Televisa chief lists Mexican-style estate on LA’s Sunset Strip for $60M

Mexican media billionaire Emilio Azcarraga Jean has put a Mexican-Colonial-style estate that replaced the historic Sunset Plaza Apartments in Hollywood Hills West on the market for $60 million.

The 13,000-square-foot compound has been listed at 1220 Sunset Plaza Drive, just north of the Sunset Strip, the Robb Report said. Azcarraga Jean is heir to the Televisa fortune and son of “El Tigre,” media mogul Emilio Azcarraga Milmo.

It was Azcarraga Milmo who bought Sunset Plaza in 1987 for $2.3 million. The Georgian-style apartment complex, built in 1934 on 2.3 acres, was designed by Paul Williams. It had been home to such Hollywood stars as Carole Lombard, Charles Farrell and Katharine Hepburn.

Azcarraga Milmo bulldozed it to build a hacienda-style estate designed by Mexican architect Tomas Cajiga. The mansion was put up for sale after Azcarraga Milmo’s death in 1997 for $16 million, with the price slashed to $10 million. 

When it didn’t sell, it became home to his son, Azcarraga Jean. 

The estate is “an ideal canvas for visionary developers” and could be used to construct several new homes or multiple apartment buildings, according to the listing, which includes no interior photos.

Featuring appointments “suitable for royalty,” the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate includes an 11,000-square-foot main house and a 2,000-square-foot guesthouse and off-street parking for more than 20 cars.

Inside, the mansion has two dining rooms adorned with hand-cut stone and centuries-old wood beams across 14- to 17-foot-high ceilings, a chef’s kitchen, wine cellar and a library. 

Outside, sculpted grounds include gardens, grassy lawns, a tennis court, fountains and a rectangular swimming pool and spa next to a stone patio. 

Brokers Alejandro Aldrete and Mauricio Umansky of The Agency share the listing.

Azcarraga Jean, owner of homes worldwide, is chairman of Televisa, Mexico’s largest television broadcasting company. In 2016, he cut the asking price of his 257-foot yacht from $144 million to $102 million. The vessel, named “TV,” can accommodate 18 passengers.

— Dana Bartholomew