Onetime estate of L.A. publisher David Whitmire Hearst lists for $13.5 million

In the Beverly Hills Post Office area, an estate once owned by newspaper publisher David Whitmire Hearst has come on the market for the first time in more than half a century for $13.5 million.

Hearst, one of five sons of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, began his media career as a reporter for the New York Journal-American in the 1930s. After joining the Los Angeles Evening Herald-Express in the late 1930s, he was elevated to the role of publisher at the paper in 1950, which he held for a decade.

He remained an executive in the Hearst Corp., serving as vice president and as a member of the board of directors, until his death in 1986 at 70.

The former Hearst estate sits at the end of a gated driveway and centers on a hacienda-style home dating to the early 1930s. A grand entry featuring original tile work sets the tone for the classic residence. Farther inside, a step-down living room with an oversize fireplace sits beneath coffered ceilings. Another fireplace lies in the office/den.

Two master suites and two staff rooms are among the five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. An attached guest apartment has a separate kitchen and living room.

Outside, 1.5 acres of park-like grounds contain a grassy field, gardens, mature trees and a brick-surrounded swimming pool. Elsewhere, a loggia looks onto a courtyard with a tile fountain/well.

Hearst sold the estate in 1953 to Samuel M. Fuller, a writer and producer at 20th Century-Fox, for $57,500, according to the Los Angeles Times’ archives. More recently, it was owned by late B-movie filmmaker Larry Cohen.

Susan Smith of Hilton & Hyland holds the listing.

neal.leitereg@latimes.com | Twitter: @LATHotProperty