Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Newest Most Expensive Home For Sale - in The US

SoCal Mansion Is Nation's Priciest Estate Once Belonged To William Randolph Hearst


POSTED: 8:50 am PDT July 10, 2007UPDATED: 9:39 am PDT
July 10, 2007

LOS ANGELES -- The 1920s-era Beverly Hills mansion of William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies has been put on the market for $165 million, making it the nation's most expensive residential listing, it was reported Monday.

The pink stucco, H-shaped estate, dubbed Beverly House by the late newspaper magnate, is spread across 6.5 acres north of Sunset Boulevard and features three swimming pools, 29 bedrooms, a state-of-the-art movie theater and a disco, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The compound boasts six separate residences -- four houses, an apartment and a cottage for the security staff, according to the newspaper.
"This is the kind of home that comes on the market once in a generation," Jeff Hyland, a Beverly Hills real estate broker and author of "The Estates of Beverly Hills," told The Times.
The seller, attorney-investor Leonard M. Ross, bought the property in 1976 and is now seeking "a lifestyle change," his real estate broker, Stephen Shapiro, told the newspaper.

The asking price for the property, which went on the market Monday, surpasses the $155 million being sought by developers of an estate in Montana's Big Sky country and the $135 million price of an Aspen, Colo., compound being sold by Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, according to The Times.

Hearst bought the mansion in 1947 for about $120,000.

The 1920s-era, pink stucco estate is shaped like the letter H and is spread across 6.5 acres north of Sunset Boulevard.

It now features 29 bedrooms, three swimming pools, a movie theater, a disco and a separate residence for the security staff.

John F. Kennedy and his bride, Jacqueline, spent part of their honeymoon at the estate in 1953 and later used it as the West Coast headquarters for Kennedy's presidential campaign.

It also was featured in the movie, "The Godfather."

In the last two years, six U.S. residences have come on the market with nine-digit price tags, according to Rick Goodwin, publisher of Ultimate Homes magazine, an annual compendium of the world's hottest properties. But none of the six has sold, and no U.S. home to date has broken the $100 million mark, The Times reported.

The record remains the $94 million paid by former telecom mogul Gary Winnick for a Bel-Air estate in 2001. Copyright 2007 by NBCSandiego.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13653995/detail.html

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