Top sales: L.A. County sees another record-breaker in February
The world’s richest man, a television executive and a producer/music manager were among the movers and shakers navigating the upper crust of Los Angeles real estate in February. Here’s a closer look at the most expensive homes sold last month in L.A. County.
$165 million — Beverly Hills
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos produced a sale worthy of his mega-fortune, buying the Beverly Hills estate of media giant David Geffen in a record-setting deal consummated off market.
The transaction bests the $150-million sale of Chartwell last year and makes the home the most expensive ever sold in California.
The nine-acre property has a mogul pedigree, having been designed and built in the 1920s for movie titan Jack Warner. Geffen had owned the property since the 1990s when he paid a then-record $47.5 million in an all-cash deal.
At the heart of the estate is a Georgian Revival-style mansion that was renovated by Geffen during his ownership. A golf course, a tennis court, a swimming pool, fern gardens, fountains and sculptures fill the grounds.
For Bezos, the nine-figure deal amounts to only 0.13% of his roughly $130-billion net worth. A person earning the L.A. County median household income (about $68,000) could buy an eight-person tent at Walmart with 0.13% of his or her income.
$60 million — Bel-Air
A development property on Stradella Court sold in a deal finalized off market.
The one-acre site previously belonged to Woodbridge Group, an investment company whose founder, Robert H. Shapiro, was sentenced last year to 25 years in prison for running a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
The under-construction property had been marketed with renderings for a 21,000-square-foot mansion designed by Saota. The L.A.-based architecture firm previously redesigned and expanded filmmaker Michael Bay’s former home on the same street.
Features of the proposed design include nine bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a two-story living room and a gym built beneath a cantilevered swimming pool. Renderings for the home also showed multiple waterfall-fed reflecting pools.
$28 million — Bel-Air
“American Idol” creator Simon Fuller sold his estate on Chalon Road for $4.5 million less than the asking price of $32.5 million.
The brick-clad estate was designed by Gordon Kaufmann, the architect behind the Hoover Dam, the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills and the old Los Angeles Times building in downtown L.A.
Built in 1927, the handsome two-story features grand public rooms, an entry hall and a circular library with wood paneling. The formal dining room can handle a crowd with seating for 20. There are seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms including a master suite with an office, dual bathrooms and a gym.
A second-story balcony and column-lined patio overlook a mosaic tile swimming pool. The 1.6-acre estate also contains a greenhouse, a guesthouse, hedges and lawn.
Drew Fenton and Trista Rullan of Hilton & Hyland held the listing. Timothy Tamura of Valia Properties represented the buyer.
$16.8 million — Beverly Hills
Nickelodeon President Brian Robbins and his wife, Tracy James, paid about $5.2 million less than the $21.995-million asking price for a modern tour de force on Carla Lane.
The contemporary-style home was designed by architect Paul McClean and has interiors by designer Lindsay Chambers. Reached by a floating catwalk-style bridge, the glass-walled house was designed to shield the lower levels from view. Slide-away walls connect the 9,200-square-foot house to the outdoors.
In addition to five bedrooms and eight bathrooms, the house also has indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a wellness center and a 10-car garage. Views from the property take in the cityscape and ocean.
Dustin Nicholas of Nicholas Property Group was the listing agent. Rayni and Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland represented the buyer.
$14.5 million — Beverly Hills
On North Elm Drive, a Mediterranean estate on a corner lot sold for $1.3 million less than the $15.8-million asking price.
Set behind hedges and gates, the two-story house dates to 1992 but was renovated in 2005. Beyond the vaulted entry, which has a sweeping staircase, are a black-paneled den, a living room with fireplace, a chef’s kitchen, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Stone floors, gold trim and painted ceilings add to the ornate ambiance.
A lower level adds a great room, a bar, a home theater and wine storage. Outside, a massive covered patio gives way to a swimming pool.
Michael Libow of Compass was the listing agent. Barbara Tenenbaum of Hilton & Hyland represented the buyer.
