In 2008, his first home in the Bird Streets came on the market, on Blue Jay Way. Originally designed for a client who ran into money trouble, it became an accidental spec.

 

 

 

“[It] came on the market right around the same time that Lehmann Brothers crashed, and it sold for a lot of money,” McClean says. The address sold in 2005 for $2.6 million; in 2009, after McClean’s work, it went for $10 million. “That made people take notice of the house.” A slew of requests for projects in the area began, and they’ve never really stopped. His office of no more than a dozen people is still based in Orange County, in the retro downtown of the city of Orange, and now designs around a dozen homes a year. Nearly all are in Southern California, most between 4,000 and 12,000 square feet.

The Bel Air mansion purchased by Beyoncé and Jay-Z this summer was developed by McKillen and took approximately four years to approve and build. “Someone like Jay-Z or Beyoncé is probably going to find it very difficult to find the time to invest in that properly,” McClean explains of such an undertaking, later adding, “That’s why [these houses] often command the premium they do… The idea is that you can literally walk in here, drop your suitcase, and they’ll probably even give you a toothbrush if you need one.”

 

A Carla Ridge mansion in Beverly Hills developed by Nile Niami, with six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a two-story water feature, and an olive tree courtyard.

 

If L.A. is in the midst of an unprecedented real-estate boom, McClean is leading from the front. He has complicated feelings about the “blunt” laws put in place to curb large-scale construction: “I feel a lot of these processes stymie creativity,” he says, often reverting to talk of “play” and “exploration” when talking about spec homes. “At the price point we’re at you can let your imagination run riot and you can do all sorts of fun things,” he says. “People want you to. They’re not holding you back.”

There’s a fantasy-logic McClean subscribes to in order to explain away the excess of these dream homes: At various points, he said that clients really do use all the space, that the excessive pools and fountains serve to naturally cool the homes, that a typical client’s private-jet travel is much more of a burden on the environment.

I ask McClean point-blank if he thinks his homes are just too big. Or more specifically, why people want homes bigger than ever before.

“In a way, it’s new,” McClean says. “In another way, it’s as old as the pyramids, right?”

 

This new McClean house in the Bird Streets, at 1822 Marcheeta, is for sale for $19,950,000.

 

At 1822 Marcheeta, over-the-top wine storage, skylights, and massive fireplaces are all McClean hallmarks.

 

The Bird Streets mansion purchased by Calvin Klein for $25 million in 2015.

 

Another view of the Bird Streets house purchased by Calvin Klein.

 

A Blue Jay Way mansion which McClean estimated as going for as much as $30 million.

 

The staircase into the basement of the not-yet-listed home on Blue Jay Way.

 

A view of McClean’s first Bird Streets mansion, which sold for $10 million in 2009.

 

His first Bird Streets home, on Blue Jay Way, was purchased by Aviici in 2014.

Brian Thomas Jones

 

A Beverly Hills mansion on Carla Ridge that sold for $20 million in 2015.

 

The Carla Ridge mansion in Beverly Hills was developed by Nile Niami, and has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a two-story water feature, and an olive tree courtyard.

 

The Bel-Air home that was purchased by Jay-Z and Beyoncé boasts bulletproof windows and a helipad.

 

Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s 30,000-square-foot compound also features a minimal design and multiple pools.

 

A Beverly Hills home features the terracing and glass walls common to McClean’s projects.

 

Another view of the same Beverly Hills house.

 

Arclinea, a Beverly Hills development project designed by McClean.

 

Another view of Arclinea.

 

Originally listed for $100 million, this Trousdale mansion is now $85 million.

 

Originally listed for $100 million, “Opus,” a Trousdale mansion developed by Niami and designed by McClean, is now $85 million.

 

The “Opus” property features a basement-level pool, billiards room, champagne room, wine room, and a movie theater.

 

A Bel Air mansion by McClean that sold for just shy of $30 million in 2012.

 

The house is 30,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and ten baths.

 

This Laguna Beach McClean house sold for about $4.4 million in 2015.

 

McClean got his start in Laguna Beach, designing homes much like this 3,500-square-foot house.