The former home of Edie Goetz, the socialite who reigned over Old Hollywood, is on the market for $79 million, and new photos released by the listing agents offer a look inside the storied estate that has hosted the likes of Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Rosalind Russell, Bill Wilder, and Frank Sinatra.
Goetz was the daughter of MGM founder Louis B. Mayer. He bought the Holmby Hills mansion for her, and she shared it with her producer-husband William Goetz, turning the place into "the best address in town," hosting dinners and extravagant parties for Hollywood's rich and famous.
For more than three decades, it was "the center of Hollywood’s social scene," says Forbes:
Those fortunate enough to score an invitation to one of the couple’s lavish parties were reportedly shown pre-release films in the private screening room.
"The highest accolade for someone coming into this town was to be invited to the Goetzes—they had the best food, the best people, and the best things on walls," Oscar-winning director Billy Wilder once said, referring to the couple’s incredible art collection.(The 28 works, by artists including Picasso, Degas, and Mogliani, fetched a total of $85 million at Christie’s in 1988.)
The Gordon Kaufmann-designed home, which was built in 1938 and was later expanded, has three guest houses and two swimming pools.
It is for sale for the first time in 25 years.
The listing agents say the Art Deco-inspired library and bar is one of the estate’s most iconic rooms. It was designed by Billy Haines in the 1940s. (Haines decorated the homes of many Hollywood stars; he was once a leading man himself, but left the studios, because they objected to his "openly gay lifestyle.")
The estate no longer holds the impressive art collection amassed by the Goetzes, but, from the marble moldings, to the herringbone floors, to the twisting stairs, it still retains the look of a place worthy of hosting glamorous soirees.
- One of the last great estates from Hollywood’s golden age hits the market for $79M [Curbed LA]
- For Sale in Los Angeles Archives [Curbed LA]