Looking for a $100 Million House? (You just missed it)

Let's face it, the last few years have been difficult, economically speaking. Few professions know this better than realtors. Some properties just don't command the kind of prices anymore that they used to get. Some, however...really do.

If you're like me, the closest you'll ever get to a 100 million dollar mansion is a tour of the White House. In Los Angeles, however, one just got away.

From the La Times:

Fleur de Lys on L.A.’s Westside has changed hands for $102 million, making it the highest-priced home sale ever recorded in L.A. County. Three billionaires engaged in a bidding war for the nearly five-acre trophy estate, the winner closing in 10 days in an all-cash deal that included antique furnishings.

The 50,000-square-foot residence was sold by socialite Suzanne Saperstein, who had the mansion custom built in 2002 with her then husband, Metro Networks founder David Saperstein. They divorced three years after work was finished, and she first listed property in 2007 just as the Great Recession was taking hold.

Wow. That price has got to be some kind of record, right? Nope.

The sale does not top the U.S. record set last year when a mansion on nine acres in the Northern California community of Woodside went for $117.5 million. That deal's buyer and seller were business partners and may have included other considerations.

The transaction does beats the long-held local record established in 2000 when Dole Food Co. billionaire David Murdock sold a Bel-Air property to financial executive Gary Winnick in a $94-million deal that involved a parcel of land in trade.

As you may expect, the market is not such that a 2pm-4pm open house was required each Sunday afternoon.

“This is a very thin market, in a similar vein to an art market,” said economist Gary Painter, director of research for USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. “There’s only one of that type.” Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency, who represented Saperstein in the sale, echoed that sentiment. “This is one of the greatest estates in Los Angeles, if not the country.”

Okay, let's get onto the specifics (I wonder if they had one of those weather-proof flyer boxes out in front with the details):

Wrought-iron gates open to a 600-foot-long tree-lined driveway that leads to a cobblestone courtyard in front of the house. Just inside the front door is a marbled-floored two-story entry hall topped by a gold-leaf paneled ceiling. A pair of staircases lead upstairs, and a doorway flanked by columns looks out to the back yard and gardens.

Inspired by Vaux-le-Vicomte, a palace outside Paris, the mansion has also been likened to miniature Versailles surrounded by formal gardens, mature trees and a soccer-field size expanse of lawn. The 4.6 acres of grounds include two motor courts, a swimming pool and spa complex and a tennis court.

Imported limestone blocks enclose a massive steel frame, set on rollers in the foundation, to safeguard the structure in an earthquake. Interior spaces include a ballroom for parties of 500, a two-story wood paneled library, a movie theater, a music room, a dozen bedrooms and 15 bathrooms.

Services spaces include a commercial kitchen, a room for the cutlery and dishes, a butler’s pantry, a staff dining room, staff offices and a security center.

The 3,000-square-foot wine cellar and tasting room is larger than most American houses, as is the manager’s house.

Those who have never stepped foot in the palatial estate may have had an unknowing glimpse on television or at the movies. Parts of it were used for the ABC drama “Big Shots” (2007-08), Audi commercials during the 2008 Super Bowl, and the 2011 film “The Green Hornet.”

I'll admit that I was wondering whether the price was worth it--but now that I know they used it for The Green Hornet...

You've gotta take a look at some of the photos of this place...here.

Might be interesting when the new owner meets the neighbors...