$48.67-million sale sets Pacific Palisades record
Media mogul Shane Smith recently made real estate history in Pacific Palisades, unloading his prized compound for $48.67 million — an all-time record for the coastal community.
It’s the priciest sale the neighborhood has seen by a large margin, beating out a Georgian-style estate owned by the late entertainment mogul Michael King that traded hands for $33.85 million in 2018. It’s also the second-largest deal in Los Angeles County this year, behind a Beverly Park mansion that was auctioned off for $51 million.
Smith, the flashy entrepreneur who co-founded Vice Media and serves as its executive chairman, more than doubled his money on the deal. In 2015, he shelled out $23 million for the leafy retreat, which has a Santa Monica mailing address.
Known as Villa Ruchello, the Mediterranean-style mansion lived a long life before Smith moved in. In addition to starring in “Entourage” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” the palm-topped compound has been occupied by director Henry Jaglom and members of Fleetwood Mac.
At 3.35 acres, it’s one of the biggest properties in Pacific Palisades and makes the most of its space with three homes that combine for 13 bedrooms and 12 ½ bathrooms in 14,000 square feet. Lawns, gardens and citrus groves spruce up the tropical grounds.
The main house was built in 1932, and a recent multimillion-dollar renovation brought new life along with Old Hollywood style. An exterior of white stucco and clay tile leads to lumberfilled living spaces, dark hardwood floors line the foyer, and warm wood walls cover a lounge with a stone fireplace.
Elsewhere are two kitchens, a living room under rugged beams, wine cellar and wet bar. Romantic balconies and loggias hang off the home, overlooking the verdant grounds with a 74-foot-long swimming pool, Japanese-style cedar soaking tub and pizza oven.
Santiago Arana of the Agency held the listing. Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency represented the buyer.
A native of Canada, Smith founded Vice with Suroosh Alvi and Gavin McInnes in 1994 as a magazine and has since grown the media brand into an industry-spanning empire worth billions. McInnes, known for his far-right political views, left Vice in 2008 and went on to found the Proud Boys.
Ellen f lips again
The selling spree continues for Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. A month after listing a pedigreed Beverly Hills mansion for $53.5 million, the celebrity house flippers have sold the place for $47 million.
That briefly ranked as Southern California’s second-priciest home sale of the year, until the deal by media mogul Shane Smith.
It’s a profit of $4.5 million for the power couple, who bought the property from Maroon 5’s Adam Levine for $42.5 million in 2019.
DeGeneres and De Rossi haven’t skipped a beat during the pandemic, buying and selling estates at the blistering pace they always have. Last year, they unloaded a Bali-inspired retreat in Montecito for $33.3 million and also sold a Tudor-style spot in the same community to pop star Ariana Grande for $6.75 million.
The Beverly Hills estate spans an acre just above Sunset Boulevard and centers on a 10,400-square-foot home built in 1933. DeGeneres and De Rossi updated the place during their stay; the two-story floor plan now boasts living spaces with reclaimed wood floors and steel-framed windows and doors.
Highlights include a twostory foyer, 50-foot-long living room, paneled library, gym and stainless-steel kitchen. Wet bars anchor the formal dining room and movie theater.
Elsewhere are five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Lawns and patios dot the grounds outside, wrapping around an oval-shaped swimming pool, tennis court and guesthouse.
DeGeneres, 63, has won multiple Emmys for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which premiered in 2003. She also has hosted the Grammys, the Academy Awards and the NBC game show “Ellen’s Game of Games,” which is airing its fourth season.
De Rossi, 48, has appeared on the legal drama “Ally McBeal” and the sitcoms “Arrested Development” and “Better Off Ted.” More recently, she played Elizabeth North on the ABC show “Scandal.”
Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency held the listing. Bob Safai and Brian Lane of Madison Residential represented the buyer.
A fashionable villa
Fashion designer Sue Wong crafts dresses that recall the glitz and glamour of Old Hollywood, and her latest creation in Los Feliz matches the same romantic style. The 1920s villa, which she restored and transformed over the last year, is listed for $6.2 million.
Near the entrance to Griffith Park, the Spanishstyle hacienda isn’t the first Los Feliz home Wong has given a makeover. In 2004, she bought a 10,000-squarefoot mansion known as the Cedars, and during a three-year-restoration she brought the estate back to its Golden Age of Hollywood glory.
Wong said she wants her homes to be “temples of healing and renewal, in which the inhabitants can restore themselves in a beautiful environment for the healing of body, mind and spirit.” She designed the Los Feliz listing as a turnkey property — down to the kitchenware and bedding — and decorated it with custom Andalusian furniture.
Heaps of colorful tile bring period charm to the 6,000-square-foot floor plan, nowhere more prominently than the 1,200-square-foot living room under dramatic wood beams. At the center of the space is a massive stained-glass window she calls “Tree of Life.”
Inspired by the style of Viennese Secession artist Gustav Klimt, Wong said it represents the spiritual core of the house.
The six bedrooms and 7 ½ bathrooms boast Moroccan style, and more modern upgrades include dual-pane windows and a Nest security system. Outside, the halfacre grounds add a swimming pool, cabana and gazebo. Fire pits, cactus gardens and an outdoor kitchen complete the scene.
Markus Canter and Cristie St. James of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties hold the listing along with Rachael Brook.
Wong is best known as a fashion designer, and her signature dresses have been donned by Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Tyra Banks and Anne Hathaway.