John and Joan Hotchkins’ Bel Air Home Hits Market

One of Bel Air’s most prominent family compounds has come to market.

Villa Cresta, the longtime home of late financier John Hotchkis and arts patron Joan Hartley Hotchkis, has been listed for $65 million. The more than 4-acre estate is being marketed by Compass’ David Kramer and Andrew Buss and is being sold through the Hotchkis family trust overseen by Sarah Ketterer, founder and CEO of Causeway Capital Management.

If sold anywhere near its asking price, the home could set the mark for priciest trade of the year. Currently, a home located at 1111 Calle Vista Drive in Beverly Hills, which sold for $47 million in March, holds that title.

The six-bedroom, 12-bathroom estate at 10939 Chalon Road was designed by architect Marc Appleton, who also designed the Sullivan Canyon estate of cosmetics mogul Dean Factor. That home hit the market last month for $48.5 million.

The main house’s primary suite features dual bathrooms, a private study and its own garden. The home boasts old-world touches like Venetian plaster walls, imported stone mantel fireplaces dating back centuries and a custom-paneled library. The outdoor area has an infinity-edge pool, a motor court with space for more than 25 cars and views of the Pacific Ocean. A detached guest house is designed for long-term visitors. The property also has a private hillside vineyard planted with Sangiovese grapes.

John Hotchkis co-founded Trust Company of the West and investment firm Hotchkis & Wiley, while Joan Hotchkis served as a former Sotheby’s vice president and trustee of the Kennedy Center. John Hotchkis died in 2017 at age 86, and his wife Joan died in September at 88.

The Hotchkis family has been downsizing their real estate holdings over the past year. Last April, months before Joan’s death, another Southern California home owned by the couple hit the market. A cottage-like home in Oceanside, north of San Diego, came to market last spring for $11 million, Mansion Global reported. That property was designed after the coastal French town of St. Malo, where the Hotchkis family had another home.

“Sadly, our family is scattered now,” Joan Hotchkis said at the time of the decision to downsize.

— Chris Malone Méndez