Vice Media’s Shane Smith is selling his mansion for $50 million
Shane Smith, the flashy media mogul who co-founded Vice Media and currently serves as its executive chairman, is eyeing a massive sum for his prized compound just outside Santa Monica: $50 million.
The property is not only the most expensive property currently on the market in Pacific Palisades, it’s also one of the biggest. The spread spans 3.35 acres and centers on a 1930s Mediterranean-style mansion surrounded by lawns, gardens and citrus groves.
For the record:
8:13 p.m. Feb. 3, 2021An earlier version of this story said the estate is in Santa Monica.
Known as Villa Ruchello, the estate is a celebrity in itself. In addition to appearing in “Entourage” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” it has been occupied by director Henry Jaglom and members of Fleetwood Mac over the years.
The palm-topped retreat sits about a mile from the ocean and includes a guesthouse and gatehouse in addition to the main mansion. The three homes combine for 13 bedrooms and 12.5 bathrooms across 14,000 square feet.
Ivy crawls across the white stucco exterior, and inside, extensive renovations kept the house in touch with its Old Hollywood style. Dark beams and a chandelier top the grand foyer, and the family room adds arched windows and a wall of bookshelves that open to reveal an onyx-walled speakeasy bar. Another secret lies in a hidden staircase, which descends to a wine cellar.
The swimming pool stretches 74 feet outside, and it sidles up to a pool house with a pizza oven and Argentinian grill. Off to the side, a Japanese-style cedar soaking tub is tucked among the trees. Private wells and a generator keep the compound self-sufficient.
Smith will double his money if he gets his price; he paid $23 million for the leafy spread in 2015, The Times previously reported. Although the property comes with a Santa Monica mailing address, it lies outside the city’s limits.
Santiago Arana of the Agency holds the listing.
A native of Canada, Smith co-founded Vice with Suroosh Alvi and Gavin McInnes in 1994 as a magazine and has since grown the media brand into an industry-spanning empire worth billions.
