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      Rick and Kathy Hilton’s $25 Million Bel Air Mansion Sells to a Chinese Billionaire

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      Way back in 2015, Rick and Kathy Hilton spent $9.3 million to buy a heavily modified 1930s house in L.A.’s prime lower Bel Air neighborhood, one located just a quick jog away from their own main residence. The long-married socialites—he a grandson of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and the co-founder of the Hilton & Hyland real estate brokerage, she the quirky mother of Paris Hilton and former star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”—subsequently tore down the existing structure and spent years building an all-new trophy mansion to be sold on speculation.

      That new mansion, a gleaming and all-white affair, merges Old World architecture with modern-day style and state-of-the-art technology. Completed circa 2021 and prominently showcased on “RHOBH,” the house sports glamorous architecture by Hollywood-based firm Harrison Design and sophisticated interior design courtesy of a collaboration between Nicole Gordon Studio and Kathy Hilton herself.

      The former Hilton spec-manor in early 2021, while it was still in the final stages of construction. The exteriors are a white-brick traditional throwback, but the interiors are far more contemporary.

      Google Earth

      The newly-complete estate first hit the market in September 2021, asking a whopping $55 million. Unfortunately, however, things didn’t quite go as planned. The house ended up languishing on the market for more than two years, suffering several big price chops during that time. By early 2023, the asking price had been slashed all the way down to $39.5 million. But by then, L.A.’s controversial new mansion tax and high interest rates had already put a big damper on the market.

      Though it was removed from the market last fall, records now reveal the house quietly sold this week—for just $25 million, a staggering 55% discount off the original list price. The all-cash, bargain-shopping buyer is an entity tied to the family of Song Qinghou, a billionaire Mainland Chinese tycoon who made his $6.1 billion fortune in the beverage industry; in 2012, he was ranked by Forbes as China’s richest man.

      Zong and his family will enjoy bespoke craftsmanship and premium finishes throughout the stately three-story home, which features a white-brick Georgian look outside, plus a total of eight bedrooms and no fewer than 16 bathrooms inside, including 12 full baths and four powder rooms.

      Though it sits quite close to the public street, the house is privately sequestered behind driveway gates and extraordinarily tall hedges.

      Google Earth

      Highlights include an extraordinarily long foyer with grey-and-white checkerboard stone floors, formal living and dining rooms with chevron-pattern hardwood floors, a walnut-paneled library with a black marble fireplace, and a huge kitchen dressed monochromatically in denim blue paint. Upstairs, the primary bedroom is ensconced in its own private wing, complete with dual showroom closets and dual marble-sheathed bathrooms. There’s also a basement-level entertainment space with a wet bar, a wine room and a full catering kitchen.

      While the home’s grounds are actually somewhat compact compared to those of many neighboring estates, they do include grassy lawns, a motorcourt with ample space for 10+ cars, and tall hedges for privacy. Out back, the simple rectangular swimming pool and spa are flanked by a rectangular poolside pavilion generously equipped with a lounge, a guest bedroom suite, and yet another full kitchen.

      While Zong, his wife, and the couple’s adult daughter Kelly appear to be new to Bel Air, they are very familiar with California. From 1997 until 2008, records show the family owned a spacious but relatively modest hacienda-style residence in the wealthy L.A. suburb of San Marino. As for the Hiltons, they continue to own and reside in a 1920s stone manor house elsewhere in Bel Air, complete with approximately 15,000 square feet of luxurious interior space. More

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      A Late Billionaire’s Historic Mansion Gets Drastic $55 Million Price Cut

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      Almost five months after it officially hit the market with an eye-popping $250 million price tag—and just a few short weeks after its longtime owner, billionaire telecom pioneer Gary Winnick, passed away at age 76—the Bel Air trophy estate widely known as “Casa Encantada” (loosely translated to “Enchanted House”) has popped up for sale again, this time with a substantially reduced $195 million ask. Back in 2019, it also was quietly floated as an off-market pocket listing, asking $225 million.

      Originally designed and built way back in the 1930s by architect James Dolena, to the reported tune of around $2 million, for Hilda Boldt Weber—a former New York City hospital nurse who married multimillionaire Cincinnati glass manufacturer Charles Boldt, and then inherited a considerable fortune upon his death in the late 1920s—the dwelling was later sold to hotel magnate Conrad Hilton for a mere $225,000 in 1950.

      The home is fronted by a fountain and neoclassical portico entrance.

      Simon Berlyn

      After Hilton passed away in 1979, retired Dole Food Products chairman David Murdock bought the place for $12.4 million in 1980. He subsequently transferred the estate for $94 million in 2000 to Winnick and his wife, artist and author Karen Winnick, who spent more than two years and tens of millions of dollars extensively restoring the premises in collaboration with noted architect Peter Marino. The $94 million deal, it should be noted, was long a residential record for California but also was a non-standard sale, involving both cash and two large pieces of land.

      Tucked away behind walls and gates, amid an 8.4-acre hilltop parcel that juts out over the Bel Air Country Club golf course, the H-shaped mansion is fronted by a motorcourt bolstered by a bubbling fountain and an opulent neoclassical portico entrance, and features seven bedrooms and 20 baths filtered across 40,000 square feet. There also are plenty of glitzy amenities, including a pool pavilion with a bar and movie theater.

      A wood-clad lounge area is warmed by a fireplace.

      Simon Berlyn

      Inside the primary 60-room residence, a grand double-height entry foyer displaying a sweeping staircase greets and flows to a reception hall resting beneath an 18-foot ceiling. From there, the living space is highlighted by dual living and dining rooms, along with a wet bar-equipped den/card room and handsome walnut-paneled study/office lined with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. There’s also a 3,500-square-foot master retreat boasting double sitting rooms and baths.

      The property, which has no neighbors on either side, sits atop a subterranean tunnel that connects two holes of the exclusive golf course, and overlooks picturesque city, mountain and ocean views; and the resort-like grounds also host rose, herb and tropical gardens, as well as an 80-foot pool, a desirable north/south tennis court with a viewing pavilion, an additional sport court, and numerous spots ideal for al fresco lounging and entertaining.

      A poolside pavilion comes complete with a movie theater.

      Simon Berlyn

      In addition to the Bel Air estate, which is co-listed by Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency and Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates, Winnick’s widow still maintains a Charles Gwathmey-designed apartment on the 20th floor of New York City’s iconic Sherry Netherland Hotel that’s currently on the market for just under $4.5 million.

      Click here for more photos of Casa Encantada.

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      Jennifer Lopez’s Lavish Bel Air Retreat Sells to the Neighbors for $34 Million

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      A little more than eight months after it first popped up for sale with an impressive $42.5 million ask, a sprawling Bel Air estate owned by multi-hyphenate entertainer Jennifer Lopez has officially traded hands for the heavily slashed yet still pricey sum of $34 million. But that’s still $6 million more than she paid actress Sela Ward for the place back in spring 2016.

      Property records reveal the buyers are Taiwanese businessman Walter Wang, president and CEO of JM Eagle, the world’s largest manufacturer of plastic and PVC pipe, and his wife Shirley, founder and CEO of Plastpro, a top fiberglass door manufacturer. The couple, who regularly fund various philanthropic projects through their family foundation and Los Angeles-based companies, happen to have long owned two Bel Air homes just a few doors away from their big new spread.

      When combined with their additional $2.1 million and $3.9 million estates on the same street, this purchase gives the Wangs over 9 acres of land just minutes from the Bel Air Hotel, plus three homes—for a total of 18 bedrooms, 23 baths and more than 23,000 square feet of living space between them.

      Originally designed by architect Samuel Marx, and built in 1940, the Wang’s recently acquired residence was transformed during Lopez’s tenure into what the listing describes as a “one-of-a-kind multi-structure French Country refuge.”

      A double-height living room is decked out with a fireplace and curving wrought-iron staircase.

      Jeremy Spann

      Tucked away behind a gated driveway, on a nearly 8-acre parcel, the creamy stucco and wood-accented dwelling features nine bedrooms and 13 baths in a little more than 12,800 square feet of living space that opens throughout to expansive terraces. There also are plenty of snazzy amenities—a guest cottage, gym, 100-seat amphitheater, pagoda with fire-pit, putting green, an infinity-edge pool and spa, and a private lake with its own sandy beach, just for starters.

      Other standout features include a soaring wet bar-equipped living room boasting a fireplace and curving wrought-iron staircase, along with a formal dining room, wood-paneled library, and gourmet kitchen outfitted with a stone fireplace and cozy breakfast nook. A spacious family/game room has yet another wet bar, while the lower-level holds a plush movie theater, and an upstairs master bedroom wing comes complete with a fireplace, library/sitting room, and dual dressing rooms and baths.

      The amenity-packed grounds are spotlighted by a striking infinity-edge pool and spa.

      Jeremy Spann

      Lopez and her actor husband Ben Affleck—who sold his Palisades bachelor pad in October 2022 for $28.5 million—had planned to renovate and live in her Bel Air mansion after they were married a little over a year ago, per TMZ. But they went on to reside in a rental, before ultimately doling out $61 million in cash this past May for a massive compound in the Benedict Canyon neighborhood of Beverly Hills.

      Between them, the pair also owns an 87-acre Georgia estate that’s currently on the market for $8.9 million, as well as a New York City penthouse, mansion in the Hamptons and petite cottage in L.A.’s Encino neighborhood.

      The listing was held by Brett Lawyer of Carolwood Estates; Lea Porter of The Beverly Hills Estates repped the buyers.

      Click here for more photos of Jennifer Lopez’s Bel Air house.

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      Alfred Hitchcock’s Former L.A. Home Has Been Sold for $8.8 Million to a Dutch Media Mogul

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      When English filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock moved to Los Angeles to conquer Hollywood in 1939—he made “Rebecca” the following year, which earned him the first of his five Oscar nominations—he and his wife, Alma, and daughter, Pat, initially made their home in a spacious rented apartment on Wilshire Boulevard. 

      Several years later, after acquiring a 200-acre getaway near Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the family set down permanent roots in Los Angeles with the purchase of an English-Country-inspired home just up from the West Gate entrance to the tony Bel Air neighborhood.

      The Bel Air home, where the “Psycho” filmmaker lived until his death at age 80 in 1980, came up for sale earlier this year for $8.25 million, and though out of step with current decorative trends, the immaculately maintained home drew multiple offers that drove the recorded sale price up to just over $8.8 million.

      Tax records show the home had long been owned by a local businessman who made his fortune in the lumber and building supply industries and list the buyer as a foreign corporate entity linked to Dutch media mogul Reinout Oerlemans, founder of the TV production company Eyeworks.

      The loggia overlooks the swimming pool and lushly planted grounds.

      Mary E. Nichols

      Originally created by Carlton Burgess, who also designed and built Jack Benny’s Beverly Hills home, Hitchcock’s former sanctuary was extensively renovated and expanded in 1983. Concealed behind a dense wall of trees and vegetation and situated on almost two-thirds of an acre, the primarily single-story home measures somewhat more than 7,500 square feet and has two (and potentially four) bedrooms and five bathrooms.

      Beyond the fountained front entry, the living room features an oversized fireplace and vaulted wood-beamed ceilings; the dining room overlooks flowering gardens; and the eat-in kitchen showcases hand-painted tiles and blue Brazilian granite counters. There are two substantial bedroom suites, one for guests with a white marble bath and the other for the homeowner with dual dressing areas and baths.

      There are two more rooms that can be converted to additional bedrooms, according to marketing material, as well as a “hidden upstairs office/guest room with plumbing in place” to add another bathroom.

      The grounds offer a gated entry, mature trees and flowering gardens, a spacious courtyard, and a huge loggia with an outdoor fireplace alongside a turquoise swimming pool. There’s also garaging for three cars and parking for many more, as well as a couple of storage buildings.

      Snapdragons add color to the edge of the swimming pool.

      Mary E. Nichols

      Steeped in Hollywood lore and ready for its next close-up, the property was listed with Ginger Glass at Compass, while Oerlemans was represented in the transaction by Rayni Williams and Branden Williams at The Beverly Hills Estates.

      If their former homes in Los Angeles are any indication, Oerlemans and his wife Danielle will likely embark on an extensive re-make of the property. The couple previously owned a spectacular, 33,000-square-foot Bel Air mansion—perhaps not coincidentally, it’s directly across the 15th fairway from their new property—that they sold in 2021 for $70 million to The Weeknd, who used the home as the set for his HBO series “The Idol.”

      Click here for all the photos of Alfred Hitchcock’s former home at 10957 Bellagio Road.

      Mary E. Nichols More

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      This $11 Million Vintage Bel Air Home Comes With an Impressive Hollywood Pedigree

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      Mia Farrow, 78, is best known for her role in the 1968 horror film “Rosemary’s Baby” and as Woody Allen’s former paramour. She did not, however, spring from nowhere to inhabit such rarefied showbiz circles. She was, in fact, born into it, her parents being showbiz legends in their own time. Her father, John Farrow, was an Oscar-winning film director from Australia, and her mother, Irish-born actress Maureen O’Sullivan, is most often remembered as Jane Parker in six “Tarzan” films between 1932 and 1942.

      In the mid-1930s, nearly a decade before Mia was born, Farrow and O’Sullivan hired architect Arlos R. Sedgley to design them a Monterey Colonial-style home along Chalon Road, one of the best streets in Bel Air. Called Greystoke Cottage, a designation signified on a plaque over the front door, the house sits on more than half an acre of naturalistic grounds.

      The dining room is enlivened with yellow floral curtains and an antique chandelier.

      Anthony Barcelo

      Tax records show the house was later owned by film and television composer Bruce Broughton, who sold it to the current owner in 2018 for almost $5.7 million. Now, after being renovated and worked over with interiors by designer John Cottrell, the historic home is back on the market for $10.9 million.

      In addition to a 29-foot-long living room and a separate dining room, highlights of the home’s main floor include a wood-paneled office/library, a spacious eat-in kitchen with a fireside lounge, and a media room that showcases a chevron-patterned vaulted wood ceiling and a trio of floor-to-ceiling French doors that open to a wrought-iron railed Juliet balcony.

      The gardens of Greystoke Cottage offer a private idyll in the heart of Bel Air.

      Anthony Barcelo

      Floor plans for the two-story home indicate there are four bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus a couple of powder rooms. The main-floor primary suite offers a fireplace, a roomy bath, a couple of walk-in closets, and a wraparound veranda. Another covered veranda outside the kitchen, dining room, and office/library has steps that lead down to a lower terrace for alfresco dining and lounging.

      Flagstone paths and stairways wind through the estate’s densely planted gardens below the back of the house. They lead to the swimming pool, along with several secluded patios hidden among the dense foliage and mature trees in a landscape by Tichenor & Thorpe Architects.

      The Tinseltown-pedigreed property is available via Jeffrey Hobgood and Allen Roth, both with Sotheby’s International Realty.

      Click here to see all the photos of 10770 Chalon Road. More

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      A Former Warner Bros. Exec Just Listed His Sprawling Calabasas Ranch for $25 Million

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      Okay, so it’s not Montana. However, a majestic ranch 10 miles from Malibu just popped onto the market.

      Former Warner Bros. CEO Bob Daly and his wife, Carole Bayer Sager, have listed their sprawling, 19-acre estate in Calabasas for a cool $24.9 million, The Wall Street Journal first reported. Known as Oaktree Ranch, the property comprises two houses: a 7,500-square-foot main residence, plus a caretaker’s cottage. The couple bought the spread back in 1999 following Daly’s departure from the movie studio. After tearing down the primary dwelling, they tapped architect Mark Rios to redesign the abode, which was completed in 2003.

      Former chairman and co-CEO of Warner Bros. Bob Daly is selling his California ranch for $24.9 million

      Anthony Barcelo

      Internally, the palatial pad has a rustic yet modern feel with three bedrooms spread across two levels. An expansive primary suite takes up the entire upstairs, decked out with its own office, a spa-like bathroom, and a massive walk-in closet. Down below on the main floor are two additional sleeping quarters, a gym, and a secondary workspace. The common spaces are laid out in an open concept. Think a central sitting area that’s anchored by a fireplace. Nearby is a dining room and a fully equipped chef’s kitchen. “The ranch gave me an instant vacation. When I go there I feel like I’m in a different world,” Daly told the WSJ.

      The 19-acre grounds include a horse stable, in addition to chicken and pigeon coops

      Anthony Barcelo

      The grounds include a large swimming pool and a private tennis court. Of course, fellow animal lovers can enjoy the eight-stall horse stable, two corrals, and multiple coops. Goats, ducks, and even ponies are just some of the creatures that Daly currently owns. In addition, there are dozens of birds from chickens to pigeons on the property. “My pigeons get a bath two or three times a week,” he added. Though, they won’t be coming with him back to his home in Bel Air, which his wife prefers. “The ranch doesn’t give her what it gives me,” he told the newspaper.

      Stephen Shapiro and Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency hold the listing together.

      Click here to see all the photos of Oaktree Ranch.

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      Jennifer Lopez’s $42.5 Million Bel-Air Mansion Comes With an Outdoor Amphitheater for Home Concerts

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      Despite plans to renovate, Jennifer Lopez has decided to offload her Bel-Air estate instead. And if you’re willing to dish out a whopping $42.5 million, you can live just like J. Lo once did.  

      The actress and singer is selling the French Country mansion which she bought back in 2016 from fellow celeb Sela Ward, the Wall Street Journal first reported. At the time, Lopez dropped a cool $28 million on the California compound—so she’ll earn an eye-watering profit if the asking price is met. The eight-acre spread includes a nine-bedroom main house, a guest cottage, an infinity pool and a putting green. Plus, the grounds feature a large lake with its own sandy beach and a 100-person outdoor amphitheater. Perhaps the vocalist has put on an at-home performance or two? We wouldn’t be surprised.  

      Jennifer Lopez is selling her French Country-style estate in Bel-Air for $42.5 Million

      Tyler Hogan

      The residence, originally built by architect Samuel Marx, gets its European edge from textured stone, brick and reclaimed wood. Internally, the living spaces have more of a modern farmhouse feel. Think lots of creamy whites, exposed ceiling beams, steel windows and rustic accents. On the main level, you’ll find a family room and double-height living area with its own bar and fireplace. There’s also a formal dining room, in addition to a chef’s kitchen outfitted with a built-in breakfast area and swanky chandelier.

      The mansion has a 30-person screening room outfitted with movie posters from Lopez and her husband, Ben Affleck

      Tyler Hogan

      Of course, the primary suite where “Bennifer” has spent their time is nothing short of spectacular. In fact, it makes up its own wing decked out with a library, his and her dressing rooms and a bathroom. If you need to step out for some air or want to gaze at the surrounding greenery, a private landscaped terrace should do the trick.

      Naturally, the manse comes with its fair share of enviable amenities. You’ll find a massage room, a guest house that doubles as a gym and a 30-seat screening room with movie posters from the couple’s film portfolios. In the backyard, you have the option of sitting around the fire pit, tending to the organic vegetable garden or hanging out in the entertainment pavilion. No word yet on where the newlyweds plan to post up next.  

      Brett Lawyer of Carolwood Estates holds the listing.  

      Click here to see all the photos of 1492 Stone Canyon Rd.

      Tyler Hogan More

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      1492 Stone Canyon Rd in Photos

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      <!– <!– _ _ _ ____ _ _____ _ ___ | | (_) | _____ / ___|___ __| | ___ | ____| |__|__ | | | | |/ / _ | | / _ / _` |/ _ | _| | '_ / / | |___| | 1492 Stone Canyon Rd in Photos – Robb […] More