A Developer’s $2-Million Dream Home Goes Up in Flames : Fire: Early-morning blaze in Rancho Santa Fe swept through the nearly finished home. Cause of the fire is believed accidental.

A pre-dawn fire Wednesday swept through a nearly completed $2-million Rancho Santa Fe mansion owned by a major San Diego developer--just weeks before he was to move into the home he considered his dream house.

The elegant home, a half-mile south of the heart of Rancho Santa Fe, was being built by Ronald M. Bonaguidi, whose Nexus Development Corp. is building a 400,000 square foot complex of offices and research-and-development buildings near La Jolla’s Golden Triangle.

The spectacular blaze, which lighted the early-morning sky in the wealthy North County neighborhood, slightly injured two firefighters and attracted more than a dozen curious neighbors--some of whom offered coffee, snacks and the use of their cellular phones to authorities and workers who arrived on the scene.

The fire, which broke out about 4:30 a.m. at the 8,800-square-foot home, was the area’s largest residential blaze in more than three years, said Rancho Santa Fe Fire Chief Pete Pedersen.

“By the time we got the call, we could see the fire more than a half-mile away at our headquarters,” he said. “It was like a giant bonfire. The whole hillside was lit up.”

More than 20 firefighters from four departments battled the blaze at the corner of Avenida de Acacias and Lago Lindo until after dawn, authorities said.

One Rancho Santa Fe firefighter suffered a pulled hamstring. Another fireman, who fell while battling the fire, was taken to a local hospital, Pedersen said.

Authorities said the fire apparently started in the living room of the one-story, L-shaped home. Firefighters suspect faulty electrical wiring or chemicals from painting being done at the site may have caused the blaze, but an investigation is continuing, Pedersen said.

Lynn Reeves, the on-sight superintendent who lived in a smaller house on the 3-acre property, said he called 911 shortly after 4:30 a.m., but firefighters mistakenly went first to a neighboring house before arriving at the blaze. “It seemed like forever until they got here,” he said.

Pedersen said, however, that the trucks arrived at the home within about two minutes of the time the blaze was reported.

The custom-built home included a mink stole closet, elaborate ceilings and ornate wooden arches--all of the work done by hand, said Mike Long, an assistant building foreman at the site.

The house was yet to be furnished, and workers said they soon planned to install the hardwood flooring.

Bonaguidi had stored many pieces of furniture and a blue Porsche in the home’s three-car garage. Although the garage roof collapsed, the car was saved and sat in the circular driveway Friday, its doors open to air out the smell of smoke.

The owner, accompanied by his wife, Maureen, showed up at the property briefly Wednesday morning but did not speak. “He was absolutely shell-shocked,” Long said. “His wife was crying. This was their dream house.”

Since Bonaguidi founded Nexus Development in 1974, he has built more than 2.5 million square feet of office buildings in San Diego and Orange County.

Among his developments is the 22-acre Nexus Centre UTC project north of the University Towne Center shopping center on La Jolla Village Drive, with more than 600,000 square feet of offices and research-and-development buildings.

Bonaguidi and his wife are also patrons of the arts, having donated to several cultural and civic charities, including the Old Globe Theater.

The developer could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But his mother, Helen Bonaguidi, of La Jolla, said she had not heard of the blaze.

“My son doesn’t say much,” she said. “But I know he was waiting to show me that house--it was supposed to be so beautiful. Now I don’t figure I’ll ever get to see it.”

Bonaguidi had not decided Wednesday whether to rebuild the home, which had been under construction for more than 18 months.

“This was a house of perfection--that’s the way the owner wanted it,” Long said.

“He put all the time and care into every detail because he knew it would last forever. And now it’s gone.”

Times staff writer Blake Fontenay in San Diego contributed to this story.