Cornfeld Home in Beverly Hills Is Being Sold

Bernard Cornfeld, the flamboyant financier whose international mutual fund empire collapsed in the early 1970s, may soon be cutting one of his major ties to Southern California. But not without some snags.

Grayhall Inc., a corporation that Cornfeld heads as president, is selling its baronial 35-room Beverly Hills mansion where Cornfeld has lived off and on for the past 15 years.

The mansion at 1100 Carolyn Way, where Douglas Fairbanks Sr. once resided, was the site of many pool-side parties thrown by Cornfeld. The former international jet setter often entertained retinues of bikini-clad young women before and after the collapse of his Investors Overseas Services mutual fund firm, which once had more than $2 billion in assets.

“I’m in Europe most of the time, so it made little sense to have something here,” Cornfeld said, noting that he still has homes in London and Paris and a French chateau near the Swiss border from which he runs various ventures, including a European vitamin business.

Price tag for the mansion is $9 million, according to Grayhall’s attorney, David Rudich. Rudich said it is being sold to a Southern California mining concern.

However, on Friday, Grayhall--whose sole asset is the mansion--filed a petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The petition, Cornfeld said, stemmed from delays in the closing of the sale due to problems with the buyer’s financing.

In anticipation of the deal closing on time, Grayhall had stopped making mortgage payments on the mansion, Cornfeld said. The Chapter 11 filing will be withdrawn as soon as Grayhall’s lender, Progressive Savings, gives Grayhall an extension on the mortgage payments, Cornfeld said. That withdrawal could come this week, he said.

“Life is still cheery,” Cornfeld said in denying any financial problems with himself or Grayhall.