Raphael Stevens

More stories

  • 150 Shares129 Views

    in Luxury

    Powerhouse Lobbyist Tony Podesta Just Sold His D.C. Home for $8.2 Million

    Known for his brash attitude and flashy designer suits, super-lobbyist Tony Podesta’s Washington, D.C., mansion, which just sold for $8.2 million, exhibits the same sort of eye-catching brio. While the sale price is considerably below the not quite $10 million originally asked for, it’s still more than twice the $3.9 million the former super-lobbyist paid for the property just over 16 years ago.

    The 9,200-square-foot mansion was built in 1929 and was re-designed for Podesta by architect Olvia Demetriou of HapstakDemetriou+, who was tapped to inject the stately house with a contemporary flamboyance that could serve as a worthy container to entertain some of the world’s most powerful political figures—Nancy Pelosi, Henry Reid, and Queen Rania of Jorden have all been entertained here—and to showcase an extensive collection of contemporary artwork that includes pieces by Olafour Eliasson, Louise Bourgeois, and Petrina Hicks.

    The four-story home has a steel and glass helix staircase as well as a commercial-grade elevator.

    HD Bros

    Enveloped in greenery, the dour Georgian stone exterior hides committed, if unexpectedly minimalistic spaces that incorporate a steel helix staircase in the foyer, a commercial-grade elevator that services all floors (perfect for moving heavy sculpture), museum-quality lighting throughout, and a geothermal heating and cooling system. Given the dazzling value of the artwork that was showcased here, not to mention that the property is two doors down from Barak and Michelle Obama’s D.C. digs, the security system is unsurprisingly comprehensive.

    A vast reception room adorned with an elaborately carved 15th-century marble fireplace and a Palladian window is large enough to be converted to a dining room that will comfortably seat sixty. In the less formal, open-plan great room, the kitchen is clean-lined with sleek white lacquer cabinets. Gone, however, is the sinuous, 16-foot-long Ingo Maurer red ribbon chandelier that once hung over the island. A 20-foot-wide expanse of glass slides open to the limestone terraced backyard, where there’s a mysterious, black-shard water feature. The yard, conceived as a sculpture garden by landscape architect Richard Arentz, also includes a wood-fired pizza oven and a built-in gas grill.

    The great room has a 20-foot wall of glass that slides open to the terraced backyard.

    HD Bros

    The main bedroom is a suite of rooms with a wall of floor-to-ceiling glass that artfully frames a dense wall of trees and greenery. There’s also an open marble bathroom, a hidden morning/midnight bar, and a huge dressing room large enough to park a car or two in. French doors open the dressing room to a private deck set in the treetops overlooking the backyard.

    There are two more bedrooms, an exercise room, and a spacious TV lounge, along with ample storage on the third floor, while the basement level includes an in-law or staff suite, a fully equipped catering kitchen, and a humidity-controlled wine cellar. There’s also a two-car garage behind an electric driveway gate.

    The terraced backyard was designed by Richard Arentz as a sculpture garden.

    HD Bros

    Podesta has long been one of Washington’s most insidery insiders, with the ear of presidents and important members of Congress. Starting in 2012, he and the Podesta Group, which he founded with his brother John Podesta, came under federal investigation for compliance with the Foreign Agent Registration Act. The investigation was closed in 2019 without any charges being brought.

    Tax records indicate Podesta and his partner Trisja Malisoff aren’t leaving D.C., at least not entirely; last year they shelled out a total of about $3.1 million for a pair of loft-style condos (and several parking spots) in the bustling Logan Square neighborhood.

    Click here for more photos of Tony Podesta’s former home in D.C.

    HD Bros More

  • 188 Shares199 Views

    in Luxury

    One of the Country’s Top Trial Attorneys Paid $27 Million for Judd Apatow’s L.A. Estate

    Ever since prolific director/producer Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann sold their Los Angeles estate for a whopping $27 million last fall, curious minds have wondered who bought the powerhouse Hollywood couple’s longtime home. Shrouded in secrecy, the blockbuster sale was the second-biggest deal recorded in L.A.’s ultra-posh Brentwood neighborhood in 2023, though the house was never officially listed on the market.

    As it turns out, the buyers are longtime Brentwood Park residents Brian and Rosie Panish, married attorneys and he the L.A. native who co-founded Panish Shea Boyle & Ravipudi LLP, one of California’s most successful personal injury firms.

    While it may seem odd that a lawyer can afford to pay $27 million—in cash, no less—for a house, Panish isn’t exactly your everyday lawyer. Long considered one of the U.S.’s top trial attorneys, the 66-year-old has obtained more than 30 eight-figure jury verdicts for his clients, more than any other attorney in California. In the 1990s, he represented the plaintiffs in the landmark case of Anderson v. General Motors, which resulted in a record-setting $4.9 billion jury verdict.

    Over the years, Panish has also represented clients in high-profile Hollywood cases, including cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ family in the legal fallout surrounding her accidental shooting death by actor Alec Baldwin. He’s perhaps best known to the general public, however, for having represented the family of Michael Jackson in their $1.5 billion wrongful-death lawsuit against AEG.

    Because the Apatow-to-Panish deal was inked off-market, photos and details of the property are mostly nonexistent. Built by Prison Break producer Marty Adelstein in the mid-2000s, the casually luxe estate was home to Apatow and Mann for more than a decade—since 2009, when they paid Adelstein $18 million for the place.

    Long and rambling, the East Coast traditional-style main house sits behind tall hedges and magnolia trees. There are five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in just over 10,000 square feet of living space, per tax records. Also on tap are an in-ground trampoline in the grassy backyard, plus mature sycamore trees, a dark-bottom swimming pool, a detached pool house and a three-car garage that’s linked to the main house by a covered and enclosed walkway.

    For the last 20 years, the Panishes have owned a smaller but no less lavish home elsewhere in the Brentwood Park neighborhood, this one featuring an East Coast traditional-style house with about 9,000 square feet of living space. In 2022, the couple paid $6 million for a mansion with an infinity-edge pool just outside Las Vegas, in the Nevada community of Henderson.

    As for Apatow and Mann, they still maintain a $9 million condo in New York City’s desirable West Village neighborhood. More

  • 125 Shares199 Views

    in Luxury

    Rufus Wainwright’s L.A. Home Hits the Market for $2.2 Million

    Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has put his Los Angeles home of almost a decade on the market, and yes, there are yellow walls, and they are in fact lined with portraits.

    The Grammy-nominated musician is officially parting ways with his Laurel Canyon abode that he bought together with his husband, Jörn Weisbrodt, back in 2016. At the time, the couple paid $1.45 million for the for the storybook-style cottage and are now asking for a cool $2.2 million. Wainwright, who released his newest album, Folkocracy, in June 2023, announced the news in a post on his Instagram page.

    “The time has come…Jörn and I are listing our gorgeous Laurel Canyon home,” the crooner wrote in the caption. “We have lived in this house since 2016. I wrote ‘Unfollow The Rules’ here, including one of my favorite pieces ‘Peaceful Afternoon.’ We have had many of those here and I hope that the next tenants enjoy it as much as we did.”

    In the living room, dark wood beams are in contrast to the fire engine-red cathedral ceiling.

    Dag Eliason and Alexandre Anu of The Agency Beverly Hills

    Originally built in 1926, the whimsical spread contains three bedrooms and four bathrooms. The quirky residence is decked out with tons of enchanting original elements, including dramatic wood-beamed cathedral ceilings, charming stained-glass windows, and a cozy fireplace clad in vintage tiles. One of the standout spaces is the super cool octagon-shaped library, which is complete with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Elsewhere, you’ll find a bright yellow formal dining room with diamond-paned picture windows, several balconies, and a sky-blue family kitchen with a built-in breakfast nook. The outdoor spaces feel even more fairytale-like. The grounds are dotted with trees and include an alfresco dining area, a patio, a pond, and what the listing refers to as a “lovers bridge.”

    The walls of the formal dining room are painted canary yellow.

    Dag Eliason and Alexandre Anu of The Agency Beverly Hills

    According to Dag Eliason of the Agency, who’s representing the property with colleague Alexandre Anu, Wainwright’s absence in the local community will not go unnoticed. The broker told Mansion Global that on warm summer nights, his neighbors could recall hearing piano playing coming from the terrace. “It’s a very inspirational house,” Anu said. “For Rufus, as a songwriter, he wanted a place he could pull inspiration from.”

    However, the “Poses” singer reassured his followers that he wouldn’t be going far. “Of course, Viva, Siegfried, Jörn, and I will stay in LA,” Wainwright explained on social media, noting that his 12-year-old daughter and his dog would be coming with him. “We love living in this city and exploring a new area.”

    Click here to see all the photos of Rufus Wainwright’s L.A. home. 

    Dag Eliason and Alexandre Anu of The Agency Beverly Hills

    Authors

    Abby Montanez

    Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, dining, travel and topics…

    Read More More

  • 138 Shares189 Views

    in Luxury

    A Late Golf Titan’s Hallowed Los Angeles Estate Seeks $38.5 Million

    Always wanted a sacred space to indulge your faith without ever having to leave the sanctity of your own property? Look no further! Your proverbial prayers have finally been answered.

    Almost three months after he passed away at age 91, the Los Angeles residence of golf resort and airport entrepreneur David G. Price has popped up for sale, asking $38.5 million. Consisting of three contiguous parcels spanning 1.4 acres—and nestled on the same street as an equally pricey mansion owned by Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone and her husband, real estate agent Sam Palmer—the multi-building compound sits in the exclusive Brentwood Park neighborhood and comes complete with its very own private chapel.

    The Prices built their chapel after finding faith as older adults, and used it as a space “to go and have time and quiet and to study,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

    Christopher Amitrano

    Records show Price—best known for his stewardship of the American Golf and American Airport corporations for more than 40 years—and his longtime wife Helen paid around $5.5 million in 1999 for a Spanish Colonial Revival-style house built in the late 1920s. They subsequently doled out roughly $5 million for two additional lots, then razed some existing structures and added a Mission Revival-style chapel with an attached potting shed and two-car garage, plus a two-bedroom guesthouse that connects via a covered breezeway to a pool house with a living room and kitchen—for a total of six bedrooms and seven baths in almost 8,200 square feet of living space.

    Fully walled and gated, and known as “Camino con Cristo,” the main residence is believed to have been originally designed by famed California architect John Byers. Later expanded and upgraded by Thomas Callaway, the interiors are rife with vaulted ceilings, wrought-iron details and numerous French doors providing seamless indoor-outdoor environs. There’s also an attached three-car garage.

    A country-style kitchen features an adjacent breakfast room boasting a fireplace and French doors spilling outside.

    Christopher Amitrano

    Other highlights include a living room warmed by a fireplace, formal dining room, and country-style kitchen outfitted with wood beams, hand-painted and stenciled details, and a fireside breakfast room. There’s also a formal dining room, as well as a library lined with built-in bookshelves, family rooms and an office.

    Upstairs, the primary bedroom hosts a fireplace, private balcony, walk-in closet and dual baths; and outdoors, the park-like grounds are showcased by multiple fountains, courtyards, gardens and meandering pathways, along with a swimming pool, and an eye-catching timber and masonry loggia sporting a stone-clad fireplace.

    Avid gardeners will especially love the potting shed found on the premises.

    Christopher Amitrano

    Per The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that the residence was hitting the market, Price’s 78-year-old widow has decided to sell because she wants to move to the Dallas area to be closer to her son and daughter…and “it is a lot of property for one person.”

    The listing is shared by mother-son team David Solomon and Anna Solomon of Douglas Elliman, and Evan Pozarny and Laura Pozarny of Muselli Commercial Realtors.

    Click here for more photos of David Price’s Brentwood Park house.

    Christopher Amitrano More

  • 225 Shares129 Views

    in Luxury

    Home of the Week: This $39 Million Hawaiian Compound Has 4 Homes and 150 Feet of Pristine Coastline

    This grand Hawaiian estate on Maui was certainly designed for entertaining.

    The sprawling property, located along a spectacular stretch of coastline, had long been owned by Jerry Moss, the late record producer and co-founder of A&M Records. Moss, who passed away in August 2023 at the age of 88, acquired the first part of the compound in 1995 for $2.5 million, according to the WSJ. In 2000, he purchased an adjoining parcel and later acquired another. Together, he amassed 1.4 acres. During this time, Old Makena Road was known for its rustic dirt lanes and secluded beaches. Today, the area has several mansions and beachfront properties.

    The open-plan living areas spread out over multiple levels.

    Travis Rowan

    On the market for $39 million, it’s currently the most expensive active listing in the state of Hawaii. The gated property has 148 feet of beach frontage along Po’olenalena Beach and comprises four houses, which Moss and his family built over the years. Together, there are a collective seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 6,352 square feet of living space. Unlike many modern-day multi-million-dollar Hawaiian compounds, the four residences are all modest in size, and each bungalow boasts an intimate vibe and indoor-outdoor living.

    Moss and his wife, Tina, whom he married in 2019, replaced the wood siding of the four homes with smooth stucco and weather-resistant ipe wood. Inside, the homes feature teak detailing and local materials, such as the stone fireplace in the main residence. Throughout the homes, there is quintessential island-style decor, like wooden paddles, tiki heads, surfboards, and ukuleles hanging along the walls.

    The covered lanai of the main residence has a particularly appealing view.

    Travis Rowan

    The main residence features an open, airy layout with vaulted, wood-beamed ceilings. There is a chef’s kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances and a nearby large dining area. Down a few steps is the cozy living room with panoramic windows and perfectly framed views of the beach and Pacific Ocean. Sliding glass pocket doors open to the covered lanai with a fire pit. Upstairs is the home’s primary bedroom, which connects to a covered terrace.

    There’s also an outdoor kitchen with a barbecue off to the side of the home and a nearby outdoor dining table. A manicured lawn, sprinkled with tropical foliage and swaying palm trees, is the only thing that separates the house from a pristine stretch of beach. The lawn features sun loungers and a hammock to enjoy the postcard views on breezy Hawaiian afternoons.

    The homes are clustered together. However, each is surrounded by lush landscaping that gives it a sense of privacy. Bright flowers and native plants line the walkway between the homes. The property also features a large swimming pool with stunning ocean views, as well as an outdoor lava rock shower with a bright mosaic wall. Tiki torches illuminate the grounds at night.

    The pool overlooking the ocean.

    Travis Rowan

    According to the WSJ, Moss and his family moved to Hawaii full-time during the COVID pandemic; the family has decided to sell and create new memories elsewhere. The property is co-listed by Nancy Callahan of Coldwell Banker Island Properties and Paul Stukin of Deep Blue HI. 

    Moss, who founded A&M Records alongside Herb Alpert, oversaw an impressive roster of musicians, including Liza Minelli, Sting, Janet Jackson, Carole King, and many others. Shortly after the music industry mandarin died last year, the family also listed a Bel-Air mansion for $53 million. The home was built in 1937 and has five bedrooms and 13 bathrooms.

    Click here for more photos of 4610 Makena Road. More

  • 188 Shares139 Views

    in Luxury

    A Wealthy British Entrepreneur Flips Steve Wynn’s Former Las Vegas Mansion Back Up for Sale

    Less than two years after he paid Steve Wynn $17.5 million for his palatial Las Vegas residence, British businessman and investor Simon Dolan is ready to let it go, this time with a hefty $24.5 million ask. And though there probably aren’t any priceless Matisse and Picasso paintings remaining from the avid art collector’s nearly four-year stay in the luxe European-style digs, there definitely are plenty of casino tycoon-worthy amenities—a crystal-accented staircase, plush movie theater and lift-equipped garage that can accommodate up to six vehicles, just to name a few.

    Custom-built in 2001—and sited in the exclusive guard-gated Country Club Hills development within the Summerlin planned community, about 12 miles west of the Strip—the golden-hued stucco and terracotta roof structure is nestled on almost 1.5 acres overlooking the TPC Summerlin golf course, and tucked away behind walls and its own set of gates.

    The golden-hued home is fronted by a spacious motorcourt.

    Courtesy Elizabeth Schwartz Fray/Urban Nest Realty

    Inside, six en-suite bedrooms and 11 baths are sprawled across 15,000 square feet of two-level living space that reportedly underwent a $16 million remodel during Wynn’s tenure in collaboration with noted designer Todd-Avery Lenahan. Think marble floors and pillars, walls sheathed in mohair and silk, bespoke carpets, automated draperies and designer light fixtures, plus high-tech security, fire-suppression and smart-home systems.

    Other highlights include a double-height entry foyer displaying the aforementioned crystal staircase, along with a formal living room, two offices topped by custom backlit ceilings and a fireside family room sporting a climate-controlled wine cellar. A formal dining area leads to the gourmet kitchen, which comes complete with walnut cabinetry, an eat-in island, top-tier stainless appliances and an accompanying breakfast room.

    The family room has a decorative fireplace and access to a climate-controlled wine cellar.

    Courtesy Elizabeth Schwartz Fray/Urban Nest Realty

    Elsewhere is the movie theater, a library and duo of fully equipped gyms, as well as a posh master retreat boasting dual showroom-style closets and luxe baths; and outdoors, the manicured grounds host a garden bolstered by a tiered fountain and nearby gazebo, sundeck-encased pool and spa, and sport court, plus ample spots for al fresco lounging and entertaining amid the picturesque golf course and mountain vistas.

    A self-made millionaire who amassed his fortune through accountancy services, Dolan also has dabbled in the motor racing and aviation industries, and made headlines back in 2020 when he challenged the U.K. government in court over the country’s pandemic lockdowns. Wynn, meanwhile, resigned as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct. Between them, they lay claim to several multimillion-dollar homes, with Dolan owning an estate on the Caribbean island of Mustique that once belonged to David Bowie, and Wynn maintaining several residences spanning from New York City to Beverly Hills, the latter of which is currently on the market for a whopping $75 million.

    The listing is held by Elizabeth Schwartz Fray of Urban Nest Realty.

    Click here for more photos of Simon Dolan’s Las Vegas house.

    Courtesy Elizabeth Schwartz Fray/Urban Nest Realty More