In Holmby Hills, prized Owlwood estate is back on the market, this time for $115 million
Owlwood, a 10-acre estate with a Hollywood history as rich as any, is back up for grabs in Holmby Hills.
This time, it’s being floated for $115 million, down from the $180-million price tag it wore last summer.
The property spans three parcels, which were combined in 2002 by Roland Arnall, founder of Ameriquest Capital Corp. One lays vacant, and another offers a guesthouse and swimming pool.
The third holds the centerpiece: an Italian Revival-style mansion with over 12,000 square feet of grand public rooms and period details.
Architect Robert D. Farquhar designed the home in 1936 for businessman C.H. Quinn, but the star-studded list of owners since includes 20th Century Fox Chairman Joseph Schenck, oil tycoon William Keck, Hotel Bel-Air founder Joseph Drown, actor Tony Curtis and singing duo Sonny Bono and Cher.
Inside are nine bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and a score of elegant living spaces. Ornate molding and wood panels draw eyes in the living room and formal dining room. A chandelier hangs at the center of the oval-shaped sun room.
The two-story grand stair hall winds its way to the master suite, complete with a fireplace, lounge and office.
Outside, rolling lawns descend to the swimming pool and tennis court, both wrapped in hedges and landscaping.
Linda May and Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland, as well as Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, hold the listing.
A $115-million sale would make it the most expensive home sale ever in Los Angeles County, topping the sale of hotelier Peter Morton’s oceanfront property on Malibu’s Carbon Beach.
Owlwood is no stranger to price records. The current owner, a Sherman Oaks development group headed by Robert H. Shapiro called Woodbridge, bought the home for $90 million in September 2016. At the time, it was the second-priciest sale ever in L.A. County; only the Playboy Mansion, which fetched $100 million a month earlier, had sold for more.
The latest listing arrives as Woodbridge works its way out of bankruptcy proceedings. In December, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm with running a $1.22-billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 8,400 investors, and the group filed for bankruptcy a few weeks before the charges arrived.
In May, Woodbridge agreed to settle the liability portions of the SEC’s charges.
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