Must see: Iconic Pebble Beach home with shape resembling scallop shell lists for $10M

A coastal Northern California home designed by modernist architect Mark Mills that was inspired by shells found at a nearby beach is for sale for $10 million, according to Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home sits on 1.16 acres along the famous 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, near Carmel-by-the-Sea. Spanning 2,200 square feet, the home’s shape resembles a scallop shell, with the arches of five individual rooms framing a different angle of the stunning ocean views near Fanshell Beach.

Inside, vaulted ceilings composed of concrete and wood beams form a fascinating, corrugated pattern that looks like a clam shell. Looking through the windows is like peering out from the inside of a large, partly opened two-valve comb shell.

A unique, almond-shaped pool lies in the center of the property, which blends in with the natural environment of sand dunes and ice plant.

There’s an open kitchen and living area, bonus room and office and separate two-car garage.

Dubbed Fanshell Beach House, the residence hit the market one week ago for the first time since 1972, when the property was purchased for $40,000, according to public record. Janice O’Brien, known locally for “her environmental activism and for living in a one-of-a-kind oceanfront house,” according to an obituary in The Carmel Pine Cove newspaper, commissioned and built the residence in 1974.

O’Brien died Jan. 7, 2022 at 100. Her children are selling the home, according to a Coldwell Banker representative.

“This Pebble Beach icon represents a rare opportunity for world-class location, timeless architecture, and some of the best views on Earth,” the offiical property listing states.

Mills, the architect, was drawn to the organic forms of seashells in his designs, according to a book about the architect titled “The Fantastic Seashell of the Mind: The Architecture of Mark Mills” by Janey Bennett.

“Mark Mills was a visionary architect, a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice whose innovative designs grow beyond Wright’s work to uniquely blend structural principles and the organic forms of seashells,” according to to the book’s description.