Microsoft mogul’s estate scores another sale
Paul Allen’s properties are selling like hotcakes. Days after the late Microsoft Corp. co-founder’s prized land in Beverly Crest traded hands for $65 million, his lavish compound a few miles away has sold for $45 million.
Allen’s estate has been shedding his assets slowly but surely since his death in 2018. In 2020, his 21,000square-foot mega-mansion in Atherton sold for $35.25 million. His megayacht, complete with a swimming pool and submarine, also found a buyer after once listing for $266 million.
Perched in Beverly Hills Post Office, the Spanishstyle hacienda first floated onto the market for $55.5 million last summer. It’s one of Allen’s largest estates, with five structures combining for more than 24,000 square feet.
There’s a 9,500-squarefoot villa built in the 1920s, 1,900-square-foot cinema building, 1,700-square-foot guesthouse, 1,100-squarefoot staff quarters and a steel-and-glass recording studio that spans nearly 9,200 square feet. Another highlight is the funicular, a glass-lined box that travels from the swimming pool to the tennis court.
The leafy, gated compound covers more than 3 acres, kicking off with a romantic courtyard covered in bougainvillea. White stucco and clay tile adorn the exterior, and inside, dramatic beams and skylights top bright, open living spaces.
The main level holds a formal dining room, library, movie theater and gym with a massage room. A sweeping, sculptural staircase leads upstairs to a primary suite with a limestone bathroom. It’s one of five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
Allen, who died at 65, was a programming genius who was 22 when he founded Microsoft with Bill Gates. After leaving the company eight years later, with what would become one of the largest fortunes in U.S. history, he devoted his life to philanthropic causes and investments, including buying the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers franchises.
Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency held the listing.
Rapper’s mansion is a hit in Toluca Lake
Sean Combs, the rapper better known as Diddy, has hauled in $6.51 million for his traditional-style mansion in Toluca Lake. It’s the neighborhood’s priciest sale in months.
Records show the Grammy-winning artist paid $5.25 million for the property in 2009, and he’s been shopping it around for $7 million since October.
Built in 2006, the stately home spans nearly 10,000 square feet — but it’s still not his biggest Southern California home. That title belongs to a 13,000-square-foot Holmby Hills showplace that he bought for $39 million in 2014.
Gated and landscaped, the half-acre estate makes the most of its space with a swimming pool, motor court, basketball court and lawn surrounding the Lshaped home. Columns and shutters adorn the exterior, leading to a two-story foyer with checkered floors and a sweeping staircase.
Elsewhere are six bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, a media room, spacious kitchen and formal living room anchored by an ornate stone fireplace. French doors open out back, where there’s another fireplace in a trelli-stopped patio.
At $6.513 million, it’s Toluca Lake’s most expensive sale since last May, when a waterfront Spanish-style abode traded hands for $7.25 million. The neighborhood’s all-time record was set last year when “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman dropped $17.5 million on a 1.4acre compound.
A hip-hop mogul, Combs is known as a savvy entrepreneur whose net worth has been pegged at more than $700 million.
His debut album “No Way Out” won the Grammy for best rap album, and he also founded Bad Boy Records, a label whose artist roster has included Notorious B.I.G., French Montana and Machine Gun Kelly.
Carl Gambino of Compass held the listing. Ted Fleming of Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills represented the buyer.
Actor heads east, lists longtime home
After nearly half a century in Hollywood Hills, actor Michael York — who starred in the “Austin Powers” film franchise — is relocating to the East Coast and listing his home for $7 million.
As is typical when you hold on to a house for more than four decades in Southern California, he’s in for a big return on investment. He and his wife, photographer Pat York, paid $260,000 for the property in 1976.
Perched above the Sunset Strip, the compound covers two parcels. One holds a single-story Midcentury built in the 1940s, and one is empty. Listing agent Linda May says it’s perfect for a guesthouse or just an extra bit of privacy.
Iron gates guard the property, opening to a small motor court and wooden double-door entry.
Inside, the 4,200-squarefoot floor plan boasts custom shelving, skylights, a library and living room with a Texas limestone fireplace and bar. Elsewhere are three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.
Outside, a sun deck wraps around a mosaic-tile swimming pool surrounded by potted shrubs and cacti. Views stretch from downtown L.A. to the ocean.
Linda May and Guy Levy of Hilton & Hyland hold the listing.
A native of England, York has starred in more than 70 films since the 1960s. His notable credits include “Romeo and Juliet,” “Cabaret,” “The Three Musketeers” and “Logan’s Run.” In 2001, he received an Emmy nomination for his role in the comedy series “The Lot.”