Owlwood Estate, the Los Angeles estate that sold for a staggering $90 million last September, has returned to the real estate market. The current owners of the 10 acre property, a development group who purchased it for a price far below its $150 million ask, are attempting a truly Herculean flip: they’ve priced the estate in Westside at $180 million, looking for a fast 100% return on their investment.
Situated in Holmby Hills, Owlwood is comprised of three parcels of land, a residence, a guest house, and a pool house. The residence has been owned through the years by Tony Curtis and Sonny and Cher, among other influential people. The remaining parcels which make up the estate as it currently stands were razed, but they were the former residences owned by vocalist Engelbert Humperdinck, an opera singer turned pop, and actress and bathing-suit pinup Esther Williams.
The house is considerable: a 12,000+ square foot Italianate revival mansion with eight bedrooms and twelve baths. It’s a grandiose statement, filled with intricate details, and dating to the late 1930’s. Like the Playboy Mansion, which sold only months later for $100 million, and replaced Owlwood as the priciest residential sale in L.A. County’s history, the house at Owlwood was designed by architect Robert D. Farquhar.
The spectacular interiors of the house include plentiful crown moldings, fireplaces, chandeliers, and extensive mahogany paneling.
The house has largely retained much of its original interior architecture, but renovations have been conducted over the past quarter century. Most recent modernizations include an updated wet bar and, of course, kitchens and baths.