Back in 2007, then-thriving but now soon-to-be-shuttered-and-or-sold gossip site Gawker published what Yolanda can only describe as an in-depth analysis of the recent nuptials of a young couple named Elizabeth Goldhirsh and Eric Yellin, as was originally announced in the New York Times.
Among many other details, the story noted that the couple had met on JDate (think of it as Match.com that’s been filtered on Jewish singles) and the fact that Ms. Goldhirsh specifically mentioned in the announcement that she had refused to tell her future hubby her last name for several weeks. She had to test him, see? She had to make sure he was in love with her mind and body and not just her overstuffed purse-popping pocketbook!
(And it’s true. Ms. Goldhirsh’s father was a very rich magazine maverick named Bernard Goldhirsh. And at the time she began dating Mr. Yellin, she was a wildly wealthy orphan in her mid-20s.)
To be fair, kiddies, although we don’t condone public shaming, the marriage announcement was the sort of thing that would make an ignorant LA lass like Yolanda titter. Really, now. “[Goldhirsh] did not join [JDate] because invitations were lacking; she joined to meet people who did not know her.” (Oh. Okay.) “Their first conversation was an in-depth analysis of the European Union’s expansion into Eastern Europe.” (Gurl puhhh-leeze!)
But who knows. Maybe that’s just how those young Jewish couples in NYC roll. Would our very own Rabbi Hedda care to fill us in?
We digress. Many of the reader comments on the Gawker and Jezebel websites were decidedly unkind to the newly-wedded couple. “She is annoying and very condescending.” “This is not going to last.” “Looks like he belongs in Ice Capades.” “Investing would’ve gotten her better returns than Mr. Potato Head.”
Oooh. Ouch! We felt that burn. Their words, y’all, not Yolanda’s.
But Ms. Goldhirsh and Mr. Yellin — both Harvard grads, incidentally — shook the haters off with aplomb. Nearly a decade later, they’re still happily married and they recently decided to celebrate their upcoming anniversary by plunking down $10 million together on a mini-estate in celeb-filled Mandeville Canyon. Or more like Ms. Goldhirsh paid the $10 million and they will live there together, right?
Anyway, the Traditional-style house was built in 2011 by the sellers and sits away from the canyon’s main road, up a quiet side lane.
The house is referred to in listing materials as a “luxe farmhouse”. Normally, describing a $10 million, newly-built, 7,368-square-foot Brentwood mansion as a farmhouse (even a luxe one), would seem a bit disingenous to Yolanda and we’d give the listing copy our trademark eyeroll. However, we must admit that this house looks a lot more farmhouse-y than most of these many other places we’ve seen described as such. Surprisingly, yes, listing agents are going hog-wild over imaginary farmhouses. It’s the new mid-century modern, apparently.
The front door sits next to the front-facing two-car garage and opens into a proper entrance hall with a staircase on the left and a sitting room on the right. A long corridor ends at an unexpectedly enormous living room with soaring, double-height ceilings and a fireplace that looks as if it could swallow an intact Toyota Yaris. The light-brown wood floors paired with the muted, mostly pastel furnishings and paint give the place a light and modern feel.
The living room opens directly to separate patio areas via floor-to-ceiling bi-fold doors on one end and a row on french doors to the other. The french doors lead to a lovely outdoor dining/lounging area with a bubbling stone fountain, a fireplace, a full outdoor grilling station with a refrigerator, and a large wooden picnic table with a heat lamp. The bi-fold doors lead to a covered and columned stone patio and a large, flat grassy area beyond. Landscaping is relatively dense to ensure privacy and that special bucolic feeling that Mandeville Canyon provides. Can you tell that Yolanda likes this house (and this area?)
Back inside and upstairs there are four bedrooms (one in the master suite, three in the guest/kids wing), each with their own in-suite bathroom. A light-filled landing connects with views down to the living room below connects the two major areas upstairs.
The master suite is decidedly more “luxe” than “farmhouse”. There’s a spare bedroom over-the-treetops views down to the flats of Brentwood, and the master bath has a trendy glass-walled shower with marble flooring. And check out that enormous closet with its own mini-closet and mini-kitchenette!
Back downstairs, there’s a light and bright kitchen with bar-style seating on the island and a glass-fronted sub-zero fridge. The dining room — part of the same open space — adjoins the entrance hall and looks out over the grassy backyard. There’s also a family room that was used by the previous owner as a playroom for the kids.
There’s also a petite guest house with a unusual cobalt blue ceiling with slatted wooden support beams and a skylight. The kitchen area opens directly and dramatically to a rectangular swimming pool with inset spa. There’s also plenty of terrace space for sunbathing, not just here by the pool but all over the generous .75-acre lot.
For all these features, it appears Ms. Goldhirsh — the smart gal — may have gotten a discount. Records reveal the house was first hoisted on the MLS in January 2016 with a fat ask of $11,995,000. The pricetag dropped significantly to $10,350,000 in March before along came our gurl, who snapped it up in May through something called “Moreno Residence LLC” for a too-complicated final price of $9,735,750.
As it turns out, Yolanda discovered that this is not the first house in LA or even the first house in Brentwood purchased by Ms. Goldhirsh (and Mr. Yellin). Back in May 2014, she paid $4,800,000 for a Spanish-style teardown on a much-smaller .3-acre lot that’s so close to the Brentwood Country Mart she could probably ride her tricycle (if she has one!) there in about three minutes flat.
Side note: if any of y’all have never been to the wonderful Brentwood Country Mart, we suggest you skedaddle your behinds up on outta here and over there. It’s one of Yolanda’s favorite haunts and we particularly love the tasty — if a bit pricey — Farmshop.
But we digress. Ms. Goldhirsh drew up plans for a new 7,500-square-foot Traditional house to build on that lot we were just discussing. But for whatever reason, she obviously had a change of heart because in November 2015, the still-not-torn-down teardown was back on the market asking $4,995,000.
Interestingly enough, the house sold in just two weeks for $5,100,000, or $105,000 over the last asking price, indicating that the winning bidder faced some stiff competition for the place. And who was the winning bidder?
None other than mega-mansion specialist Richard Landry. Yes indeed. We have no idea what his plans are for that lot, but Yolanda trusts that the existing house has already been razed to make way for a big-ass something of Mr. Landry’s own design.
Oh goody. Yolanda can’t wait to see what our boy will dream up for this lot. Tee-hee.
Just one more thing. Ms. Goldhirsh has a younger brother, Ben Goldhirsh. Unlike the mostly-East-Coast-based Ms. Goldhirsh, Mr. Goldhirsh has resided here in LA for more than a decade. And to his credit he’s not just another one of them all-too-common LA trust fund brats who ran around in the clubs with Paris Hilton and Blohan back in the day. Since 2006, Mr. Goldhirsh has owned and published Good magazine. Following in dadd’s footsteps, apparently.
Mr. Goldhirsh has also, since 2004, owned an (allegedly) celebrity-pedigreed compound up in the Beverly Hills Post Office area. The completely secluded 5-acre estate — which features a three-bedroom main house, a guest house, and a pool house — was briefly available on the open rental market in 2014 at a rate of $14,950 per month. To be honest, Yolanda is not sure if Mr. Goldhirsh found himself a tenant or not.
Supposedly the house’s claim to fame is that it was once Clark Gable‘s hunting lodge. Listen, y’all, we don’t doubt the listing, we just haven’t been able to find any corroborating evidence of this supposed claim to fame online. But it certainly looks the part, don’t it?
The moral of this story is as follows: do say luxe farmhouse, do not say neoclassic traditional, do make sure you’re fancy enough to be featured in the Old Grey Lady if you plan to find and marry your future spouse via one of those online dating websites so you can explain that you really aren’t unpopular in real life. And do marry Mr. Potato Head.