Almost 10 years after Jackie Collins succumbed to breast cancer at age 77, a Beverly Hills trophy estate best known as the longtime home of the bestselling British romance novelist and younger sister of actress Dame Joan Collins has popped up for sale with a substantial $66 million price tag. The listing is held by Richard Maslan and Susan Smith of Carolwood Estates.
Custom-built for the “Hollywood Wives” writer and her second husband, nightclub owner and theater and film producer Oscar Lerman, in collaboration with noted architect Ardie Tavangarian, the residence was inspired by the clean lines and pop-art color blocking of David Hockney’s pool painting titled “A Bigger Splash.” It was completed in the early 1990s, shortly before Lerman died from prostate cancer.
An employee gazes upon David Hockney’s painting “A Bigger Splash” on display at the Tate Britain in London.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images
Upon the death of Collins in 2015, her three daughters inherited the estate. The property sold the following year for $21 million to real estate investor Ben Nehmadi and his wife Bita, who spent five years and around $25 million gut-renovating the premises, according to The Wall Street Journal. The couple also paid an additional $9 million in an off-market deal for a neighboring house also owned by Collins’s estate. It had long been leased by actor Al Pacino and is now on the market separately for $16 million.
Tucked away behind walls and gates in 90210’s desirable Flats neighborhood, the property includes a modern mansion and a spacious guesthouse spread across just under an acre of land facing the Hollywood Hills. There is a total of seven bedrooms and 14 baths in roughly 21,000 square feet of Gavin Brodin-designed living space punctuated with Italian marble and bespoke woodwork.
The home’s main living area boasts a marble fireplace, seated wet bar and access to the outdoors.
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A towering marble and bronze door pivots open into the two-story residence, which is introduced via a double-height foyer displaying a built-in aquarium and a curving staircase resting beneath a massive chandelier. From there, an expansive fireside living and entertaining area comes with a seated wet bar and pocketing doors spilling out to a terrace, while the formal dining room features a glassy wine display.
A bookshelf-clad family room flows to the gourmet kitchen, which is outfitted with a pair of islands, top-tier Miele and Sub-Zero appliances, and a breakfast nook with access to an alfresco dining space, while an upstairs primary suite spanning around 2,500 square feet sports a balcony, a cozy lounge area warmed by a fireplace, an adjoining office, and dual walk-in closets and baths.
The sprawling primary suite has a pool-view balcony and its own fireside seating area.
Marc Angeles
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Connected to the main house via a lengthy art gallery is the two-level guesthouse, which includes offices and a manager’s suite, plus a gym, sauna, and screening room. Topping it all off are the newly landscaped grounds, which are showcased by a pool and spa nestled alongside an open-air cabana equipped with a kitchen and bar setup, along with a spacious motor court flanked by two garages that can accommodate up to six vehicles.
Per WSJ, the founder and managing principal of Republic Investment Company and his spouse are selling because they travel often and don’t spend enough time in the Beverly Hills home.
Click here for more photos of the 90210 estate.
Marc Angeles
Authors
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Wendy Bowman