Aug. 12--Shane Smith, the co-founder and chief executive of Vice Media, was the buyer of a Santa Monica compound that sold last month for $23 million, The Times has confirmed.
One of the priciest sales historically for the Westside community, the 1932 Mediterranean known as Villa Ruchello has had numerous brushes with stars over the years.
Formerly owned by author-screenwriter Victoria Foyt and film director Henry Jaglom, the home was used as a location for the HBO series "Entourage" and the film "Beverly Hills Cop."
The house was also used as a short-term home for members of Fleetwood Mac and British singer-songwriter Lily Allen.
Set behind walls and antique gates, the sprawling compound has an eight-bedroom main house, a two-bedroom guest house and a two-bedroom gatehouse for a total of 14,000 square feet of space.
Interiors featuring inlaid floors and hand-painted ceilings include formal and informal living areas, a two-story entry and a library with a hidden speakeasy bar. There are 12.5 bathrooms in all.
Mature trees, formal gardens, fountains and a swimming pool make up the 3.3-acre grounds.
On the market last year for $29.95 million, the compound was more recently priced at $28.5 million. It previously sold for $3.17 million in 1994, property records show.
Billy Rose, Edward Fitz and Santiago Arana of The Agency were the listing agents. Myra Nourmand of Nourmand Associates Beverly Hills represented the buyer.
Smith, 45, co-founded the alternative-news company Vice Media with Gavin McInnes and Suroosh Alvi in 1994. The company was valued at more than $2.5 billion last summer after striking an investment deal with A Networks, a joint venture of Walt Disney Co. and Hearst.
