HolmbyHills

Hugh Hefner Sells At A Deep Discount

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

I mentioned briefly before that Hugh Hefner and his wife Kimberley sold her house next to the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California but I neglected to mention the fact that is sold for $10 million below the list price of $27.995 million. The LA Times Hot Property column reported that the home, which hit the market in March, sold for $18 million. The 7,300-square-foot English Manor-style house was built in 1929 and has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home is behind private gates on 2.3 flat acres that back up to the Los Angeles Country Club and the grounds include a swimming pool.

The Hefners bought the home in 1996 for Kimberley Hefner to live in with their two sons. It was then listed then at $17.25 million so if Hefner bought anywhere close to list price back then he isn't making too much on this deal. But the aging magazine tycoon's lavish lifestyle has been straining the budget of the Playboy empire and so the sale might have been a matter of some urgency.

[Thanks, Charles! via Listed]

Gallery: Hugh Hefner in Holmby Hills

Tags: holmby hills, HolmbyHills, hugh hefner, HughHefner, playboy, playboy mansion, PlayboyMansion

Spelling Mansion Listed at $150 Million, Now World's Most Expensive Estate

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Move over Fleur de Lys: Candy Spelling's legendary massive 123-room Holmby Hills mansion has officially hit the market with a record-breaking asking price of $150 million. That's $25 million more than the Beverly Hills behemoth Mariah Carey is said to have made an offer on recently, and officially makes the Spelling mansion, called "The Manor," the world's most expensive estate in terms of current listings, the Wall St. Journal reports. The 57,000-sq.-ft. mansion, which has at least 11 bedrooms and 16 baths, was built by TV producer Aaron Spelling on the site of Bing Crosby's former estate, which they razed

.

Features include a bowling alley in the basement, a beauty parlor and a barber shop in the 17,000-sq.-ft. attic, a gift wrapping room, doll museum, a home gym, a wine cellar and wine tasting room, a humidity-controlled silver storage room, a china storage room, and a screening room where the screen rises up out of the floor with paintings moving up to reveal the projector, the Real Estalker reports. The gated grounds encompassing five acres include a motor court with a fountain, covered parking for dozens of luxury cars, formal gardens including a rooftop rose garden, a swimming pool and spa complex and of course a tennis court.

Tags: Aaron Spelling, AaronSpelling, Bing Crosby, BingCrosby, Candy Spelling, CandySpelling, Fleur de Lys, FleurDeLys, Holmby Hills, HolmbyHills, Los Angeles, LosAngeles, mansion

Hugh Hefner in Holmby Hills, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

It's not the Playboy mansion but if you've ever wanted to live next door to the girls next door this is your chance. Hugh Hefner and wife Kimberley (yep, he's still technically married but they have been separated for ten years) have listed the home next door to the mansion. This is where Kimberley has raised their two children who are now in their late teens.

The seven-bedroom home is on a two-acre walled property that is also adjacent to the Los Angeles Country Club. The estate was built in 1929 and has expansive lawns and a pool. The listing doesn't offer a single interior picture (it's rather a stalker's view of the home) but the listing says there is a two-story entry, paneled study, family room and a master bedroom suite with a marble bath and a separate dressing room.

The Real Estalker reports that the Hefners bought the home in 1996 for around $6.7 million from the estate of TV Guide heiress turned philanthropist Lita Annenberg. The question of why the Hefners are selling is up for debate. The party line per the LA Times Hot Property column is that the young Hefner boys are going off to college and the house is too big. But with all the stories of trouble in the Playboy empire and rumors of a potential sale it's likely Hefner has been told to lighten his financial load. The question is whether or not at $27.995 million there is anyone willing to snap up the ivy-covered mansion.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Hugh Hefner in Holmby Hills

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Tags: celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, holmby hills, HolmbyHills, hugh hefner, HughHefner, playboy

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The Classicist: Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Books, The Classicist, Wealth

Times being a trifle tough these days, that $100 million mansion in Beverly Hills may be a bit beyond your reach. The next best thing has got to be Jeffrey Hyland's new 400-page volume The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills, a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated history of 50 magnificent estates in three world-famous enclaves of the ultra-wealthy - Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. The $250 tome is a definitive history of the area's most famous estates - "the architecturally spectacular homes and lavish grounds that have been home to countless celebrities and the world's richest families for almost a century."

Aside from the purely visual pleasure of the photographs both old and new, Hyland explains the history and architectural importance of each estate, and tells the fascinating stories of the many famed owners, from their "passionate involvement in the design of these costly properties, to their intrigues, triumphs, calamities, and romances." The estates run the gamut from historic Beverly House, the sprawling 1920s Mediterranean estate inhabited by William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies and briefly listed a while back at $165 million, to modern classics like the notorious Fleur de Lys in Holmby Hills (above).

The 15-bedroom Fleur de Lys, which is currently on the market for $125 million, was built by Texan billionaire David Saperstein and is now owned by his ex-wife Suzanne - whom he ditched for the childrens' hot Swedish nanny. The five-acre estate is home to a 41,000-square foot French limestone mansion inspired by France's magnificent Vaux le Vicomte palace outside Paris. Surrounding the mansion are rolling lawns, ornamental gardens and mature trees, a 3,000-square-foot manager's house, staff quarters for ten people, a spa and pool with a pavilion and its own kitchen, a championship tennis court, and a lavish garden folly.

Gallery: Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills

Also featured in the book: Bellagio Road in Bel-Air, built for studio mogul Sol Wurtzel in the 1930s along the lines of the villas found on the hillsides near Florence, Italy; Casa Encantada in Bel-Air, a "modern Georgian with Grecian influences" built in the 1930s by a former nurse from New York who married a much-older multimillionaire glass manufacturer, then took up with her chauffeur after he died; and the storied St. Cloud Road estate which was owned by a string of luminaries including It Happened One Night director Frank Capra, Warner Bros. stars Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, director / producer Mervyn LeRoy, and MGM founder Louis B. Mayer. See the gallery for pix.

Tags: Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, Fleur de Lys, FleurDeLys, Frank Capra, FrankCapra, Holmby Hills, HolmbyHills, Suzanne Saperstein, SuzanneSaperstein, William Randolph Hearst, WilliamRandolphHearst

Michael Jackson's $100,000 A Month Rental

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Michael Jackson's been laying low in recent years but that may be about to change. TMZ reports that Jackson has leased himself a huge spectacle of a house in one of the most exclusive areas of Los Angeles, Holmby Hills. It is said that Jackson is paying an astounding $100,000 a month for the chateau style seven-bedroom home which was recently on the market for $38 million. It is owned by Roxanne Guez and was bought in 2004 for $18.5 million by her husband Herbert Guez. The three-story Richard Landry designed home was built in 2002 and includes a library, theater room and wine cellar. There is also a pool and a guest house on the property. The big mystery here is how Jackson is able to afford such an expensive rental since he's been in financial trouble for years.

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Tags: celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, holmby hills, HolmbyHills, michael jackson, MichaelJackson

Kelsey Grammer's Fantastic Flip, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

We've written about Kelsey Grammer's real estate doings before (he's nearly as ambitious a real estate tycoon as Ellen DeGeneres and now the Real Estalker reveals the latest listing from Kelsey and Camille Grammer. This home in the prestigious Holmby Hills are of Los Angeles is one of his best yet. The seven-bedroom home is over 10,000 square feet is on almost an acre of desirable land. The Grammers bought the home less than a year ago for $13.7 million. They have done up the home in their mix of beige and whimsy, sticking to relatively neutral tones throughout the house but making some vibrantly colorful choices in bathroom tiles. The grounds include an expansive pool area and a large lawn.

The home's other features include a gym (with a fireplace), large bathrooms, a media room with a built-in bar and a cozy but luxe style that gets much of its charm from the heavy dark beams and plethora of French doors. I'm not much of a fan of the "English Country" style but as wacky as they are, I'm loving the bathroom remodels (although I never understand the wisdom of having anything upholstered next to the tub. The Grammers have listed this home for $19.9 million.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

Gallery: Kelsey Grammer's Fantastic Flip

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Most Expensive Zip Codes: 90077, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up today, 90077 . This zip code encompasses the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, CA, some of the most rarified real estate around. This area is home to a wide variety of celebrities and wealthy movers and shakers who enjoy the neighborhood's security and privacy. This zip code has a median price of $3,119,000 with a ridiculously high appreciation rate of 442% since 1990.

The real estate here is truly astronomical. The top house in the MLS is listed at $85 million. Also in this zip code is the Richard Neutra-designed home that Vidal Sassoon has on the market for $19 million. Today's estate sits smack in the middle at $40 million. You only get 3.2 acres here but the home is huge,36 bedrooms in all. Very high ceilings, elaborate moldings, marble everywhere and an overall sense of formal grandness prevails. The land includes terraces with city views, sunken tennis court and a sybaritic pool area. The home has four different master suites and two kitchens.

Gallery: Most Expensive Zip Codes, 90077, Los Angeles, CA