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Owlwood, an estate with a rich history in Holmby Hills, sells for $88 million

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Southern California’s historic year of luxury real estate ended with a bang just before Christmas, as Owlwood — a Holmby Hills mansion that once listed for $180 million — sold for $88 million.

The massive off-market deal, which sold as three separate parcels, closed Dec. 23, The Times has confirmed. It was Los Angeles County’s third-priciest residential real estate transaction of 2020 behind Jeff Bezos’ $165-million purchase and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s $125-million sale, both of which took place in Beverly Hills.

Records reveal the buyer was Calch Urban Investments, a newly registered limited liability company based in Illinois. The owner behind the LLC remains unclear.

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Spanning 10 acres just down the street from the Playboy Mansion, the famed compound has a storied past with a notable architect, celebrity residents and a recent owner indicted in a Ponzi scheme. It centers on a 12,000-square-foot Italian Revival-style mansion designed in 1936 by Robert D. Farquhar, an L.A. architect whose other projects included the Pentagon, Beverly Hills High School and the California Club.

A series of high-profile players owned the home in the following decades including 20th Century-Fox Chairman Joseph Schenck, oil tycoon William Keck and Hotel Bel-Air founder Joseph Drown. Actor Tony Curtis lived there in the ‘60s, and he sold it to pop duo Sonny and Cher in the ‘70s.

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In 2009, it was acquired by a more controversial figure: Robert Shapiro, a real estate developer who a decade later was sentenced to 25 years in prison for running a $1.3-billion Ponzi scheme. He paid $90 million for the property through his firm, Woodbridge Group of Companies, and tried to double his money in 2017, listing it for $180 million before trimming the price a year later to $115 million after Woodbridge filed for bankruptcy. The estate was sold as part of the bankruptcy agreement.

At the front of the estate, a driveway wraps around a spacious lawn anchored by a fountain. Two structures occupy the regal grounds: a main house topped by clay tile and an ivy-clad guesthouse. They combine for nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.

Grand public spaces with period details fill out the main house. There’s a dramatic foyer, a wood-paneled living room, an oval sun room and a primary suite with a fireplace, lounge, spa bathroom and ornate moldings. Rolling lawns and mature landscaping are found outside, descending to a sunken tennis court and a swimming pool adjoined by a veranda.

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Tomer Fridman, Sally Forster Jones and Tyrone McKillen of Compass, along with Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland, held the listing.

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