Live like Bond in luxury home
With plenty of space to spare, this high-tech, sleek, sexy estate is built for entertaining a crowd
This house has 007-inspired details.
As you approach the towering black glass door at the entrance’s quartz stepping-stones, biometric technology reads your fingerprint to allow access.
But you barely have to lift a finger once past the front door. Mechanical systems are fully automated and a smartphone or iPad can instantly adjust lighting, air conditioning, temperatures, pocket doors and even the Jacuzzi.
The just-completed spec house on an exclusive cul-de-sac above Beverly Hills — two minutes from the celebrity-magnet Beverly Hills Hotel — is like secret agent-007 James Bond himself: sophisticated, sleek and sexy.
Curated by Los Angeles-based designer Joseph Ferrugio, the interiors are characterized by a dynamic mix of colour and texture, from the amethyst slab powder room and backlit onyx bar to the beechwood ceilings and walls wrapped in walnut.
Floating stairs lead to the upper floor where walls of glass glide open to the spacious wraparound terrace and putting green off the massive master suite. Two airy guest rooms provide private retreats for overnight visitors.
On the lower level, a Calacatta marble bar — just the spot for a vodka martini — provides a convenient vantage point to watch guests frolic in the 33-metre swimming pool through the underwater window.
“This house was built for James Bond,” declares listing agent Mauricio Umansky of the Agency, a global luxury real estate marketing company. “He’d feel right at home here.”
Umansky lists discerning singles, empty nesters and international business people among potential buyers of the mansion that could serve as primary residence, pied à terre or vacation property.
The property boasts all the bells and whistles, and high-tech toys you’d expect in a cutting-edge, top-of-the-line showplace.
The main-level chef’s kitchen features Caesarstone countertops and Miele appliances while the chamber of the elevator connecting the home’s three levels is encased in futuristic resin.
But don’t go looking for the garage to park your collection of exotic cars. This residence comes with a 2,000-squarefoot “auto gallery” — big enough to display half a dozen vehicles — with a floor so shiny and spotless it will reflect the prancing horse logo of your Ferrari. Send the cars outside for the night and the mirrored space could even serve as a disco-style dance floor.
Then there’s the living wall of lush plants, called “just fantastic” by Umansky for the way it brings vibrant, fresh colour to the lower-level lounge.
In the adjacent, temperature-controlled, walk-in wine room, bottles aren’t so much stored as artfully floated in a glass wall.
In keeping with the indoor-outdoor California lifestyle, the home’s glass doors open automatically to offer a seamless flow between interior and exterior living spaces — all the better to appreciate the eye-level vistas of treetops, cityscape, hills, mountains and ocean.
Bragging rights are a given with a house like this and it’s clear that entertaining guests was top-of-mind for the designer. Whether an intimate tête-à-tête for two by the glass-enclosed fire pit in the lounge or an exuberant soiree for 150 on the expansive terrace off the main level, options are abundant.
“It’s the whole package,” Umansky says, summing up the features and amenities designed to elevate the new owner’s living experience.
Its address on Shadow Hill Way is just one more appealing aspect to wannabe secret agents.