Beverly House, once home to William Randolph Hearst, relists for $195 million
On the heels of the record-setting sale of the Playboy Mansion, another storied Westside estate is ready to up the ante.
Attorney-businessman Leonard M. Ross has listed his Beverly Hills home back on the market for $195 million — a $30-million uptick in price from when it was last publicly listed for sale nine years ago.
Alternatively, the buyer can buy just a portion of the estate for $175 million; in that scenario, a seven-bedroom house would not be included.
Known as the Beverly House, the grand estate was built for local banker Milton Getz and later owned by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and actress Marion Davies.
Adding another layer of pedigree, the multi-acre property is where Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy honeymooned after exchanging vows in 1953. Scenes from the movies “The Godfather” and “The Bodyguard” were also filmed on the property.
The H-shaped mansion, designed by Gordon Kaufmann and completed in the 1920s, is entered through a two-story gatehouse and reached by a long private drive. A motor court and a fountain mark the front entrance.
Inside, the more than 50,000 square feet of interior space evokes the grandeur of Old Hollywood. Among the eye-catching details are carved and arched ceilings, paneled walls and period furnishings. The living room, which was designed by Davies and Hearst, doubles as a theater, complete with a drop-down screen and projection portals.
Other features of note include a 50-foot entry hall with a loggia, a garden-view bar and a two-story library with hand-carved woodwork. A separate billiard room retains its original herringbone parquet floors and a fireplace that was moved down from Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif.
Upstairs, a central hallway connects bedroom wings for family as well as staff quarters. There are 30 bedrooms and 40 bathrooms in all.
A lighted tennis court, a swimming pool, two ponds, loggias, fountains and formal landscaping fill the grounds. A separate two-bedroom apartment and a one-bedroom security cottage also sit on the property.
The Beverly House’s fourth owner, Ross has lived in the residence for nearly four decades. During that time he has restored, maintained and expanded the house by about 20,000 square feet to its current footprint; a wet bar rebuilt from Hugh Hefner’s now-defunct club Touch is in one of his additions.
Though it has not been publicly offered for nearly a decade, the Beverly House has, in recent years, been shopped as a whisper listing for as much as $145 million and as little as $115 million. Three years ago it came up for lease at $600,000 a month.
Mauricio Umansky of the Agency holds the listing.
Guys like him had it made
The Malibu home of late actor Carroll O’Connor, best known for his role as Archie Bunker on the ’70s sitcom “All in the Family” and his wife, Nancy Fields O’Connor, has sold for $9.3 million.
Sitting on a deep swath of sand on Broad Beach, the oceanfront home is an eye-catcher for its Moorish influences. Loggias with arched openings set the tone for the home, which was built in 1974. Decorative tile and a green-hued roof create visual contrast against a white-walled exterior.
Inside, more than 3,600 square feet of interior space includes a living room, a dining area, three bedrooms, four bathrooms and a sauna. Arched double doors off the common rooms open to an inner courtyard with a swimming pool, and a second-floor balcony overlooks 42 feet of beachfront.
The O’Connor family had owned the house for more than 30 years.
Jack Pritchett of Pritchett-Rapf & Associates was the listing agent. DeeDee Cortese of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage represented the buyer.
Carroll O’Connor, who died in 2001 at 76, won multiple Emmys for his role as Bunker on “All in the Family.” He also starred in the spinoff series, “Archie Bunker’s Place,” and, starting in the late ’80s, the crime drama “In the Heat of the Night.”
Nancy Fields O’Connor, who died in 2004 at 84, was a documentary filmmaker and author. She is credited with encouraging her husband to take the “All in the Family” role.
Going Dutch in Montecito
A Montecito estate owned by Justin Chang, principal of Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Colony Capital, and his wife, “Legally Blonde” author Amanda Brown, is on the market for $18.5 million.
Chang isn’t the only pillar of industry attached to the estate of more than three acres. He and his wife bought the property four years ago from the estate of Jack McGinley, a former vice president of Baxter Healthcare, for $16.8 million. William LaWarre, a Cincinnati ad man turned rancher, is another former homeowner.
Designed by architect Ambrose Cramer and built in 1931, the Cape Dutch-style estate sits in a backdrop of the Santa Ynez Mountains with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Elaborately rounded gables, sets of double hung windows and a whitewashed facade are characteristic of the style popularized in the Western Cape of South Africa during the early 17th century.
Within the 9,771 square feet of living space are a living room topped with a fireplace, a formal dining room, a media/game room, six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Curved and beamed cathedral ceilings lend a light and airy feel to the kitchen and adjoining breakfast room.
Outdoors, manicured grounds originally designed by landscape architect Lockwood de Forest are filled with rolling lawns, formal landscaping and a large reflecting pool. Elsewhere is a five-car garage.
Riskin Partners of Village Properties and Jeffrey Hyland and Ladd Jackson of Hilton & Hyland, an affiliate of Christie’s International Realty, are the co-listing agents.
Marching on, and out, in Manhattan Beach
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll didn’t wait for the season to begin to nail down his first win of the year. Carroll last week sold an investment property in Manhattan Beach for $2.05 million — $51,000 over the asking price.
Built in the 1930s, the two-story beach house came to market in August and went from pending to closed in about two weeks, records show. Carroll, a longtime South Bay resident, bought the house in 1999 for $540,000.
The 1,200 square feet of living space, with a partial ocean view from the second floor, includes a living room, a galley-style kitchen, a breakfast nook, two bedrooms and 1.75 bathrooms. A staircase off the master suite leads down to a brick-lined patio.
There’s also a separate laundry room as well as storage and a one-car garage.
Prior to the sale, the house had been offered for lease at $4,500 a month.
Jaime Lauren Davern of Manhattan Pacific Realty was the listing agent. Dave Fratello of Confidential Realty represented the buyer.
Carroll, 64, has ties to Southern California, having coached the USC Trojans from 2001 to 2009 and winning two national championships. He has coached the Seahawks since 2010, winning two NFC championships and the Super Bowl in 2013.
Twitter: @NJLeitereg
