It was the folks at the Wall Street Journal who first revealed that British fashion entrepreneurs Tom & Ruth dropped a wild $24,000,000 on a Trousdale Estates mansion located on what is often considered to be the best (or second-best?) street in the neighborhood: Trousdale Place. Yolanda’s research indicates that this is 2017’s second-biggest Trousdale Estates home sale and the fifth-biggest in the entire city of Beverly Hills.
The house was purchased back in 2012 by a then-single fellow named Kevin Washington, the heir to a multi-billion dollar Montana-based fortune. Records indicate Mr. Washington spent “just” $9,985,000 for the property, which had only recently been renovated and was already a very sexy spot.
As billionaires are wont to do, however, Mr. Washington desired to customize his new crib and so he spent several years and many millions of dollars to renovate and elevate his bachelor pad from merely sexy to panty-droppin’ spectactular. The orgasmic (ahem) results of Mr. Washington’s efforts were splashed all over the web, including on the Youtube.
The listing for the sleek property implored fellow estate agents to “bring clients that are sophisticated and have an eye for style and taste” to view the home, and Yolanda would say that Mr. & Mrs. Chapman fit that bill pretty much to a T. The couple — who are in their late 50s, have three adult children, and have been together for something like 30 years — hail from across the pond. Wimbledon, to be precise. They are majorly successful businesspeople and tastemakers in the international fashion industry.
How’d they get so rich? Hear it in their own words. But we’ll give y’all the watered down version, too.
30 years ago — way back in the 1980s — Mr. and Mrs. Chapman founded Matches Fashion, a small shop in Wimbledon that sold luxury goods to well-heeled consumers. From there, well, the rest is history. The Chapmans’ career is littered with the sort of accolades you’d expect from a large corporation, not necessarily a small mom-and-pop shop in the UK. Theirs was the first company to sell Prada in Great Britain. They were the first to sell Bottega Veneta. They are also now one of the world’s most major fashion retailers and dominate the online high-end market.
Today, Matchesfashion.com stocks 450 established and emerging designers, receives 55 million visitors a year, and 80 percent of orders come from the 176 international markets the site serves. Although Matches Fashion keeps three brick-and-mortar stores in fashionable areas of England, the company’s website is now responsible for 95% of its annual revenue.
In 2017, the Chapman’s sold a majority stake in their business to investment bankers for an estimated 400 million British pounds, which converts to approximately $535 million USD at today’s rates. Though they have stepped back from their role as co-CEOs, they couple remains co-Chairmen of the firm and retain a substantial monetary stake in their “baby”.
Sited on a .48-acre cul-de-sac lot, the low-slung contemporary features generous uses of steel, glass, and exotic woods. Listing materials do not reveal the structure’s square footage, but public records peg it at a mansion-sized 6,229 with 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms.
A gated motorcourt leads to an all-glass front door that will surely impress the Domino’s delivery boy with it’s see-through views that span almost the entirely of the Los Angeles basin and stretch to the Pacific Ocean. While the backyard isn’t particularly big, the all-encompassing views ensure it will never feel cramped. And the sparkling pool, firepit, and faux grass terrace look fabulous.
The indoor decor is decidedly posh, if rather masculine: lots of black leather, moody dark woods, and fur-lined chairs that somehow manage to look quite sophisticated. There are novelty features like the dining room table, which looks as though it was hand-hewn in an Indonesian rainforest and probably cost more than a new Mercedes-Benz S550. The dining room chandelier — if you’d like to call it that — appears to be assembled from thousands of crystals. Bet Mr. Washington’s cleaning lady just loved him!
One area that Yolanda is not crazy about is that kitchen, which — despite all the new, top-grade appliances — appears to be going for a retro mid-century look. But that blonde wood and the black granite is giving your gurl bad 80s vibes. Hmmm.
The master bedroom, while not as enormous as one might expect, has one of the comfiest-lookin’ beds Yolanda has laid eyes on. Other rooms in the house include an office/library, and a screening room, both of which have a vaguely Hawaiian vibe. Maybe it’s those wooden shutters?
As we’ve mentioned, Trousdale Place is one of the trendiest streets in trendy Trousdale Estates. Our Mr. & Mrs. Chapman’s new neighbors include major philanthropists Boris & Inara Teterev, Saudi sheikh , billionaire Jim Jannard. Next door to Mr. Jannard’s fortress-like compound is a property that sold as a $32,500,000 teardown last year to a mysterious LLC. The house has since been razed and a new, much larger mansion is in the early stages of construction. Yolanda has heard unconfirmed rumors that this property is owned by fashion mogul Bernard Arnault, the world’s 11th richest man.
As for our Mr. Washington, he has been on a right proper real estate tear this year, racking up nearly $90 million in 2017 transaction volume for his agents. He sold a house on Malibu’s Carbon Beach for more than $9 million to CAA exec Russ Jones, he sold a house in the Beverly Hills Post Office neighborhood for $13.5 million to film producer William Sadleir, and he paid a record-shredding $41 million for a Santa Monica “Modern Farmhouse” sold by Modern Family creator Steve Levitan and his estranged wife Krista. That’s a busy year!
By the way, if y’all have a few minutes to burn, take a quick look-see at Mr. & Mrs. Chapman’s comfortably glamorous family home in Wimbledon.
Listing agents: Branden & Rayni Williams, Hilton & Hyland
The Chapmans’ agent: Dena Luciano, Douglas Elliman