Imelda Marcos famously said “People say I’m extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?” And perhaps Mitchell “Mitch” Julis has taken her words to heart, ’cause while he maintains a reputation as a conservative investor, he has nonetheless assembled quite the beautiful collection of luxury residences in a handful of the most prime neighborhoods in all of the United States.
Mr. Julis is the co-founder (along with fellow real estate baller Josh Friedman) of Canyon Capital Advisors. The $20+ billion Canyon is currently one of the largest — or perhaps the largest — LA-based hedge fund by assets under management. And both Julis and Friedman originally plied their trade from within “junk bond king” Mike Milken’s high-yield practice.
Now in his early 60s, Mr. Julis — a longtime Republican donor — was born and raised in the Bronx to a traditional Jewish couple, both European immigrants. He and his wife Joleen have long resided in Los Angeles, though they still maintain a swanky foothold in the Big Apple. More on that in a minute. The couple are parents to young adults Elliott and Esther and teenagers Maia and Rose.
About a month ago, a notably stunning Trousdale Estates residence sold for $21,000,000 in what appears to have been an all-cash deal. The major league sales price was 2.25 million bucks more than the $18,750,000 ask, as the folks at The Real Deal noted. In an interesting twist, the transaction was inclusive of an undeveloped parcel of land that — despite being adjacent to the Trousdale spread — is technically not located in Trousdale Estates or Beverly Hills at all but rather the neighboring Los Angeles community of the Hollywood Hills, in a neighborhood often locally referred to as “above the Sunset Strip”.
Here’s a video showcasing the land.
The quarter-acre, steeply-sloped “above the Sunset Strip” lot has “explosive” views of Century City and the Pacific Ocean. Sorry, but Yolanda has no insider intel about what Mr. Julis plans to do with this vacant parcel.
Because, yes, although the new owner of the properties is masked behind something called “Hilldrive LLC”, Yolanda happens to know that the buyers are none other than our very own Mitch & Joleen Julis.
The new Julis compound is located up a long driveway off what is often considered to be the best street in all of Trousdale. Two doors away is the $35 million spread of soon-to-be-divorced Bill & Susan Gross and right next door is the $22.5 million home of Stein-Mart retail magnate Jay Stein. And Ringo Starr lives there, too.
Similar to the vacant property, we don’t know the couple’s (long-term) plans for the Trousdale house, but they’ve already made the property available as a luxury rental with at $100,000. Per month. Yowza!
Clearly, Mr. & Mrs. Julis ain’t suffering no mere millionaire renters. Let’s see what $1.2 million annually will lease you in Trousdale Estates.
A rather discreet driveway framed by weeping willows leads to an earth-toned gate that swings inward to reveal a 300-foot pebble driveway. One side is framed by neatly clipped hedges; the other by towering eucalyptus trees. And still no hint of the house appears until the end of the road. Such suspense!
The wonderfully private residence itself, a squat and minimalist collection of blocky rooms, looks rather more like something out in Palm Springs or La Quinta than a newly-built state-of-the-art spread in prime Beverly Hills. The property was built over the span of 10+ years by a couple named Robert & Anita Silverstein. And the Silversteins were apparently big fans of off-white and flesh-toned colors. By George, those are the only colors up in this place!
But don’t mistake our assessment for criticism. Yolanda is of the opinion that this place is gorgeous. It’s not often we write about a house we actually want to live in — we’ve got persnickety taste, after all — but we’d bunk up here in a heartbeat. We might change a few colors or decor choices, of course, but this is exactly the sort of residential situation we love.
Poor Mr. & Mrs. Silverstein didn’t get much (if any) chance to enjoy their Trousdale Estates dream home. He passed on in 2012 (the same year the house was completed), she followed in 2016.
The 7,016-square-foot, single-story casa has 4 bedrooms and a total of 6 bathrooms, and nearly every room sports walls of glass with picturesque views of the hills or the Century City skyline. The front door opens to a 75-foot long gallery (perfect for the collector!), and 12-foot ceilings. The floors are not tile or wood but rather composed of sandstone, an unconventional choice that Yolanda thinks perfectly complements the rest of the estate.
Natural light bathes the kitchen, with its Dornbracht fixtures and “top-of-the-line” (per the listing) appliances. The blocky center island and proliferation of cabinets and drawers allows Mr. & Mrs. Julis to cater a large party, should they ever eventually move in and choose to do so.
The family room sports some of the home’s loveliest views.
We don’t know the actual size of the master suite, but it must take up a good chunk of the 7,000-square-foot house because it features an oversized bedroom with a tufted white leather king-size bed, not one but two bathrooms with not one but two walk-in closets, a wet bar, a fireplace, and an outdoor terrace to curl up with a glass of Old Grand-Dad and a good Agatha Christie.
Whew! Oh, did we mention there’s also a private study with a “secret speakeasy”? Shhhh.
Each of the bathrooms also has its own soaking tub and skylights.
In addition to the cavernous master, the house boast two other similar-looking guest suites. There there is a maid’s quarters on the premises with another full bedroom and bathroom.
Tree shaded terraces further enhance the privacy of the home without much compromising of views. A long and narrow lap pool is not infinity-edged. But making it so would kinda be overkill at this point, right?
Discreetly sited around the back of the house are the three-car garages, which Yolanda thinks would look much better if the doors were painted a different color. And check out that sunset. That’s a $21 million sky, kiddos.
So why would Mr. Julis buy this place, only to lease it out to somebody else?
Brace yourself. According to Yolanda’s tabulations, this is not the priciest property in Mr. Julis’s portfolio. Or even the second priciest, for that matter. The Julis family is ballin’.
Mr. Julis’s main residence, completed sometime within the past few years, is a custom-built contemporary compound located in the epicenter of what is often considered to be the best area of Beverly Hills. It’s just a three-minute drive from his new Trousdale spread.
Directly next door to the 1-acre Julis property is the house that Tom Cruise sold to multi-billionaire hedge hog Leon Black just a few months ago for $38,000,000. Also within walking distance are the homes of Stewart & Lynda Resnick, Russ Weiner, Eric Smidt, Solomon Lew, Howard Marks, Guilford Glazer (may he RIP), Jerry Weintraub (may he also RIP) Max Mutchnick, Byron Allen, Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Bezos, Pamela Skaist-Levy, Nathalie Marciano, Stavros Niarchos, Isaac Oberfeld, Sam Gores, and many more.
We don’t know the specifications of the new estate, but we do know that Mr. Julis paid $10,250,000 for the teardown property in 2009. Yolanda’s guess is that the new home and land are likely worth, oh, perhaps $30 million or so.
Like many uber-wealthy Angelenos, the Julis clan also lay claim to a house in Malibu. In his case the “house” is actually a boxy modern oceanfront compound sitting on a half-acre of the sandiest part of coveted Malibu Road.
Records show the Julis couple paid $21,475,000 for the Malibu pad — via a blind trust — in September 2010, when the recession was still in full swing. Properties along this particular section of the beach do not often come up for sale, but Yolanda would still estimate that the house is worth more today than back then. Maybe $25 million? Perhaps more?
Some of the nearest Malibu neighbors include Alec Gores, Tom Gores, Donald Sterling, Erika Glazer, New York property developer Edward Minskoff, New York hedge funder Christian Leone, and New York car dealership mogul Juliana Terian.
As we already mentioned, Mr. Julis & family also keep a toehold in New York: a residence in one of Manhattan’s most coveted buildings — 15 Central Park West.
Mr. & Mrs. Julis paid $10,100,000 for the 3-bed/3.5-bath flat in 2008 and attempted to flip it in 2012 for an brain-nuking $26,000,000. Sadly for them, the fourth-floor condo does not appear to have enticed a buyer and has since been delisted.
Other bigshot residents in the same building include Ekaterina Rybolovleva — she famously paid Sandy Weill $88,000,000 for his full-floor penthouse apartment — Denzel Washington, Sting, Min Kao, Elie Tahari, Omid Kordestani, and Dan Loeb. For a more comprehensive rundown of the apartments and owners, go here.
Last but certainly not least, Mr. & Mrs. Julis once owned a 20,248-square-foot whopper of a mansion in Bel Air that they leased to Elon Musk for several years and eventually sold to him in late 2012 for $17,000,000. The 1.5-acre tennis court estate remains Musky’s main residence, as far as Yolanda knows.
So there you have it. A beautiful New York apartment, a beautiful Malibu compound, a beautiful Beverly Hills mansion, and now a beautiful Trousdale Estates investment property. Mr. Julis, you’ve really outdone yourself.
Yolanda thinks Imelda would approve.
Listing agents: Michael Nourmand, Trevor Levin, and Adam Sires, Nourmand & Associates
Mr. Julis’s agent: Victoria Risko, Sotheby’s International Realty