A glance inside Sir Tom Hunter’s jaw-dropping £30m Hollywood home
HE began life as a grocer’s son in the Ayrshire mining town of New Cumnock before building up a business empire that made him Scotland’s first homegrown billionaire. Now Sir Tom Hunter has spent $38.5 million (£29.7 million) on a Beverly Hills mansion in Los Angeles, where his neighbours include Taylor Swift, below, Miley Cyrus and the Beckhams.
The hilltop home is almost ten times the size of the average British house and boasts its own art gallery, but it is understood that Sir Tom declined to buy 28 works by artists including Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Picasso which were offered for sale with the property.
The 55-year-old, whose main home is in Monkton, Ayrshire, and who also owns a luxury apartment overlooking the Thames at Battersea in London, viewed the mansion while on a recent visit to the United States, where he is hoping to expand his business interests.
The six-bedroom property – formerly owned by Hollywood actor and producer James Woods – also includes a 22-seat home cinema, an outdoor bathtub and 200ft hillside ‘infinity’ pool with sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles.
Jesse Lally, of estate agent Hilton & Hyland, said: ‘We are not allowed to talk about details. We have signed a non-disclosure contract to keep the buyer and terms of the sale private.’
Yesterday Sir Tom declined to talk about the new house, saying: ‘I don’t speak about that, I’m afraid – it’s a personal matter.’
The businessman, who was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2013, began his working life selling trainers from the back of a van and made his fortune when his Sports Division business was bought by JJB Sports for £290 million in 1998.
He is now a serial investor and helps a number of causes through his Hunter Foundation. On May 26 he will host a dinner in Edinburgh with former US President Barack Obama as his guest.