Every once in awhile, Yolanda gets a juicy tip delivered to our inbox outta nowhere. Call it manna from heaven or whatever you will. Regardless, y’all might recall we recently discussed a behemoth Beverly Park spread that was quietly made available for sale with an ask of $165 million. Our post included a description of the house and named all the nearby celebrity neighbors.
Not long after we posted that tale, we were contacted by a mysterious individual who refused to give his/her name. Deep Throat Jr told us there is another “big celebrity” that very recently and quietly moved into the hallowed Beverly Park community, though he/she would not divulge the celebrity’s name or even their house address. “Figure it out,” they unhelpfully told us.
Naturally Yolanda got on the horn and opened up an old-fashioned real estate investigation. That info ain’t much to go on, but we figured the “big celebrity” must be leasing in B.P., as opposed to have purchased a property. The names of owners who have bought in the community over the past few years are known, and none really qualify as a “big” celeb.
After some extensive digging and a few false starts, Yolanda thinks we know who the new Beverly Park residents are: media mogul Steve Harvey and his longtime wife Marjorie.
The Harveys, who have now been married for more than a decade, are a blended family: he has four adult children from his two ex-wives, and she has three adult children from her two ex-husbands, one of whom is alleged drug lord Jim L. Townsend. Although Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have no children together, they have both repeatedly said they are “parents to seven,” meaning that Mr. Harvey considers himself a dad to Mrs. Harvey’s kids, and vice versa.
One big, happy family.
Though our longtime friend Wiki Pedia claims that “Harvey and his family divide their time between Atlanta … and Chicago”, Yolanda is gonna have to disagree with Ms. Pedia on this one. A peek at Mr. Harvey’s Instagram and Mrs. Harvey’s Instagram reveals that they spend nearly all of their time here in LA, at least for the past year or so.
Speaking of the Instagram contraption, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have both posted dozens of photos and videos that were clearly taken at a particular estate in Beverly Park. The estate in question popped up for lease last April (2017) with a whopping ask of $125,000 per month. Records show the property was leased out for $110,000/mo after only a few weeks on the market.
This timing also coincides with a statement made last year by Mr. Harvey: “My wife came out [to LA] and got a house. That was the challenge for me, ’cause my wife doesn’t shop on a budget. So she got the house she wanted and I have to pay for it.”
Well, my goodness. Celebrities are prone to exaggeration, but Mr. Harvey was certainly not jokin’ around — there are very few houses in LA that cost more than $110,000 per month. Yolanda can attest to that. Our Mrs. Harvey certainly has expensive taste!
To put it simply, Yolanda cannot prove that the Harveys are leasing this Beverly Park house. The names of lessees are not included in public records, after all. But if they are not leasing this spread, Yolanda will gladly eat our Ann Maree Willett-made hat. And film it, too. That is how positive we are.
Anyway, to give y’all an idea of how much Mr. Harvey is paying, the couple have now been living in Beverly Park for almost exactly a year. That means he has already shelled out at least $1,320,000 in rent alone, not counting utilities or any other expenses. Hot damn! Somehow $1.3 million in rent shocks Yolanda more than a $30 million house purchase.
Oh, but in case y’all are worried about whether Mr. Harvey can actually afford this place, rest assured. He definitely can. Though now in his 60s and more than 30 years into his career, the comedian/TV host/radio host/Miss Universe pageant ruiner/actor is now raking in more than ever before. According to Forbes, in just one 12-month period (June 2016 to June 2017), Mr. Harvey was paid a hefty $42.5 million.
Ka-ching!
The “Hamptons-inspired” Traditional-ish mansion was built in 2000 by heavyweight Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy and his vivacious socialite wife Irena Medavoy. The couple first attempted to unload the pad in 2007, when it carried an asking price of $23.5 million. Unfortunately for them, the house did not sell until September 2009, at the height of the global economic recession. Records reveal the house transferred for “just” $12,500,000, barely half of what the Medavoys originally wanted.
The 2009 buyers were an extravagantly rich couple from Mexico named Isaac & Victoria Oberfeld. The Oberfelds own multiple other homes in the 90210 area — as well as in Mexico City and other places — so Yolanda is uncertain as to whether they actually moved into this house. For the last few years, the property has been extensively renovated, inside and out.
Now then, an 11,769-square-foot house would qualify as a huge mansion in almost any neighborhood. But in supersized Beverly Park, believe it or not, this place is actually one of the smaller structures. (In case y’all were wondering, the average size of homes in B.P. is about 15,000-square-feet or so.)
A large gate slides open to the generous motorcourt, which can easily accommodate a dozen (or more) vehicles, not to mention the four-car garage.
Yolanda appreciates that this home is not overbearing like many of the mega-mansions in Beverly Park: the front door opens to a graceful staircase with hardwood steps and white risers. Elsewhere there is a very large living room w/ fireplace and a family room w/ fireplace that features French door access to the backyard.
Speaking of the backyard, the 1.8-acre estate features a generously sized grassy lawn and a long swimmer’s pool, plus a spa.
Perhaps the most striking feature of this house is the kitchen, where all the cabinets are painted a daring shade of cobalt blue. As we have previously said, Yolanda always encourages folks to take decorative risks, and we actually love this color scheme. Somehow the blue, the stainless appliances, and the burled walnut floors all work for us, though it might be the sort of thing we are over in a week.
A formal dining room looks out over the pool area, and a contemporary library/sitting room has floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
The house has a total of 5 beds and 8 baths, and the Harveys’ master suite sports its own private balcony overlooking the grounds. And check out that bathroom! That shit is bigger than Yolanda’s whole apartment, the one that our rich third ex-husband was forced to buy us after the divorce. Cheap bastard.
When they are not in Beverly Park, the Harveys might be in the 9,000-square-foot Atlanta, Georgia mansion that they purchased in 2010 for $3,375,000. Or they might be ensconced in their 7,430-square-foot mansion in Little Elm, Texas — just outside Metropolitan Dallas.
But anyway, back to Mr. and Mrs. Harvey’s rental house. The pad is located in a particularly posh section of Beverly Park. Practically every one of their closest neighbors is a billionaire! In addition to the Udvar-Hazy family across the street, the Harveys’ next door neighbors are Iran-born billionaire Neil Kadisha and his longtime wife Dora, a member of the multi-billionaire Nazarian clan. Their other next door neighbor is Indonesian billionaire Peter Sondakh, and the house behind theirs is owned by billionaire Tom Gores and his wife Holly. Next to the Goreses are a whole row of mega-mansions owned by various Saudi royal family members.
Yolanda strongly encourages the Harveys to quite wasting their money on rent and just buy a Beverly Park mansion. Of course, there are only three B.P. mansions on the (open) market currently. One is a spread owned by a Taiwanese woman that is being marketed as a $24 million teardown, so that’s out. Then there is a estate owned by Dubai-based businessman Danny Rupert that is asking $42 million. That house looks pretty cool, but it is located in South Beverly Park, which is less desirable than the North section where the Harveys currently live! Heavens no — that would never do.
And finally, there is a house in the North section asking $47.5 million. Although this place is still technically owned by Vanna White, it has long been occupied by her ex-hubby George Santopietro. Anyway, the pad is definitely overpriced.
Our advice to Mr. Harvey is to make the Oberfelds — who are now in their 70s — an offer they cannot refuse. Surely they would not turn down a $20 or $25 million offer for this pad we just showed y’all. And trust us, Mr. Harvey has the money.
And really, wouldn’t buying in Beverly Park — the most exclusive gated community in LA — be the ultimate come-up for Steve Harvey? After all, he was homeless for several years in the 1980s.
Listing agent: Joyce Rey, Coldwell Banker