BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – (Realty News Report) – The Hearst Estate, featured in “The Godfather” movie, has been sold at an auction for $63.1 million.
With competitive bidding starting at $48 million and proceeding at $100,000 increments, the courtroom auction ended with a billionaire named Nicolas Berggruen taking the keys to the mansion.
Berggruen was nicknamed the “homeless billionaire” in the press because he had no permanent address and thrived in an upscale frequent-flyer lifestyle.
Now, Berggruen, a US-based billionaire real estate investor and philanthropist, has a place he can call home — the 29,000-SF Hearst Estate, which sits on a huge lot in Beverly Hills, California.
The nine-bedroom mansion, a former residence of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, was also used as the honeymoon hideaway for Jacqueline (nee Bouvier) and John F. Kennedy.
Beverly Hills Drive near Sunset Boulevard
The Hearst Estate, painted a salmon pink, was built in 1926 on 3.5 acres on North Beverly Hills Drive, three blocks north of Sunset Boulevard.
The main house on the Hearst Estate has15 bathrooms, comes with 7,000 SF in ancillary structures, including two staff/guest apartments, a pool house, a tennis pavilion, and a two-story 5-bedroom gatehouse.
15 Bathrooms, a Tennis Pavilion and a Very Long Driveway
Resting at the end of one of the city’s longest private driveways, this home is a Mediterranean-style classic by architect Gordon Kaufman. A formal living room features 22-foot arched hand-painted ceiling. The house has two-story wood-paneled library and a billiards room with herringbone parquet floorsand a fireplace from the Hearst Castle. For entertaining, the mansion and grounds can comfortably accommodate up to 1,000 guests.
“The Hearst Estate is anchored in American Legend and is a one-of-a-kind home that is truly a spectacular property,” said LA realty agent Anthony Marguleas of Amalfi Estates. Marguleas calls the Hearst mansion one of “the 10 most iconic homes in LA.”
Amalfi Estateshad a listing for the estate with Gary Gold of Hilton & Hyland, Zizi Pak of Rodeo Realty and John Gould of Rodeo Realty.
The property was on the market for a total 162 days during which it received 71 inquires, 41 private showings, 12 written offers and 5 overbidders at the auction on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles.
While shots of the exterior of the mansion were used in “The Godfather,” the movie used a home on Long Island, NY for the indoors footage, including bloody scene with a horse’s head in a bed.
Sept. 15, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
Photo credit: Jim Bartsch
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File; Hearst Mansion Sold at Auction to Nicolas Berggruen