The high-end real estate market is fairly quiet at the moment, so Yolanda rummaged around to find an older (but still interesting) transaction to discuss. As it happens, we have one that’s been sitting in our vault for nigh on six months now. We’re not sure why we kept skipping it over — it’s a good story — but sometimes these things just happen.
The transfer involves a mansion located on “arguably one of the best most desired streets in all of Brentwood,” per the listing. And indeed, this is a highly coveted avenue — located just south of the posh Brentwood Park area, and right across the border from Santa Monica. The pricey (but worth it) Brentwood Country Mart is an easy stroll from this property.
Built in 2010 by an Iranian man named Norm Pezeshki — he’s the owner of local burger joint Norm’s Famous Charbroiled Hamburgers — the Spanish-style home boasts a hefty 8,700-square-feet of living space with 6 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. Set on a flat .45-acre lot, the structure itself is mostly obscured from the streetfront by a row of graceful evergreen trees.
In April (2018), Mr. Pezeshki listed the house with a $10.5 million pricetag, which is a big number for this particular part of town. But potential buyers flocked to the property and it quickly sold for a fat $11,211,000. Yes, kids, that’s $711,000 more than Mr. Pezeshki was asking. Good for him, we suppose.
So obviously there was a fierce bidding war here, and Yolanda was curious about the winning bidder’s identity. Well, records reveal he is a Mexican man named Emilio Diez Barroso.
43-year-old Mr. Diez happens to be a member of one of Mexico’s wealthiest families — the billionaire Azcárraga clan, which controls the country’s Televisa TV network. Televisa is the main television broadcaster in Mexico — it’s been a near-monopoly for decades, actually — and is the largest producer and broadcaster of Spanish language media in the entire world.
Mr. Diez is a great-grandson of Televisa founder Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta and a nephew of the enigmatic late billionaire Emilio Azcarraga Milmo.
Due to his heritage, our boy Mr. Diez does not need to work for a living. But he keeps busy by running NALA Investments, a private family office created to manage his family wealth and holdings. NALA has investment stakes in a wide range of industries — energy, transportation, real estate and tech among them. Mr. Diez also heads up NALA’s media arm, which has produced an array of movies and TV episodes.
One of Mr. Diez’s productions was The Bling Ring, a depressingly fluffy film based on the exploits of a real-life teenage gang that burglarized celebrity homes. But we digress.
The double-gated estate includes a brick motorcourt and two-car garage. Guests permitted entrance to the abode will be impressed by the grand foyer, with its sweeping staircase, soaring ceiling and glass dome. The neutral color scheme contrasts elegantly with the deep brown hardwoods elsewhere.
There are expansive dining, living and family rooms, the latter two of which include fireplaces. The kitchen has beige stone floors, fancy stainless appliances and an island with bar-style seating for casual dining. Somewhere there’s a 700-bottle wine cellar for all you naughty lushes.
Also on the main floor are two bedrooms ideal for guests or staff.
Upstairs are four family bedrooms, all of them en-suite. The master has his-and-hers walk-in closets, a sumptuous bath with steam shower and a private balcony.
The lush backyard is undeniably expansive with its football field-sized lawn. Other recreational amenities include a pool, spa, pool house and cabana. There’s also a covered lounge with outdoor fireplace and a loggia for al fresco dining.
Before moving to Brentwood, Mr. Diez bunked up way out west, out in a mildly charming Hamptons-style home located in prime Santa Monica. This, y’all, was his once-happy marital home — a place shared with his now ex-wife Claudia Flores.
Mr. Diez put the Santa Monica property up for last year (2018) with a $4.299 million prictag. Lucky for him, the casa sold in just one month for $4,587,000 — or nearly $300k more than he was asking! The buyers, records show, were a couple from Missouri named Otto & Stella Maly. (Our Mr. Maly is a real estate developer, the right-hand man of mega-billionaire Stan Kroenke, owner of the LA Rams.)
Mr. Diez also has documented ties to a large mansion located way high up in the Beverly Hills Post Office area, on the same street as the homes of billionaire heiress Alexa Dell and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. But it is Yolanda’s understanding that this particular 90210 property is actually owned not by Mr. Diez but rather by Mercedes Escobar, a Mexican woman who is either his aunt, cousin or some other sort of familial relation. So there you have it.
Listing agents: Santiago Arana & Griffin Riddle, The Agency
Emilio Diez Barroso’s agent: Veronica Klein, Pacific Union