Bel Air’s Chartwell compound, long regarded as one of L.A.’s most epic estates, sold for a record $150 million, easily ranking as California’s most expensive home. It’s also the second-highest amount ever spent on a New York penthouse, behind only hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase.
As per real estate sources, the $150 million deal included not just the Chartwell compound itself — which stretches more than 10 contiguous acres — but the vacant lot next door, which was Ronald Reagan’s longtime Los Angeles residence. Chartwell’s longtime owner, billionaire media tycoon Jerry Perenchio, razed the existing house shortly before his own death in 2017, after Nancy Reagan died in 2016. Her heirs sold the estate for million to Perenchio, whose family sold it for $15 million.
The entire compound was initially listed in summer 2017 with an elephantine – and ultimately unrealistic – $350 million asking price. Despite being less than half of the initial amount sought, the final transfer amount absolutely beats the previous California record-holder. There really is a market in Los Angeles for nine-figure homes, regardless of how niche, as the previous record for The Manor was $119.7 million just a few months ago.
In spite of the fact that the official grant deed has not yet been recorded in property records, word on the street is that Lachlan Murdoch, the elder son of Rupert Murdoch, and Sarah O’Hare, a model and actress, are the record-setting Chartwell buyers. A Manhattan-based holding company that controls Fox News, Fox Business, and Fox Sports, Murdoch is executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp, the media and publishing empire founded by his father.
Murdoch’s desire for an extravagant new home is hardly surprising. An avalanche of publicity accompanied the sale of 21st Century Fox assets to Disney earlier this year. According to Forbes, Rupert Murdoch alone is worth nearly $20 billion, up $8 billion from two years ago as a result of the deal.
A massive chateau-style mega-mansion with nearly 25,000 square feet of living space anchors the titanic complex in East Gate Bel Air, arguably the city’s most exclusive and desirable neighborhood. In addition to the house, there are 5,700 square feet of gardens that have been meticulously maintained. There is also a lighted tennis court, a subterranean garage large enough to accommodate dozens of luxury cars, and a Wallace Neff-designed guesthouse.
A wealthy real estate developer built the main house in the 1930s as a gift for his wife. She, however, reportedly disliked the house’s opulence and refused to occupy it. Thus, the property remained vacant until hotelier Arnold Kirkeby acquired it in the 1940s. The Beverly Hillbillies” featured the house prominently in the 1960s; in 1986, the Kirkeby family sold the palatial estate to Perenchio, who spent untold millions and many years renovating and expanding it.
An underground tunnel and an elevator connect the main house and the 75-foot resort-style pool, the property’s most outrageous feature.
Lachlan Murdoch and his family have been in Los Angeles for quite some time since he bought a “starter” house in Brentwood’s Mandeville Canyon neighborhood for $12.5 million in 2015. A $30+ million Wallace Neff-designed mansion sits high in the mountains above Beverly Hills, while his father still owns a $28 million vineyard estate in a different corner of Bel Air.
