Former Beverly Hills Home of Old Hollywood Star for Sale

A Beverly Hills estate fit for a Hollywood star is hitting the market.

A compound built for Hollywood Golden Age actor James Cagney is being offered for $38.5 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The estate spans about 5 acres in the ritzy Los Angeles-area enclave and has a nearly century-long history.

Cagney built the stone villa around 1939 and owned the home until his death in 1986. The following year, his widow Frances Cagney sold the property to its current owner Steven Dunn, founder of baby product company Munchkin.

Though Cagney lived in his Beverly Hills abode while filming movies like “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” he spent his off time at his farms in upstate New York and Martha’s Vineyard, according to the Journal. While one might expect a star to live in a luxurious estate, the property under Cagney’s ownership was relatively humble, save for a studio with a wooden floor and record player where he practiced dancing.

When the Beverly Hills property came under Dunn’s watch, the entrepreneur expanded the home to approximately 6,000 square feet with three bedrooms. In the 1990s, Dunn purchased an adjacent parcel and combined the properties into one 5-acre compound. Besides the main house, the property also has a 2,500-square-foot guest house, a pool, a pool cabana with an outdoor kitchen, and tennis and pickleball courts.

Dunn also owns a property next door that isn’t for sale. The owner is selling because he is “ready for a change,” Aaron Kirman of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California, who is marketing the property, told the Journal. Dunn and his ex-wife Laura listed another Beverly Hills estate in 2019 for $72 million; that property is now owned by Laura Dunn.

Despite Measure ULA imposing transfer taxes on all sales above $5 million and a looming billionaire tax that voters could approve in November, the luxury market in Los Angeles is seeing interest tick up. “We have a lot more buyers looking at properties across all price points,” Kirman said. “There’s pent-up demand and not a lot of inventory.”— Chris Malone Méndez