Exclusive: Comedian Chris Hardwick is buying a $5.6M Eagle Rock mansion

Comedian and Nerdist Industries founder Chris Hardwick is in escrow to buy a 1920s-era Eagle Rock mansion, Curbed has learned.

Sharon Hills of Kobeissi Properties, who represented Hardwick in the sale, tells Curbed that she tipped Hardwick off to the property, and that he was taken with the house. His purchase of the Bekins estate was motivated in part by the worry that, because the property is so large, it could be sold and redeveloped or otherwise altered.

“He truly bought this property to preserve it,” says Hills, who is also Hardwick’s mother.

The vast estate, which dates to 1925, was built for Martin Bekins, co-founder of the Bekins moving company, once the largest company of its kind in the world.

The residence holds many of the features one might expect in the home of a prosperous 1920s businessman: gleaming hardwood floors, leaded glass, elaborately patterned ceilings, crown moldings, and a sweeping staircase in the entry.

Spread across three acres, the property includes a swimming pool, terraced gardens, and a greenhouse. Laura Brandt of Partner's Trust had the listing.

Captivated as he is by the Bekins residence, Hardwick doesn’t plan to live there, says Hills. Instead, a caretaker will live in and look after the property. It’s also possible that events for historical organizations might be held there.

Hills tells Curbed that the sale to Hardwick is expected to close in early January.

Though the exact sale price is not yet available, the house was most recently listed for $5.595 million. If it sold for around that amount, the property would easily set a new record for Eagle Rock, knocking out a remodeled midcentury house that sold for $2.1 million in October.

Hardwick isn’t the first celebrity to be interested in the Eagle Rock residence. In October, it was reported that Katy Perry had planned to buy the Bekins estate on behalf of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which would use the property to host retreats for Catholic priests.

The former host of MTV’s Singled Out seems to have a thing for beautiful old houses. In 2015, Hardwick and his wife, heiress Lydia Hearst, bought a stunning Paul Williams-designed Spanish Colonial Revival mansion in Los Feliz’s tony Oaks neighborhood, paying $11 million. At the time, it was Los Feliz’s most expensive sale.

• Katy Perry’s plan to buy an Eagle Rock mansion for Catholic priests falls through [Curbed LA]
• Heiress Lydia Hearst Sets Los Feliz Record Buying Gorgeous and Historic Rossetti Residence [Curbed LA]