Hilton estate sold to former Google CEO for $62M

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was the buyer of the Hilton family’s storied Holmby Hills estate.

Schmidt paid $61.5 million for the 2.6-acre estate and its 15,000-square-foot residence, according to Dirt.

The deal — the second priciest in the state this year — closed this month.

The sale price, while substantial, was well below the $75 million price tag that Rick Hilton put on the property in December.

It was Schmidt’s second eight-figure real estate purchase in Southern California in the past eight months. In September, he and his wife Wendy bought an 11-acre hilltop estate in Montecito for $30.8 million.

The Holmby Hills estate, sometimes called the Jay Paley Residence for its first owner, dates from the 1930s and was purchased by William Barron Hilton in the early 1960s. He lived there until he died in 2019.

The estate and its 13-bedroom home was designed by pioneering and prolific area architect Paul R. Williams.

The mansion is about as grand as one could expect, with decorative moldings, an 80-seat home theater, a wood-paneled formal dining room and large bedrooms.

The rear of the home opens to a large lawn leading to an ornate, Williams-designed pool with thousands of hand-painted tiles depicting the 12 astrological signs. There is also a tennis court on the property.

Schmidt was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and held several key positions there in the following decade before retiring last year. His net worth is estimated to be north of $20 billion.

[Dirt] — Dennis Lynch