Ravishing Rossetti Residence in Los Feliz Listed at $12 Million

Stop the presses, hold the phone, and turn the car around—a real corker has just hit the market. Known as the Rossetti Residence, the 1928 Spanish Colonial Revival in the Los Feliz Oaks neighborhood was designed by the incomparable Paul R. Williams for Victor Rossetti, a vice president (and later president) of the Farmers & Merchants Bank. Constructed at a cost of $47,000, the two-and-a-half-story house boasts a cavalcade of lavish Roaring Twenties details such as coffered and stenciled ceilings, elaborately carved doors and plaster, ornamental iron work, gorgeous tile, and a dramatic, sweeping staircase.

Last sold in 2006, the Rossetti house was awarded Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument status two years later. According to the Cultural Heritage Commission documents, at the time of application, the property's only notable alterations were a reinforced concrete addition to the porch done by Williams in 1937, and a 2007 overhaul that included a new bathroom; earthquake retrofitting; and heating, cooling, electric, and plumbing system updates. Since then, a few more changes appear to have been wrought—per the listing, the house's features now include eight bedrooms, eight baths, "three separate offices/guest houses," a library, a gym, a wine cellar, a pub room, a garden, and a "newly constructed swimming pool."

Purchased nine years ago for $3.2 million, the .44-acre property is now asking a cool $12 million. Should it fetch that price, it will shatter the record for the neighborhood's most expensive home sale ever, currently held by another Paul Williams-designed residence, Villa Andalusia, which traded hands for $8.3 million in 2014.

2188 Ponet Drive [Official site]
2188 Ponet Dr [Estately]