‘The A-Team’ Producer’s Former SoCal Estate Lists for $20 Million

Almost 25 years after he died from melanoma at age 69, Stephen J. Cannell is still making headlines. The Laguna Beach estate of the prolific TV writer, director, and producer has popped up for sale, with an asking price of $20 million. Built in 1947 and recently remodeled, the residence sits amid a secluded enclave within the Woods Cove neighborhood, with the listing held by Shauna and Leita Covington of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties.

A Los Angeles native, Cannell worked at his family’s interior design business before selling his first script for It Takes a Thief to Universal Studios in the late 1960s. Despite suffering from severe dyslexia, he went on to write for crime shows such as Columbo and Ironside, and served as a story editor for Adam-12. Ultimately, as head of his own studio, he both created and co-created some of the small screen’s most beloved shows of all time, including The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, The Commish, and The Rockford Files, the latter of which won an Emmy in 1978.

Though he also penned several bestselling mystery novels, he might be best remembered for his iconic insignia after the ending credits of his TV shows: a short sequence of a pipe-smoking Cannell typing feverishly, then ripping a page from his typewriter and tossing it in the air.

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Fully walled and gated with a street-side two-car garage, the four-bedroom, five-bath property is perched high atop a nearly quarter-acre bluff overlooking the rugged Orange County coastline, with a landscaped courtyard out front and private steps in the back leading down to a peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean. A Dutch door opens into the stucco and brick-accented structure, which features roughly 4,700 square feet of space and numerous French doors that create a seamless indoor-outdoor feel.

Among the highlights is an entry foyer sporting a sky-lit stairwell. From there, a spacious coffer-ceilinged great room holds a living room with a two-way fireplace that connects on the other side to a bookshelf-lined office where Cannell worked on many of his hit shows. There’s also a family room, plus a dining room that flows via a butler’s pantry to an eat-in kitchen outfitted with custom cabinetry, a quartz-topped island, Thermador appliances, a wine cooler, a Shaws farmhouse sink, and a bay-windowed breakfast nook flanked by a large white brick fireplace.

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A posh primary suite occupying the entire upper level comes with a fireplace, a mini-bar, a balcony offering coastline views from Palos Verdes to San Diego, a separate office, four closets, and a spa-inspired bath with a soaking tub and a sauna. A secondary kitchen, a fireside living room, and a mirrored fitness area can be found on the lower level, which spills out to a backyard showcased by an in-ground spa, a barbecue station, and a grassy sitting area bolstered by a soaring pole donning the American flag.

In addition to the Laguna Beach home, Cannell’s three children still maintain his former primary residence in Pasadena. His eighth-grade sweetheart and wife of 46 years, Marcia, passed away last year.

Click here for more photos of the Orange County estate.