06/15/2026
A cabin barely bigger than a two-car garage just hit the California coast market for $18.8 million — and people can't stop talking about it...
The studio at 1041 Marine Drive in Laguna Beach is asking $18.8 million while offering only 432 square feet of interior space, sitting on roughly an 8,500-square-foot oceanfront parcel with a private staircase down to Shaw's Cove. That's it. No bedrooms. One bathroom. A sunroom with panoramic ocean views.
The cottage was built in 1923 and last sold in 2020 for $7.35 million. In just five years, the asking price has more than doubled — and no one seems shocked, because in Laguna Beach, the land is the whole point.
The price tag works out to $43,519 per square foot — a number that stops most people cold. For context, in 2022 a spec home at 66 Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach sold for $43.5 million and set a per-square-foot record in the market at just $8,733. This tiny cabin is asking five times that rate per foot.
Co-listing agent Rob Giem describes the 1923 structure as a "century-old seaside cottage" and calls it "the only property of its kind," emphasizing teardown and rebuild potential on what is considered an oversized oceanfront lot. Essentially, buyers aren't purchasing the cabin — they're purchasing one of the last remaining raw oceanfront parcels on this particular stretch of Marine Drive, with the right to build something far grander.
Listing agent Garrett Rau noted that Shaw's Cove is "highly regarded as being one of the top beaches along the California coastline," adding that "The Godfather" actress Diane Keaton once owned homes in the area. That kind of neighborhood pedigree doesn't come cheap — and apparently, neither does a 100-year-old artist's shack with a view.
