L.A.’s most extreme home hits the market at $85 million
What may be L.A.’s most extreme home has hit the market in Beverly Hills at $85 million.
The cavernous space exudes a testosterone-fueled Hollywood vibe with James Bond, James Dean and Muhammad Ali motifs bolstered by such accessories as a $200,000 sculpture of a giant blue hand grenade, a replica of Dean’s motorcycle and car collection display space.
The sleek contemporary employs top-end materials, custom-built furnishings and commissioned artwork – all of which are included.
Quite simply, the place is the ultimate magnate dwelling.
Set on roughly an acre in the Trousdale Estates area, where a $36-million home might be purchased as a tear-down, the nearly 23,000-square-foot residence was built by a billionaire for a billionaire.
The mega-mansion is the latest offering from handbag tycoon Bruce Makowsky, who enjoys a good house project.
His timing couldn’t be better.
Ready-to-go homes are in demand among today’s global and mobile billionaires, who don’t want to spend several years building. Multimillion-dollar home sales in the upper price strata are at all-time highs statewide, according to second-quarter statistics from real estate information service DataQuick. And Los Angeles home sale prices are breaking local records with the sale this year of the Fleur de Lys estate at $88.3 million, or $102 million if one counts the furnishings and artwork.
After scoring the site two years ago for $12.65 million, Makowsky assembled a team including designer/builder/architect Roman James and interior designer Joseph Ferrugio, set up an onsite office so the involved parties were without shouting distance and let the fun begin.
From the street, the sleek gated home appears deceptively understated. Water cascades down a wide wall at the entry. Then the 12-foot-tall black glass front door provides a clue that something unusual is in store. The swivel door is opened by a code.
Inside, the materials may seem familiar but some of their uses are not. There are travertine walls. A bamboo-and-glass wall extends down one side of the stairwell. The office desk is made of solid marble.
The central hall is topped by a 15-by-30-foot skylight, the largest of 15 throughout the house.
The main living level has automated curved or radius glass doors that open to panoramic skyline views and an infinity edge pool that juts out onto a knoll. Glass walls slide into pocket doors and disappear along the back of the house.
Fendi- and Bentley-appointed living spaces flow into one another.
This is a price range at which maker names matter, and high-end brand names are everywhere: Miele and Gaggenau appliances, Julien sinks, KWC faucets, Ralph Lauren lighting, Crestron control systems, Lutron electronics. The lids on the Toto Neorest toilets raise when someone enters a bathroom. There’s Via International audio and video.
A stocked, 12-seat vodka bar occupies one wall of the main living room. An eat-in kitchen with seating for 12 sits off the other side of the room beyond the breakfast room.
A backlit onyx table stretches down the center of the dining room. Custom made in Venice, Italy, the banquet table seats two dozen easily. The Roberto Cavalli place settings cost $3,700 each.
The adjacent 2,500-bottle wine room with glass walls on two sides comes stocked with Dom Perignon Champagne and varietal wines. The Dom Perignon logo door handles were custom-crafted in bronze and cost $50,000.
A large upholstered door opens to the 18-seat tiered theater with a 14-foot-wide screen, Runco projection and surround sound.
The master bedroom, adorned with a $40,000 Lalique crystal vase, has a travertine fireplace and head-on views of downtown Los Angeles that are reflected by mirrors throughout the suite. An espresso machine and a refrigerator are hidden in the walls.
The two master closets looks like high-end showrooms – hers illuminated by square crystal sconces, his outfitted with a pair of antique pistols.
The skylighted master bathroom has a custom-made tub that measures nine by six feet. Just outside, there’s a 14-person infinity spa with a swim jet for private workouts.
There are seven bedrooms and 15 bathrooms.
Not all the fun factors are on the main floor.
Off the stairwell on the lower level is a candy wall that could be the envy of socialite Candy Spelling, known for her own candy collection when she lived in Holmby Hills. With its long row of 25 bins, storage chutes and contents, the candy wall cost $200,000 to create.
The black-tile and mirrored garage has a lift that whisks collectible cars (not included in the purchase price) down to the lower lounge level where they create a museum-like display behind glass on one side of the room. A turntable spins the automobiles into viewing position.
A 007-themed tequila bar looks onto three 90-inch high-definition televisions that bring in the views from the roof of the house as a sort of faux window. A chromed 50-caliber Ma Deuce machine gun sits on display.
A large seating cluster opens to a game area outfitted with a glass pool table and a foosball table. A glass-walled fully equipped gym with a larger-than-life depiction of Ali and rubber flooring is along the other side of the room.
This is Makowsky’s sixth house project since moving from New York to L.A. several years ago to “retire.” But the $85-million custom home will not be the crowning achievement of his retirement. A home twice the size of this one is already in the works in Bel-Air.
Ben Bacal of Rodeo Realty and Branden Williams and Rayni Romito of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s International Real Estate are the listing agents.
lauren.beale@latimes.com
