Where are the whales in Los Angeles? Oh, about where you'd expect: Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Malibu, a couple of iconoclasts in the Hills or in Brentwood. To close out Whale Week we've mapped 27 properties belonging to 19 of Los Angeles's biggest whales--the people who are always buying and selling, those who are buying and selling the most interesting or expensive houses, and those who are just plain filthy rich and thus worthy of our keen and devoted interest. Enjoy and try not to get splashed.
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Mapping 19 of Los Angeles's Biggest Property Whales
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Michael Ovitz
Superagent Michael Ovitz commissioned local superarchitect Michael Maltzan to build him this house in Beverly Hills, mostly as a showcase for his art collection.
Michael LaFetra (Schnabel Residence)
Michael LaFetra is the top (and sometimes it feels like only) guy in town preserving and protecting lovely mid-century properties. We hear he's gone a bit off-book and just recently bought the Frank Gehry-designed Schnabel House in Brentwood for $9.5 million.
Michael LaFetra (Jones & Emmons)
LaFetra beat out several other bidders last spring for this gorgeous Jones & Emmons in Beverly Hills, paying $6.625 million. He also owns scads more significant houses; he's constantly buying and selling.
Brad Grey
Paramount head Brad Grey bought this house in 2009; he and his wife apparently prefer it to the old Frank Sinatra estate in Beverly Hills he bought in 2010, where they got married. He's since razed that house and is trying to sell the land.
Candy Spelling
Superproducer Aaron Spelling's widow downsized from her 56,500 square foot house The Manor to a tiiiiiny 15,555 square foot condo at the AM Stern-designed The Century, paying $35 million.
Petra Ecclestone
Young Brit Ecclestone immediately established herself as a player in 2011 when she bought the Spellings' giant The Manor for $85 million.
Megan Ellison (1)
Young producer Megan Ellison (The Master, Zero Dark Thirty) and daughter of fellow property whale Larry Ellison, owns three neighboring properties in the Bird Streets. This was her first: a Steve Hermann design she bought for $12.6 million.
Megan Ellison (2)
Ellison paid $6.5 million for this one, which Hermann also worked on.
Megan Ellison (3)
Ellison's last acquisition was the former Esquire House, which she bought for $13.75 million.
Howard Marks
Oaktree Capital partner Howard Marks may have just lost a bundle on his Malibu property, but whatevs. He's got about a million properties all over the world, including this estate on fancy Oakmont Drive.
Mohamed Hadid
Prolific megamansion builder Mohamed Hadid's latest project in Beverly Hills is asking $58 million.
Patrick Soon-Shiong
LA's richest man has been pissing off his merely upper-middle-class Brentwood neighbors for years now building an enormous compound (below Sunset!).
Kirk Kerkorian
LA's third richest man owns this place on Beverly Hills's North Roxbury.
David Geffen (Beverly Hills)
Back in the '90s, music/movie mogul David Geffen spent $47.5 million on Warner Brother Jack Warner's enormous mansion in Beverly Hills.
David Geffen (Malibu)
Geffen famously tangled with the California Coastal Commission for years over public access by his Carbon Beach compound, which actually includes just short of half a dozen houses.
Ron Burkle (Greenacres)
Supermarket magnate Ron Burkle bought Greenacres in the early '90s; silent movie star Harold Lloyd built the (way lavish) estate in 1929.
Ron Burkle (Ennis House)
Burkle bought the famous Ennis House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in 2011 for about $4.5 million.
Eli Broad (Bel Air)
Frank Gehry designed the main home for LA's second richest man (and most prominent philanthropist).
Eli Broad (Malibu)
Broad commissioned architect Richard Meier for his Malibu beach house.
Sumner Redstone
Viacom head Sumner Redstone bought his Beverly Park house from Sylvester Stallone.
Steven Spielberg (Pacific Palisades)
Director Steven Spielberg is the ninth wealthiest Angeleno. He's had his place in the Riviera neighborhood for ages.
Steven Spielberg (Malibu)
Spielberg has rented out his Broad Beach house to David and Victoria Beckham.
Haim Saban
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers producer Haim Saban lives in megamansionville Beverly Park.
Ellen DeGeneres
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is really more of a former whale; she's been downsizing lately. But she and wife Portia de Rossi did buy this Hal Levitt-designed house in Beverly Hills recently for $17.4 million.
Anthony Pritzker
Hyatt heir Anthony Pritzker recently built himself a 49,300 square foot house in Beverly Hills with a two-story basement, a bowling alley, a guesthouse, and more.
Larry Ellison (1)
Ellison owns 10 properties on Carbon (aka Billionaires) Beach. He recently bought this Michael Graves design from former Yahoo! chief Terry Semel for about $37 million.
Larry Ellison (2)
Ellison bought this house recently from producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
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