now]

The buyer of record is BeWater, LLC, which is registered in Colorado, according to Iredell County records. Typically when a sale is registered under an LLC, the buyer is high-profile.

Upon an initial search not much came up. But one Agenda reader did her own digging on Instagram and pointed us in what we believe is the right direction: Christian McCaffrey, the highest-paid running back in the NFL.

Olivia Culpo, a model and Christian McCaffrey’s girlfriend, shared a photo on Instagram in front of what appears to the estate.

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Another hint? McCaffrey, a Colorado native, is a huge Bruce Lee fan. One his favorite quotes, according to an ESPN article from this summer, is “Be Water.” (Remember, the sale is registered under Colorado-based LLC, BeWater.)

I DM’d McCaffrey and Culpo to see if they’d be willing to share anything. They haven’t responded as of Tuesday evening. (CMC, if you’re reading this, can we do a home tour?)

Josh Tucker, managing broker at HM Properties, had the listing. He is under an NDA so he couldn’t confirm my suspicions about the buyer. But I did get a chance to talk with Tucker about the quick sale, and how it went down.

No matter who actually bought the house, a record-breaking sale in record-breaking time is worth chatting about.

“It was pretty incredible,” Tucker says.

The Agenda shared the news of the home first on Thursday, September 3, approximately 24 hours before the listing went live on MLS. Our newsletter went out at 6 a.m. and the buyer reached out to his agent, Victoria Speer of Coldwell Banker Realty, to set up a showing as soon as possible. Speer reached out to Tucker at 10:30 a.m. that morning to say she had a client ready with an all-cash offer.

Tucker said when the buyer came to see the house, he told him he was drinking his coffee and reading the Axios Charlotte newsletter, like he does every morning, and immediately decided he wanted to buy the house.

“I called my broker and said, ‘I want this house. Do whatever you have to do to get me this house,'” Tucker recalls the buyer telling him.

They had a verbal agreement by Friday evening and it went under contract within four days.

Tucker said he was prepared for a house of this magnitude to sit on the market up to a year. He poured around $20,000 into marketing materials to draw some attention nationwide, and thought he might have to spend another $20,000 before it sold.

And although this time the sale happened at record speed, Tucker said there were multiple backup offers, which proves the demand for multimillion-dollar properties in the area.

Here’s a mini tour of the house.

154 Tennessee Circle front — Grand Lac Chateau was designed to imitate a French castle. With the turrets, stone exterior, and pitched roofline, I’d say mission accomplished.

154 Tennessee Circle range — This gorgeous French blue range was flown in from, well, France. This particular style starts at $60,000.

154 Tennessee Circle wine cellar — The wine cellar holds 250 bottles. But that’s not even the impressive part. This cellar has its own security that keeps tabs on the room’s temperature. The owners get a notification every time it changes more than 6 degrees over/under the desired temp.

154 Tennessee Circle owner's closet — The owner’s suite is truly a dream with vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, and a wet bar (coffee or cocktails in bed?). The bathroom has dual vanities, heated floors, and a fireplace. The two-story closet is the real showpiece, though. It has its own washer and dryer, custom shelving/cabinetry, and a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor with additional chic storage.

154 Tennessee Circle lower level — The basement has a spacious bar, another fireplace, a lounge and living area, and views of the backyard/pool area. Not a bad spot to hang some Panthers gear.

154 Tennessee Circle man cave — This “men’s lounge” has six TVs total. You can watch four different things on the right side panel shown here. The room leads into the show-car garage.

Photos by/courtesy of Matthew Benham

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