Carolwood Estates’ Lisa Optican is standing in front of 1021 Stone Canyon Road in Bel-Air, holding up a color copy of the 1938 cover of Architectural Digest featuring the home to prove the point that little has changed.
The home’s long-time owner, Barbara Lindemann Schlei, is now readying to place the home on the market Friday, listing the roughly 6,400-square-foot home for $23.9 million. She’s owned the property for 50 years and also used it for numerous dinners and charity events.
Lindemann Schlei is one of the authors on what some have called the leading publication on employment discrimination law from the 1970s, when the field was rapidly expanding and still relatively new. She later served as a civilian commissioner on the city of Los Angeles’ Police Commission, including a stint as its vice president between 1985 and 1987.
The former attorney’s home sits about a half a mile past the Hotel Bel-Air on a 4-acre lot set back from the street behind a gated entrance and plenty of plants and trees to keep out wandering eyes. It was built in 1935 and has a tennis court, motor court, pool and pool house on the private grounds. Inside is a formal dining room, updated kitchen, library with an adjoining bar area and a basement complete with another bar.
Optican, who is listing the property for Lindemann Schlei, called out the home’s “pedigree” in saying “it’s not just like everything else” in reference to the property’s design.
The property’s ownership lineage goes back to businessman Robert J. Pringle (no relation to the chip company) for whom the home was built. It was designed by architect H. Roy Kelly, known for bringing ranch-style designs to California. The property was later bought by Bob Burns, who invented the bazooka musical instrument and took his earnings to live in tony Bel-Air.
Optican, who typically deals in off-market trades, joined Carolwood last August, taking on the title of estates director after having previously been with Douglas Elliman. She brought along with her a $139 million portfolio in off-market listings and has a resume that includes the $7.3 million sale of Marilyn Monroe’s former Brentwood home in 2017 and the $8.3 million sale in 2020 of a Los Feliz home built by the son of Griffith Park benefactor Griffith Jenkins Griffith.
“It’s a really interesting time for someone to get a property like this at a time like this,” Optican said of the listing.
As the industry waits to see what direction deal flow moves amid increasing macroeconomic uncertainty, there are hints the high-end still has a strong pulse.
On Tuesday, Optican’s peers officially closed Australian billionaire James Packer’s $110 million purchase of 630 Nimes Road, also located in Bel-Air. Carolwood’s Drew Fenton and Westside Estate Agency’s Kurt Rappaport represented Packer.
Meanwhile, Carolwood’s Stephen Resnick, Jonathan Nash, David Parnes and James Harris represented the seller, European Investment Management Services.
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