LOS ANGELES_On the heels of the record-setting sale of the Playboy Mansion, another storied Westside estate is ready to up the ante.
Attorney-businessman Leonard M. Ross has listed his Beverly Hills home back on the market for $195 million _ a $30-million uptick in price from when it was last publicly listed for sale nine years ago.
Alternatively, the buyer can buy just a portion of the estate for $175 million; in that scenario, a seven-bedroom house would not be included.
Known as the Beverly House, the grand estate was built for local banker Milton Getz and later owned by publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and actress Marion Davies.
Adding another layer of pedigree, the multi-acre property is where Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy honeymooned after exchanging vows in 1953. Scenes from the movies "The Godfather" and "The Bodyguard" were also filmed on the property.
The H-shaped mansion, designed by Gordon Kaufmann and completed in the 1920s, is entered through a two-story gatehouse and reached by a long private drive. A motor court and a fountain mark the front entrance.
Inside, the more than 50,000 square feet of interior space evokes the grandeur of Old Hollywood. Among the eye-catching details are carved and arched ceilings, paneled walls and period furnishings. The living room, which was designed by Davies and Hearst, doubles as a theater, complete with a drop-down screen and projection portals.
Other features of note include a 50-foot entry hall with a loggia, a garden-view bar and a two-story library with hand-carved woodwork. A separate billiard room retains its original herringbone parquet floors and a fireplace that was moved down from Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif.
Upstairs, a central hallway connects bedroom wings for family as well as staff quarters. There are 30 bedrooms and 40 bathrooms in all.
A lighted tennis court, a swimming pool, two ponds, loggias, fountains and formal landscaping fill the grounds. A separate two-bedroom apartment and a one-bedroom security cottage also sit on the property.
The Beverly House's fourth owner, Ross has lived in the residence for nearly four decades. During that time he has restored, maintained and expanded the house by about 20,000 square feet to its current footprint; a replica of a wet bar from Hugh Hefner's now-defunct club Touch is in one of his additions.
Although it has not been publicly offered for nearly a decade, the Beverly House has, in recent years, been shopped as a whisper listing for as much as $145 million and as little as $115 million. Three years ago it came up for lease at $600,000 a month.
