In this era of $500 million giga-mansions and $238 million penthouse apartments — not to mention $60 million lawsuits over Zillow makin’ a boo-boo — a $36 million house listing just doesn’t have the same clout it once did. In fact, it can easily fly right under the radar.
Back near the dawn of time — we’re talking 2011, 2012-ish — a $30+ million asking price would’ve made all the property gossip rags. This $36.5 million place, for instance, just listed this week. Nowadays, hardly anyone even cares to write about it! Sad, these changing times. But Yolanda will do this house a solid and discuss it today — brave new world and all that.
Developed on spec by a local lady named Vera Guerin, the stately spread sits in a mega-prime section of the 90210. It’s north of Sunset Boulevard and just a quick skip to the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel.
The listing waxes poetic about the property: it is “a Legend that will be cherished for generations,” the “five year culmination of planning/construction,” and “a flawless gem” with “unparalleled quality.”
Records indicate the .51-acre lot was last sold in May 2014 for $10.1 million to Mrs. Guerin. She then razed the existing structure and hired prominent mega-mansion architect Richard Manion to design somethin’ impressive. Well, mission accomplished.
Anyway, Mrs. Guerin has lived in Beverly Hills for nearly all her life. The only child of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the USA following WWII, her father Nathan Shapell became one of California’s most successful real estate developers, building 65,000 houses. Upon his death in 2007, Mrs. Guerin inherited his stake in Shapell Industries. At least one estimate pegs her net worth at $1.3 billion, making her one of LA’s wealthiest full-time residents.
According to Yolanda’s pal Mr. Wiki Pedia, Mrs. Guerin greatly displeased her parents when she married Paul Guerin, a gentile. But her husband converted to Judaism. And they’ve now been married for 50 years with three grown children and an array of grandchildren, so seems like things worked out well.
By the way, the Guerins themselves don’t live in today’s $36.5 million manse — they have a palatial Tuscan-style villa elsewhere in Beverly Hills. We don’t know if this spec-build was just a onetime diversion or if they’re planning to develop more fancy properties in the future. We shall see! Perhaps it all hinges on how fast they can unload this beast? And the sale price it eventually commands, of course.
Christened “The Bedford” (after the street on which it sits), the perfectly symmetrical Georgian-style pile is double-gated for security and includes six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The lavish interiors are awash with pricey materials and exquisite finishes — there are rich walnut floors and paneled walls in the study, which features a large wet bar and a very cool chandelier with a molecular explosion sorta vibe. Attached to the study is the living room — a sizable fireplace lends a bit of coziness.
Also on the property is a subterranean garage with space for ten luxury automobiles. The listing does not specify the home’s total square footage, but it’s big — Yolanda would guess maybe 10,000-square-feet or so. But don’t quote us on that.
The dining room is perhaps the most visually arresting space in the house — check out that huge chandelier and the shimmery silver leaf walls and ceiling treatments. Across the way is the extra-big family room, and both spaces are attached to the Calacutta marble-swathed kitchen, which has dual islands and a world-class array of high-end appliances. Yolanda also loves the breakfast room, with its starburst marble floors and glassy doors.
Upstairs are five bedrooms — all of them ensuite — including the master. The vast bedroom has herringbone-patterned hardwood floors, a sitting area, and a fireplace. Then there are sumptuous his/hers bathrooms and closets — “hers” done up light and bright in white marble, “his” with a gentlemen’s club look, moody and with black marble and such. And check out “her” closet — yowza!
The half-acre mini-estate has numerous other luxe creature comforts — a wine cellar with bar, a movie theater with tiered seating, a 40-foot outdoor pool, gardens and a one-bed poolhouse (for the live-in groundskeeper or parlormaid, we presume).
Yolanda fully realizes that 99.9% of people cannot dream of affording a $36.5 million house, and so this post might seem a little useless to y’all. But it’s sure fun to look at, right? And yes — difficult as it may be to imagine — there are definitely peeps who can afford this and much more, too.
And by some measures, this place might almost seem reasonably priced. The style reminds us of the James Packer estate — also in Beverly Hills — which he purchased last year for nearly $65 million. Obviously that spread is bigger and has more fun features than this one, but still — that sale price was almost $30 million more than the ask here! Like they say, it’s a brave new world.
Listing agents: Drew Fenton & Linda May, Hilton & Hyland