The legendary Owlwood Estate in Holmby Hills, once belonging to Sonny and Cher, has gone on the market for a cool $150 million, making it the most expensive home in Los Angeles. From HuffPo: “The Tuscan-style estate includes a 12,201-square-foot main house that was built in 1936 and designed by architect Robert D. Farquhar. Last time it went on the market, the description listed eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms; there is a pool, pool house and tennis court. The home was originally commissioned by Florence Quinn, the former wife of department store mogul Arthur Letts Sr., who was the visionary behind the creation of Holmby Hills. Later it was owned by producer Joe Schenck, and later still, actor Tony Curtis and the singing-songwriting duo Sonny and Cher. The estate currently includes two adjacent lots.”
I called Chaz to see if he had any memories he wanted to share with the WOW Report.
JSJ: Hey Chaz. So, wow. You grew up in the most expensive home in LA. Possibly the country. When did you live there and what do you remember?
Chaz: Well, we moved when I was about seven, so it was really the first house that I have any memories of. After the divorce, Mom kept the house and Dad moved into a house they lived in before. Then when Mom married Greg, we moved out.
Looking at the pics, it’s pretty magnificent.
Yeah. I remember the staircase, the grounds, the theater, the editing room… It was a pretty great place to grow up.
Do you remember any famous neighbors?
Well, the house and the grounds were so gigantic you don’t really get a sense of neighbors. There’s pretty much nothing else on the road. Once you turn off Sunset onto Carolwood, you have to drive all the way to the end of the street to get to the driveway. And you can barely see the house from the road. So it’s pretty isolated.
Your parents bought it from Tony Curtis?
That I don’t know.
So you’re going to put a bid on it, right? Try and reclaim it?
Ha! Not likely.
Well, how neat to have something like that in your history.
I write about it a little more extensively in my book Transition. You can probably get some more information there.
Thanks. Bye, honey!
Bye!