Questionably Legal Bev Hills Megamansion Flipping For $42M

The Los Angeles housing market is full of flips—a person can make a nice profit putting a formerly distressed property up for sale, or, in this case, an 11,200-square-foot monster of a spec house in Beverly Hills. Just over a year and a half after being sold for $31 million, a megamansion at 1201 Laurel Way is back on the market, listed for $42 million. It's a bit of an infamous house too, with a history chock full of borderline illegal permitting and neighborhood lawsuits.

Back in 2006, then-owner Papcap Laurel Way LLC (Richard Papalian) wanted to tear down a 4,318-square-foot, one-story house that had been on this lot since 1957, in order to build an elaborate spec house. Papalian informally queried the neighbors' on the project and found they were quite against it. Fearing that the city wouldn't grant him a demolition permit if angry neighbors showed up at the public hearing, Papalian instead applied for a much less strict remodel permit. The city allowed Papalian to tear down 50 percent of the original house for a "remodel," but he just went ahead and tore down 90 percent instead.

In its place, he erected a giant spec house with all the tacky trimmings. That 4,318-square-foot, one-story 1950s house became an 11,200-square-foot, glass-walled megamansion, its three stories standing a full nine feet taller than neighborhood restrictions allowed. The neighbors sued. Papalian said the city ok'd it, but the city denied that. It was bad blood all around, yet the house remained. In October 2013, it went on the market for $36 million, and sold just four months later for $31 million to the owner who has already put it back on the market with a significant markup.

For such a massive flip, it doesn't look like much refurbishment went down in the past 20 months. The listing photos are even the same ones used back in 2013, down to the sports cars in the glass-walled garage. If potential buyers can get past the icy stares of disgruntled neighbors, they'll find plenty of amenities inside for their $42 million. The house has six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, glass walls aplenty, a screening room, personal gym, 1,000-bottle wine cellar, putting green, what appears to be an infinity pool that surrounds one entire side of the home, and a zen garden to keep the owners humble.

· 1201 Laurel Way [Redfin]
· Monster Spec House That Started Bev Hills Beef Asking $36MM [Curbed LA]
· Showdown in Beverly Hills Over "Monster Home" [Curbed LA]