'Trophy' home tied to Trinity Broadcasting Network sells for $5.15 million

The Orange County Register/December 27, 2016

By Marilyn Kalfus

An ocean-view “trophy” home in Newport Beach tied to the Trinity Broadcasting Network has sold for $5.15 million.

The 9,467-square-foot house, set on over an acre in the guard-gated Harbor Ridge community, was listed at $5.25 million in September.

Built in 1979, the house has its own large gates, six bedrooms, an elevator, private tennis court, swimming pool and spa and a grassy pavilion area with an outdoor kitchen. In the foyer, a chandelier hangs from a high ceiling. Interiors include a formal library, piano room and bar.

“This ‘grand dame’ evokes memories of the ‘good old days’, the listing says, “when glamour meant walls of mirrors, sweeping staircases and oversized rooms. You can almost hear the spirited conversations, laughter and music echoing through the home.”

The house is owned by Trinity Christian Center of San Marcos, according to property records, affiliated with the Trinity Christian Center conglomerate that owns Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Coleen Brennan and Bill Forsythe of Engel & Volkers in Newport Beach represented the home. Brennan declined to discuss the “fabulous trophy property,” as the listing described it, or say who lived there. Cathy Wiggin of Bullock Russell Real Estate Services was the buyer's agent.

Another home in the neighborhood connected to the broadcasting network also is for sale.

That house, characterized in separate listing by a different agent as a "flamboyant" 5,200-square-foot estate, once was owned by Trinity Broadcasting Network founder Paul Crouch, records show.

The home, for sale at just under $4.6 million, was called "Villa Cielo." The four-bedroom home sits on an ocean-view hilltop and boasts Calacatta marble, two kitchens and a "secret room," according to the listing.

Paul and Jan Crouch, his wife, started Trinity Broadcasting Network, billed as the world's largest Christian network, in Costa Mesa in 1973. Paul Crouch died in November 2013; Jan Crouch died in May.

TBN is headquartered on an elaborate campus in Costa Mesa, and the network's religious programming can be viewed around the globe.

But family disputes led to public feuds and lawsuits. The empire is now in the hands of the Crouch's younger son Matthew.

A Register review of its recent tax filings shows Trinity’s revenue has dropped, from $207 million in 2006 to $121.5 million in 2014.

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