LOS ANGELES _ Forget the bubbling crude, there's money in real estate, Jed!
Classic television watchers may recognize Chartwell from the credits of "The Beverly Hillbillies" sitcom. However, in real estate circles, it has long been considered among L.A.'s great estates.
The Bel-Air residence of late media mogul A. Jerrold Perenchio has sold for about $150 million, making it the most expensive home sale ever recorded in the Golden State. The buyer is Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and co-chairman of publishing company News Corp., the Los Angeles Times has confirmed.
Priced as high as $350 million as a pocket listing, the estate centers on a 1930s French neoclassical-style chateau of 25,000 square feet that sits on 10 acres. Also trading in the deal was the former home of President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, which sits behind the main estate.
The price surpasses Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone's $119.75 million sale this year of the Manor, a 56,500-square-foot chateau in Holmby Hills.
Designed by architect Sumner Spaulding, the limestone-clad estate includes such Gatsby-esque features as a ballroom, scaled formal rooms and a vaulted foyer. The custom wine vault can hold 12,000 bottles. There's also a paneled dining room.
Perenchio, who died in 2017 at 86, acquired the main estate and three contiguous parcels in the 1980s. Under his direction, the main residence was enhanced and restored by designer Henri Samuel and architect Pierre Barbe.
Obscured from the street by walls and hedges, the grounds contain manicured gardens, elaborate fountain features, a tennis court, a 75-foot swimming pool and a pool house. A separate guesthouse was designed by noted architect Wallace Neff.
Since his death, Perenchio's estate has listed and sold a number of properties, including large holdings in Malibu. Across from Chartwell, a vacant property Perenchio used as a private vineyard sold in November for $12 million.
