A California surf-wear company has paid $4.2 million for a storied oceanfront house at Pipeline, joining a growing list of surf companies and wealthy surfers who are plunking down millions for homes on O'ahu's North Shore.

Volcom Inc., a Costa Mesa, Calif.-based designer and marketer of clothing, bought the home last week and said it will use the residence to accommodate its surf team riders during winter months and for marketing-related functions during the rest of the year.

The purchase, Volcom's second at Pipeline, illustrates the appetite for properties in the North Shore's so-called "miracle mile" between Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach. In 2005, Volcom paid $2 million for a Pipeline residence just steps from its newest purchase, while Billabong International Ltd., an Australian surf-gear maker that sells apparel worldwide, paid $3.6 million for a home just down Ke Nui Road at a spot called Off the Wall.

"It's kind of like being Chanel in Waikiki," said Ralph Gray, a real-estate man who specializes in oceanfront properties with Realty Executives Hawaii. "If you're a surf company, you want your location on the North Shore."

The coastline between Hale'iwa and Sunset Beach has long been seen as the epicenter of surfing during winter in the Northern Hemisphere. A who's who of surfing makes a pilgrimage to the waves during a season that stretches between October and February, and images from North Shore contests and swells are printed in surf magazines around the globe.

In the past three years, surf companies have started examining purchasing homes in the Miracle Mile area and other North Shore neighborhoods, said Richard Sterman of Hale'iwa-based Sterman Realty.

In 2004, Sterman penned an article predicting the boom when he realized the homes could become marketing tools for the surf companies. Volcom, for example, hung a banner on the back porch of its rental home during the Pipeline Masters contest. Pictures and video of it appeared in surf media.

"It became so famous that I think Volcom actually got valued much higher as a company," said Sterman. He said someone at the company probably realized they needed to lock up the real estate instead of trying to rent each winter.

Volcom this week issued a news release announcing the purchase of its second Pipeline home, which is on the north side of the public right-of-way leading to the famed surf break. The home is sometimes referred to as Gerry Lopez's house since the former Pipeline champion previously lived there.

"Steeped in history, this house is a surfing landmark," Richard Woolcott, Volcom president and chief executive, said in the news release.

"This is an unbelievable opportunity for our marketing program, and it is an honor to have Volcom associated with it."

The purchases also coincide with the rise of a handful of surfing companies as corporations that are traded on stock exchanges. Billabong, for example, is valued by investors at $2.84 billion, while another surf-wear maker, Quiksilver Inc., has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion. Volcom's market capitalization is $810 million.

Sterman said most of the companies have rented homes in the area during the winter, paying $10,000 to $15,000 a month for prime beachfront properties. These are used to host their surf teams, which are brought over for photo shoots and to compete in contests. Sterman said Rip Curl International Pty. Ltd., an Australia surf company that lists 40 sponsored surfers on its Web site, needs four houses for its stable of athletes.

"Then the executives want their own homes," said Sterman. "All of a sudden, it becomes a viable option to purchase instead of renting."

Those same executives, along with wealthy surfers from California and Australia, are also buying into the North Shore and sending demand for properties near desirable surf spots upward, he said. Brian Grazer, a producer of the 2002 summer hit movie "Blue Crush," bought a home near Pipeline after filming here, Sterman said.

Mike Latronic, a former professional surfer who now publishes FreeSurf magazine and produces the "Board Stories" and "Billabong Surf TV" television shows, said it's little wonder why the companies and executives started buying the properties. Their workplaces are just outside their doors, he said — and the temperate weather and world-class surf doesn't hurt.

"The fact that it took this long for the industry moguls to start buying up the place is kind of hysterical," Latronic said.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.