Green acreage is the place to be
The buyer of actor Eddie Albert’s former estate in Pacific Palisades has come into focus.
Bobby Murphy, co-founder and chief technology officer of Snapchat creator Snap Inc., paid the asking price of $19.5 million for the California hacienda, according to sources not authorized to comment on the sale. The deal, which closed earlier this month, was made through a corporate entity.
Designed by John Byers and built in 1933, the well-preserved home is where Albert lived for nearly five decades. The film and television actor, who starred as lawyer-turned-farmer Oliver Wendell Douglas on the 1960s sitcom “Green Acres,” once planted corn in the home’s frontyard.
More recently, the house had been owned for more than a decade by noted landscape designer Jay Griffith.
The house, which maintains its period style, has more than 4,800 square feet of living space that includes a two-story foyer, a living room with an oversized fireplace, a dining room, five bedrooms and six bathrooms. A vintage pub room is awash in rustic wood paneling.
In addition to the main house, the three-quarter-acre estate includes several outdoor pavilions and a swimming pool surrounded by lawn. Views take in the nearby canyon, mountains and ocean.
Murphy, 29, founded the social media and technology company Snapchat in 2011 with Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown. Later rebranded as Snap, the company is among L.A.’s biggest in the tech field, with a market capitalization of more than $20 billion.
Albert, who died in 2005 at 99, earned Oscar nominations for his performances in “Roman Holiday” (1953) and “The Heartbreak Kid” (1972). His “Green Acres” character also appeared on the shows “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Petticoat Junction.”
Fran Flanagan of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury and Brett Lawyer of Hilton & Hyland, an affiliate of Christie’s International
Real Estate, were the listing agents. Todd Stein of Campbell Wellman Properties represented Murphy.