In 2006, when MCCoys founder Ron McCoys was looking for a place to build his next home, he found the perfect place in the heart of San Diego.
The city was just getting its start, and McCoys wanted to make it his next big thing.
He had been trying to make his home, which sits on a 1,300-acre property, as small as possible.
The building of the McCoys home was meant to be an experiment.
The first house he built was a two-story, two-bathroom home on the south side of the city.
It was his first foray into the homebuilding market, but McCoys never imagined he would build a $10 million house on the edge of town.
That’s when McCoys found a builder that would take him from his humble beginnings in San Diego, California, to a house that would become the tallest in the state of California.
He knew he needed a partner and the best materials, so he looked for builders who could build a house of that scale, but also that would be affordable.
It took six years to build the McColls house, but when it finally opened in July 2009, it was a record-breaking $8 million.
McCoys says it was the most expensive single-family home in the United States, eclipsing a previous record set by the McCombs’ neighbor, the San Diego International Airport, that had sold for $6.9 million in 2005.
It became the most sought-after home in America for a short time, until McCoys lost the bid to build it.
Then in November 2011, McCoys had a chance to take it back, when a major renovation was announced.
He took the McCollys home, and with help from the county, he remodeled the home and built a new structure.
It was a different story the next day.
The next day, McColls was arrested for DUI and hit his head in the parking lot of the county building.
He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
The new owner of the land in which McCoys’ property was built, Gary McCollins, told CNN he didn’t want the property to be sold, and he wanted it preserved for the people who lived there.
The building of McCollss home took four years.
The McColls were also the first to receive a state tax break, which allows builders to build a home in a county that was not eligible for the state’s low-income housing tax incentive program, but was still considered a lower-income area, and thus more deserving of tax breaks.
“I’m very proud of the work we did,” McCollies wife, Karen, told the news outlet.
“I want to thank the county and the people of the state for all they did to help us.
I’m very thankful to Gary McColls family, friends and community for all of the support that they gave.”