With Spelling Manor now sold, here are LA’s most expensive home listings

There are only a handful of homes in Los Angeles County with nine-figure price tags.

In theory, a seller can set any price on a property — see the original $1 billion ask on Mountain of Beverly Hills — but few would add that last zero to their ask if they didn’t expect it to sell for an astronomical sum.

That was the case for Spelling Manor, the 123-room Beverly Hills mega-mansion that traded this week for $120 million after three years on the market and three price cuts from its original $200 million ask.

Even with those massive price drops, the sale broke the L.A. County record set last year when Hard Rock Café founder Peter Morton sold his Malibu beach house for $110 million.

Do not fret, billionaire readers, there are still other mega-estates up for grabs in L.A. Here are seven of the priciest L.A. homes on the market. The list does not include undeveloped properties like 0 Tortuoso Way, which is listed for $150 million.

875 Nimes Road

875 Nimes Road, Los Angeles
$195 million

The Sumner Spaulding-designed Chartwell Estate spent a year in an even pricier bracket before hitting the MLS in October 2018. The 10-acre property of late Univision billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio came on the market in 2017 as a $350 million pocket listing, but didn’t find any takers. In October, the French neoclassical mansion hit the market for $245 million and last week went down to $195 million.

The estate has 11 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms and was renovated in the 1980s by designer Henri Samuel. It also features a guest house designed by Wallace Neff, a 75-foot pool and 40 parking spaces.

“A lot of people are wanting [a timeless] look again,” said Mills, who is one of the listing agents on the property. She noted that it is “not a white box. We sort of went through the very, very contemporary, and now people are wanting much more of that soft, beautiful contemporary.”

In addition to Mills, Chartwell Estate is being listed by Joyce Rey and Alexandra Allen, also of Coldwell Banker; Jeff Hyland, Drew Fenton and Gary Gold of Hilton & Hyland; and Drew Gitlin and Susan Gitlin of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.

67 Beverly Park Court, Beverly Hills
$165 million

Situated on more than seven acres, this sprawling Italian estate has 20 beds, 16 baths and more than 28,000 square feet in the main house, known as Villa Firenze. The property also features a pool, guest house, tennis courts and a jogging trail.

Built in the late 1990s by the current owners, billionaire Steven Udvar-Házy and his wife, Christine, this is the first time the expansive property has been publicly listed. It spent some time as a pocket listing for the same price before hitting the MLS in September 2018. Jeff Hyland and Richard Hilton of Hilton & Hyland are the listing agents (Hyland had the off-market listing as well).

924 Bel Air Road, Los Angeles
$150 million

The 42,000-square-foot property, nicknamed Billionaire, has 17 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms as well as five bars, three kitchens, a 40-seat theatre, a four-lane bowling alley and a fleet of cars worth $30 million.

Built by developer Bruce Makowsky, the spec home has seen several price chops in its two years on the market. It started at $250 million in 2017, dropped to $188 in April 2018 and settled at $150 million in January of this year.

The property is listed by Rayni and Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland and Shawn Elliot of Nest Seekers International.

2571 Wallingford Drive, Beverly Hills
$135 million

This five-acre estate came on the market last summer and features not only a 31,000-square-foot main house but a 5,000-square-foot guest house, a two-bedroom guard house, a caretaker’s house and a sports facility that includes a gym, boxing ring and paddle tennis court.

The main house was originally built in 2000, but developer Gala Asher partially demolished the structure in order to expand it to its current footprint. Coldwell Banker’s Ginger Glass has the listing.

9505 Lania Lane

9505 Lania Lane, Beverly Hills
$129 million

As with some of the other properties on our list, acreage is a major differentiator for the Palazzo di Amore, a 43,000-square-foot estate on 25 acres in Beverly Hills, said the Agency’s Stacy Gottula, who has the listing.

The Palazzo was first listed in 2014 for $195 million by billionaire developer Jeff Greene, who took it off the market when it failed to find a buyer. The property was relisted for $129 million in 2017, and the price has held steady.

“When we first came on the market [in 2014], it was the highest price that had ever been listed in the United States,” Gottula said. “Now, seeing all the prices that have been coming on since — properties in the $200 million, $250 million range — I honestly feel like it’s the best buy in the city. There’s really not another estate like it.”

The Palazzo has six structures, including a main house, a guest house, chauffeur’s quarters and an entertainment building containing a stage, theater, ballroom and bowling alley. Gottula is selective about who can view it. With many of her high-end listings, this cautiousness extends to putting it online as well, Gottula said. 

“A lot of buyers don’t want the house to be [seen online] all over the world because of security reasons, so when you get into a really high price point… you need to stay a little more under the radar to maintain the privacy,” said Gottula, adding that she’s had lawyers ask for all images of her listings to be scrubbed from the internet after a sale goes through, which she acknowledged is impossible.

The Agency’s Mauricio Umansky also has the listing for the Palazzo di Amore.

27600 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
$125 million

This Paradise Cove property officially came on the market in January, although the seller, NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer, had been reportedly shopping it around privately since last summer at the same price. On 3.1 acres, the estate was designed by Charles Gwathmey in the late 1990s. It has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, private access to a secluded beach, a large pool and a tennis court.

The property is listed by Westside Estate Agency’s Kurt Rappaport.

141 South Carolwood Drive, Los Angeles
$115 million

Designed by Robert Farquhar in the 1930s, the 9.9-acre Owlwood Estate has nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, but what really stands out about this property is the “exceptional detail, the ceiling heights, the foyer, the staircase… they are just very different than much of what was built in that era,” said listing broker Mills.

Owlwood has seen a fair amount of price fluctuation. It sold for $90 million in 2016, was listed for $180 million in 2017 and spent about six months on the market before it was delisted. It was relisted in September 2018 for its current $115 million price.

Mills said she has hosted one small event for brokers and another for potential buyers but has done a lot of “personal networking” to find a buyer. The property was once home to Tony Curtis and Sonny Bono and Cher, so Mills said she’s embracing the estate’s rich past and focusing on buyers “who are looking for something really special and really love the old history.”

In addition to Mills, Owlwood Estate is also listed by Drew Fenton and Linda May, both of Hilton & Hyland.