Some houses you photograph because they are beautiful. A few you photograph because they matter. The Edge is both. This contemporary estate sits on two acres above 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach and was designed by Sterling | Huddleson Architecture. Back in November 2022 it sold for $28 million, setting the record for the most expensive non-oceanfront home ever sold in Monterey County. Nearly four years on, it is still the project clients mention when they call me about photographing architecture. I photographed it for the principals behind the project: architect Braden Sterling, listing agent Cicily Sterling, and co-listing agent Mauricio Umansky, founder of The Agency. It remains one of the commissions I am proudest of.
The Edge, at a glance
- Sold: $28,000,000 · November 2022 · Monterey County record for a non-oceanfront home
- Design: Sterling | Huddleson Architecture · completed 2022
- Size: 11,228 sq ft including an 800 sq ft guest house, on 2 acres above 17-Mile Drive
- Views: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Carmel Beach, Point Lobos, and Pescadero Point
- Listing: Cicily Sterling with co-listing agent Mauricio Umansky, The Agency
- Photography: Manny Espinoza · Fujifilm GFX medium format, ground and aerial
The house
The Edge was completed in 2022. The main house and its separate guest house total 11,228 square feet, positioned so the great sweep of the Peninsula does the talking. Pebble Beach Golf Links sits below. Carmel Beach and Point Lobos stretch across the water, with Pescadero Point in the frame. The architecture holds a clean line between the forest and all of that view. The name is earned.
How I photographed it
A house like this asks the photographer for restraint. The design is the subject. My job is to hold the camera to the architects' intent: the geometry, the materials, and the way the glass dissolves the boundary between the rooms and the coastline. I shot The Edge the way I shoot all of my architectural work, on the 102-megapixel Fujifilm GFX medium format system.
Technically, the shoot was a mix of single exposures and HDR. One of the reasons I trust the GFX system, first the 100S and now the GFX 100 II, is the latitude of those medium format files. As long as I stay at the lowest ISO settings, I can drastically underexpose a frame to protect the highlights and still recover the shadows cleanly in post. On a house that is mostly glass, holding a bright sky and a warm interior in the same frame, that latitude is everything.
That confidence in post comes from an unusual place. Before I ever became a professional photographer, I taught Adobe Photoshop for ten years. Knowing exactly what a file can give back later changes how you expose in the field, and it is why I will trade a darker capture for protected highlights every time.
Three visits, chasing the light
Twilight is when architecture like this comes alive. Interior light warms the glass, the sky holds its color, and the house glows against the trees. That window lasts minutes, not hours, and a property this large cannot be rushed through it. I photographed The Edge on three separate occasions, chasing the best light for each elevation at different times of day. I took the same repeat-visit approach with the drone. Living five minutes away in Carmel-by-the-Sea makes that kind of patience easy. When the light is right, I can be on site before it changes.
The view from above
For an estate defined by where it sits, the aerial frame is not a bonus. It is the thesis. The drone view at the top of this post is the one photograph that explains the property in a single glance: the house, the two acres, the forest, and the coastline beyond. When a home's siting is its superpower, you photograph the siting.
What a record sale means
I will not claim photographs sell a $28 million house. Architecture of this caliber, in this location, speaks for itself. But at the top of the market, every element of the presentation has to hold the same standard as the work it represents. That is the job: photographs that are worthy of the architecture. It is why principals like Braden Sterling, Cicily Sterling, and The Agency keep trusting me with the rooms, and the records, that matter.
Common questions
Who photographed The Edge in Pebble Beach?
I did. I'm Manny Espinoza, a commercial and architectural photographer based in Carmel-by-the-Sea. I photographed The Edge for the project's architect and listing team, covering twilight exteriors, architectural details, and aerial drone views.
Who designed The Edge?
Sterling | Huddleson Architecture, led by architect Braden Sterling. The home was completed in 2022 on two acres above 17-Mile Drive.
How much did The Edge sell for?
$28,000,000 in November 2022, a Monterey County record for a non-oceanfront home at the time. The listing was represented by Cicily Sterling with co-listing agent Mauricio Umansky of The Agency.
What camera was used?
The Fujifilm GFX medium format system, using a mix of single exposures and HDR at base ISO to hold both highlight and shadow detail.