Chinese billionaire is buyer of USC presidential mansion
When USC’s presidential mansion set a San Marino record by selling for $25 million in early July, it was initially unclear who the buyer was. Real estate records now show it was purchased by Tianqiao Chen, a Chinese billionaire with deep philanthropic ties to the community.
Chen, who purchased the historic home through a limited liability company, founded Shanda Interactive Entertainment in 1999. The online gaming company that has since grown into an international investment firm known as Shanda Group.
It was pure circumstance how he first came to the area. While watching the news, he and his wife, Chrissy, saw a story of a Caltech scientist helping a quadriplegic man use his thoughts to control a robotic arm and grab a beer.
Shortly after, the couple flew to Pasadena to meet the scientist — a trip that led to Chen giving Caltech $115 million for neuroscience research, one of the largest gifts the university had ever received.
In 2016, he founded the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech, complete with a three-story, 150,000-squarefoot facility on campus that was dedicated to the couple earlier this year.
He’ll have a short commute if he visits, because his home sits about a mile from the facility.
Known as the Seeley Mudd Estate, the mansion is virtually unparalleled in the affluent community. It covers seven acres on land donated by U.S. Army Gen. George Patton and railroad mogul Henry Huntington, who established San Marino’s Huntington Library a few miles away.
For reference, no other properties on the market in San Marino have more than three acres.
At the center sits a 14,000-square-foot American Colonial-style mansion built in 1934 by Reginald Davis Johnson, a Pasadenabased architect whose other works include the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel and the Hale Solar Laboratory.
It has served as the home of USC presidents since 1979, but amid cost-cutting measures due to the pandemic, the school decided to sell the estate and spent $8.6 million on a smaller, sleeker home in Santa Monica to replace it last spring.
The sprawling compound includes forests of sycamores, oaks and Chinese elms, as well as a series of grassy lawns and rose gardens where USC hosted dinners and galas over the years.
Walnut floors, original steel windows and 17th century wood panels are found in the 87-year-old main house, and other structures include a guesthouse, log cabin and carriage house with a gas station and carwash bay. There’s also an outdoor kitchen, swimming pool and sunken tennis court.
Chen’s purchase marks the first time the house has ever officially been sold. He paid $500,000 more than the original asking price of $24.5 million.
Brent Chang of Compass and Ernie Carswell and Austin Alfieri of Douglas Elliman held the listing. Richard Williamson of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty represented Chen.
Not ready to buy? Rent it for $45,000
Space is at a premium in Hollywood Hills, but not on the sprawling hillside compound of actress Helen Mirren and director Taylor Hackford. The power couple’s longtime property, which spans 6.5 acres at the foot of Runyon Canyon Park, listed for sale at $18.5 million.
If you’re eyeing a shorter stay, it’s also available to be leased at $45,000 per month.
At 6.5 acres, it’s the second-largest property currently available in Hollywood Hills. Only three estates on the market in the star-studded neighborhood claim more than three acres.
According to the listing, there have only been four owners — all famous — since the home was built more than a century ago: “The Squaw Man” actor Dustin Farnum, writer Mark Hellinger, “Perry Mason” producer Gail Patrick, and Mirren and Hackford, who acquired the estate in the 1980s.
Claiming a long, narrow strip of land that runs from La Brea Terrace up into Runyon Canyon, the palmtopped property includes a main house, guesthouse and apartment atop a fivecar garage that combine for nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms across 10,200 square feet. There’s also a swimming pool with city views and a terrace for entertaining.
Blue shutters and a bright red front door accent the main home’s white stucco exterior, which opens to a step-up foyer topped by a chandelier. French doors line the living room, and other notable spaces include a wood-paneled lounge with a bar and Saltillo tile kitchen with a floorto-ceiling brick fireplace.
Throughout the floor plan, decks and balconies overlook the leafy grounds and city below.
A decorated actress of film and theater, Mirren has myriad credits including “Cal,” “The Long Good Friday,” “Gosford Park” and “The Madness of King George.” She’s received four Academy Award nominations, winning one for her performance in 2006’s “The Queen.”
Hackford has been directing films since the ’70s and received two Academy Award nominations for his 2004 biopic “Ray.” From 2009 to 2013, he served as president of the Directors Guild of America.
Joyce Rey and Stephen Apelian of Coldwell Banker Realty hold the listing.
Actress gets her price and more
In the latest example of Southern California’s seller’s market, “Charlie’s Angels” actress Shelley Hack sold her Santa Monica Craftsman for $11.43 million — or $2.58 million more than she was asking.
Hack and her husband, director Harry Winer, are walking away with a huge profit. Not only did they haul in significantly more than their original asking price of $8.85 million, but they also paid just $1.6 million for the property in 1988.
The secluded compound sits about a mile from the ocean in Santa Monica’s North of Montana neighborhood. Across half an acre, there’s a 99-year-old main home, one-bedroom guesthouse, rustic barn and manicured backyard with a deck and pool surrounded by gardens and fruit trees.
A classic Craftsman, the home is entered through a spacious front porch and features bright, columnlined spaces with hardwood floors and splashes of tile in the bathrooms and fireplaces. A highlight comes in the sunroom, a window-lined space with French doors and a skylight.
Five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms are spread across 4,353 square feet, including a second-story primary suite with a balcony overlooking the pool below. Out back, a trellis-topped deck leads to the hedged backyard.
Hack, 74, starred as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of “Charlie’s Angels,” and her other TV credits include “Cutter to Houston” and “Jack and Mike.” She and Winer serve as co-presidents of the production company Smash Media.
F. Ron Smith and David Berg of Smith & Berg Partners at Compass held the listing. Robert Morton, also with Smith & Berg Partners at Compass, represented the buyer.
Director Duvernay changes scenes
It took a couple of price cuts, but Oscar-nominated director Ava Duvernay has sold her Midcentury perch in Hollywood Hills for $2.06 million.
The California native behind the films “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time” picked up the property for $1.85 million in 2017 and put it on the market late last year for $2.48 million. Records show she trimmed the price to $2.2 million, then $2.1 million before closing the deal in July.
At 3,600 square feet, the hillside home is a bit smaller than her new spot — a Mediterranean mansion she bought last year for $9.8 million in Los Feliz. The scenery makes up for the limited space; in addition to three spacious decks, the home has a spiral staircase that leads to the rooftop overlooking city lights and rolling hills.
Inside, skylights, clerestories and walls of glass brighten spaces such as a sitting area in the foyer and an open floor plan with a fireplace and dining area. There’s an office and upgraded kitchen to go along with four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, including a lower-level primary suite with access to the bottom deck.
Built in the 1960s, the three-story home sits in the Hollywood Knolls neighborhood and comes with a one-car garage.
A native of Long Beach, Duvernay attended UCLA before a career in film that has seen her direct movies such as “Middle of Nowhere” and “Selma,” for which she received a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination.
The 48-year-old received another Oscar nomination for her 2016 Netflix documentary “13th” and was elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors last year.
Ikem T. Chukumerije of Westside Premier Estates held the listing. Andrew Mortaza and Bryan Castaneda of the Agency represented the buyer.