$29.9M trophy home in Orange County listed

Milan Panic, a seminal figure in Orange County’s pharmaceutical sector who served a stint as prime minister of the former Yugoslavia and remains a force in local philanthropy , has listed his house in the Shady Canyon community of Irvine for $21.9 million.

The home at 60 Golden Eagle is located down the street from another mansion recently for $49.9 million. Either estate would likely set records on price in the low-key Shady Canyon, but neither would top the Orange County mark set in the high-profile Newport Coast section of neighboring Newport Beach, where a home fetched $61 million in 2020, according to listing agent Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker.

Smith also handles the listings for Panic’s home and its $49.9 million neighbor.

Smith said that multi-million dollar homes in Orange County are lately a rarity on the current market despite the concentration of great wealth in the area. He said that there isn’t a big inventory of trophy homes in Orange County.

“So far this year, five homes over $20 million sold” compared with 16 last,” Smith said.

Panic’s home at 60 Golden Eagle, features seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms on a property of nearly 1.5 acres. The double lot and extra frontage required for a big compound is highly sought after among wealthy buyers in Orange County and throughout the Southern California market, where planners have put a premium on density.

Amenities at Panic’s house include a 15-seat theater, a wine cellar, a library, as well as garage parking for five cars.

Panic founded ICN Pharmaceuticals, now part of Bausch Health Companies Inc. The Serbia-born entrepreneur has been among OC’s wealthiest and most colorful executives for decades, and played a key role on the world’s stage as prime minister of the former Yugoslavia in the wake of the Cold War. He’s also known for drawing charges of sexual harassment from employees of his various enterprises over the years–several of which have been settled without admissions of any guilt. Panic has also garnered attention for his philanthropy, funding scholarships at MIT-Harvard Medical school and serving as a sponsor and vice chair of the Los Angeles Opera.