Ah, the New York Times revisits the already-storied tale of the sale of The Manor, Candy Spelling's 56,500 square foot white elephant in Holmby Hills. It was listed for years at $150 million, then finally sold last summer to 22 year old Formula One racing heiress Petra Ecclestone for $85 million (she has since had her way with the place), and it ended up being the highest-priced house sale in LA last year. What we didn't know was that Spelling was softened up a bit by a Russian billionaire who, later last year, set his own record for a sale in New York. Here's the dirt:
-- In 2010, Russian fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev visited LA with his daughter Ekaterina and made an $85 million offer on The Manor, but eventually decided not to buy. Ekaterina (with some help from dad) ended up setting a price per square foot record sale price in Manhattan when she bought Citi chairman Sanford Weill's unit at 15 Central Park West for $88 million.
-- Sidebar! Obligatory New York Times dig on LA: "Even in this town of fast fortunes and extravagant mansions..."
-- Young Ms. Ecclestone began her search last spring "ahead of her $19 million Italian wedding in August to James Stunt, a British businessman."
-- As we know, she checked out Fleur de Lys, the custom-built Holmby Hills behemoth belonging to philanthropist Suzanne Saperstein--that house has been listed approximately forever for $125 million. But Ecclestone ended up feeling that the 56,500 square foot Manor was "more of a family home," according to Hilton. "It was not as formal."
-- The $85 million sale of The Manor took 48 hours to work out.
-- That's thanks in part to Rybolovlev, who "had already negotiated with [Spelling] down to that number in 2010."
-- Incidentally, Rybolovlev also made a $85-100 million offer on the famous Beverly House (William Randolph Hearst bought the house for Marion Davies and later died there; it also played the home of producer Jack Woltz in the Godfather, although the horse head scene was apparently shot elsewhere).
· The $100 Million Question [NYT]
· The Manor Archives [Curbed LA]
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