Beauty company CEO nabs home in Hollywood Hills for $16M

The chief executive of a beauty products company has purchased a swanky home in the Hollywood Hills for $15.7 million.

Richelieu Dennis, who heads New York-based Sundial Brands and who recently acquired lifestyle brand Essence, purchased the 12,109-square-foot home from a spec developer, according to Yolanda’s Little Black Book.

The deal closed in August, according to property records, but Yolanda revealed him as the buyer on Wednesday. He is linked to the entity that bought the home, Magenta LLC. The seller is listed as Magnetic Terrace Investors LLC.

The glassy contemporary home has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and features a 2,500 square-foot living room, a Tuscan-style garden with mature olive trees, as well as a boomerang-shaped swimming pool overlooking the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood.

The property was listed about a year ago for $21.9 million by Branden and Rayni Williams of Hilton & Hyland. Adjacent to the Bird Streets, where sales have been sluggish, it lingered on the market. Josh and Matthew Altman of Douglas Elliman re-listed it in March for $18 million.

It was built on the site of the former home of Tom Mankiewicz, the late screenwriter who worked on several James Bond films, according to Yolanda.

The Altmans had both sides of the transaction.

Dennis, a native of Liberia, started his beauty-products company with a college roommate and his mother by selling handmade soaps on the streets of Harlem. They later created haircare and skincare brands such as SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage. Unilever acquired the parent company Sundial Brands last year.

Earlier this year Dennis purchased Essence, including the eponymous magazine, for an undisclosed amount, from Time Inc. [Yolanda’s Little Black Book] — Alexei Barrionuevo