Repo magnate is the buyer of iconic mansion on East Bay hillside

DANVILLE — The retired founder of a repo service company is the buyer of an iconic East Bay hillside estate that was the former home of the late real estate tycoon and philanthropist Kenneth Behring.

The just-bought Behring Estate, perched on a hillside in the Blackhawk subdivision of Danville, was bought on Aug. 1 for $10.8 million, documents on file with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office show.

The retired founder of a Sacramento-based repossession company is the buyer of the Behring Mansion, this news organization’s review of public records on file in California, Nevada and Florida has determined.

The Behring Estate at 81 Eagle Ridge Place was bought by an affiliate of a family trust headed up by Patrick K. Willis, who founded American Recovery Services, a repo firm with headquarters in the Sacramento-area community of El Dorado Hills.

Behring Global Educational Foundation sold the property to the Nevada-based group, according to the public real estate documents.

The final purchase amount is a far cry from the nearly $25 million asking price when the hillside property was placed on the market in August 2023. Joujou Chawla, a prominent real estate agent, handled the property listing.

The affiliate is based at the same Zephyr Cove, Nevada residence where Willis lives, Nevada and Contra Costa County, real estate records show.

Eventually, without a buyer in sight, Compass Concierge, a real estate brokerage, and Chawla organized an auction for the estate.

The bidding for the auction began June 28, according to the Compass Concierge website for the property.

The 4.5-acre estate overlooks Blackhawk Country Club, which Behring also founded. The estate went on the market after the death in 2022 of Patricia Behring, the real estate magnate’s wife of 70 years.

Kenneth Behring, who notably owned the Seattle Seahawks NFL team, died in 2019.

The mansion totals about 26,600 square feet and contains seven bedrooms, eight full baths and six half baths. The two-story house has stairs and an elevator.

The inspiration for the Behring residence was legendary architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater estate.

Among the features of the Behring estate:

— The gated estate sits on a private cul-de-sac

— Stone, wood and glass designs dot the structure

— Floor-to-ceiling windows

— An atrium with an indoor waterfall and plants and trees

— Brazillian teak ceilings

— Idaho quartz floors

— Utah flagstones

— a 360-degree fireplace

— seven additional fireplaces

— an event center totaling 7,000 square feet with a ballroom featuring nine crystal chandeliers

“It (the Behring Estate) embodies the beautiful harmony between nature and the constructed environment,” the Concierge Compass website says.