Once listed for $350 million, the Bel-Air estate of late media tycoon A. Jerrold Perenchio is the second priciest home ever to have traded in the U.S.
Lachlan Murdoch, media executive and son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has paid roughly $150 million for Chartwell, a Bel-Air estate, according to people familiar with the deal.
Lachlan Murdoch is co-chairman of News Corp, which owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
When it listed in 2017 for $350 million, the château-style home was the most expensive in the country. While this deal falls short of that, it still sets a record for a home in the Los Angeles area. It is also the second most expensive residential sale ever recorded in the country, according to data from appraiser Jonathan Miller.
Sitting on more than 10 acres, Chartwell was designed by architect Sumner Spaulding in the 1930s as a French Neoclassical-style mansion, according to the listing. The exterior of the 25,000-square-foot house was used as the Clampett residence in the television show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
The home’s interiors were renovated in the late 1980s, but agents who have seen the estate in recent years said it could still require a multiyear renovation that could cost in the tens of millions. In addition to the main house, the property has a Wallace Neff-designed five-bedroom guest house, a 75-foot pool, a pool house, a tennis court, a car gallery for 40 vehicles and manicured gardens, according to the listing.
The seller was the estate of the late media billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio, according to people familiar with the deal. He died in 2017 at age 86.
Mr. Perenchio was the chairman and chief executive of Univision; he led the group that purchased it in 1992, then sold it to a group of investors for $12 billion in 2006. He famously promoted the 1971 championship fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
The deal is the latest in a recent string of sales to have topped $100 million in Los Angeles. Earlier this year, a Holmby Hills house owned by Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone and formerly owned by television producer Aaron Spelling sold for close to $120 million, records show. In August, NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer sold his Malibu, Calif., home for about $100 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Agents say Los Angeles has been the best performing luxury market in the country this year, in terms of ultra-high price tags. Other segments of the market, such as the $10 million to $40 million price category, have suffered from an oversupply of spec homes, which has been a drag on prices.
The listing agents of the property include Drew Fenton, Jeff Hyland and Gary Gold of Hilton & Hyland; Joyce Rey, Jade Mills and Alexandra Allen of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury; and Drew Gitlin and Susan Gitlin of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties.
