Last year, Vice Media co-founder and CEO, Shane Smith bought a $23-million Mediterranean fixer-upper. The estate, built in 1930, was grand but had been neglected. So Smith and his wife Tamyka embarked on an extensive renovation, then opened up their newly refreshed home to WSJ Magazine. "No one had really been taking care of the house for 15 years or so," Tamyka tells the magazine. "The owners had gotten a divorce and were renting it out. We had to replace all the plumbing, all the electrical, the roof and do the whole thing."
The house, known as Villa Ruchello, has been featured in Beverly Hills Cop and episodes of Entourage. (Some of the statues visible in the Beverly Hills Cop shootout scene remain in the backyard.) The property is extensive, with three structures totaling 14,000 square feet, spread across across over three acres of land—"one of the biggest lots in Santa Monica," says WSJ Magazine.
It’s also close enough to Vice’s Venice offices that Smith, who has never had a driver’s license, may bike to work.
The restoration went down to the smallest detail, including:
duplicating and recasting original terra-cotta tile in the powder room and incorporating pieces like handblown glass chandeliers from Venice, a geometric orb bar custom made by MJ Atelier, antique Persian rugs and various vintage French and Italian furnishings.
See the results below:
L.A. Vice: Inside Media Mogul Shane Smith’s Santa Monica Estate [WSJ Magazine]
Vice Media CEO Shane Smith Just Paid $23 Million For a Classy Old Santa Monica Compound [Curbed LA]
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