Zsa Zsa Gabor’s widower must move out of her longtime Bel Air home

A new owner might renovate or tear it down

By Jenna Chandler@jennakchandler Dec 20, 2016, 10:55am PST

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s (ninth) husband, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, will have to move out of the ornate Bel Air home where the late actress lived for four decades. For the past three years, the couple lived in the six-bedroom villa even though they no longer owned it.

2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards - Arrivals — Frederic Prinz von Anhalt at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica.

Strapped for cash, but not wanting to leave the elegant estate, Gabor and Prinz von Anhalt found a buyer who, in 2012, put himself on the note and allowed them to live there for at least four years or until her death. The couple paid $325,000 each year, and the new owner paid the mortgage, a source close to the deal says. (Property records show it sold in September 2012 for $9, and in April 2013, Reuters reported that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge authorized the sale in what’s called a deferred transaction).

Gabor died Sunday, and now escrow is expected to close in about 90 days, so Prinz von Anhalt needs to find a new place to live. The new owner is a real estate mogul who might renovate or tear down the Bel Air mansion, our source says.

The house, which, according to the New York Times, features a multitiered clothes closet that held 5,000 of Gabor’s garments, was built in 1955, ~~reportedly~~ possibly by Howard Hughes. It features a circular foyer, a “grand saloon,” formal dining room, excellent views, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, a couple of toilets nestled in the foliage outside to purposely to annoy neighbors.

It was once owned by Elvis Presley before Gabor scooped it up in 1974, according to the New York Times. Twelve years later, Gabor married Prinz von Anhalt, described by Variety as “outspoken and notoriously erratic.”

Prinz von Holt tried to sell the home multiple times, at one point for as much as $28 million. It most recently listed for $14.9 million.

Roger Perry, the couple’s realtor tells Curbed, “On a personal note...I’ve become very close with Prinz, he was a very good husband to his wife. I saw firsthand how he took care of her, and it was exemplary...it was very lovely to see how he protected her.”