$195 million William Randolph Hearst home sells for $47 million

[left-of-center2012]

A Beverly Hills, Calif., estate once owned by William Randolph Hearst and listed for $195 million is poised to sell for a fraction of that amount following a lengthy bankruptcy proceeding. In 2019, he placed the limited-liability company that owns the property into chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid a foreclosure auction, the Journal said. Fortress Investment Group has said it is owed more than $70.9 million in unpaid loans and interest, according to California bankruptcy court documents.

The accepted offer is $47 million, according to California bankruptcy court documents. The property’s longtime owner, attorney Leonard Ross, had been trying to sell the property on and off since 2007. Mr. Ross bought the property more than 40 years ago and listed it for $195 million in 2016.

The roughly 5-acre estate dates to 1927. After Mr. Hearst died in 1951, it was owned by actress Marion Davies, his longtime companion. President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis vacationed there for their honeymoon after their 1953 marriage. Scenes from “The Godfather” (1972) were filmed at the house.

The main house, with about 29,000 square feet, was designed by the architect Gordon Kaufmann and built in an H-shape with elaborate balconies and archways. There are 28 bedrooms throughout the property, which includes a guesthouse and a security house.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/william-randolph-hearst-los-angeles-home-11629423329

[Chainfire]

1. Who would pay that much money for a nearly hundred year old house.

I guess, someone with a lot of kids with that many bedrooms.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Lots more where that came from:

https://twitter.com/WSJRealEstate

I'll have to get down to the library to read this week's Mansion section.

[cinematicdiversions]

3. By definition it is not a 195 million home

Any more than I have a million dollar Kia just because I list it for that amount on Craigslist.

[MissB]

4. Your house is worth

Whatever someone will pay on the day they buy it.

[RockRaven]

5. It is not, and never was, a $195M home. That's not what the dude paid for it 40 yrs ago, and

it's not what someone paid for it now. Any aspirations of what it might sell for some day were just someone's fantasy.

And unlike commodities whose units are functionally identical like stock shares or bushels of corn, one unit of real estate such as this is not interchangeable with others, so the price of other items' sales do not represent the actual value of this unique snowflake of a piece of real estate. 195 was only ever a guess or hope, and people are often wrong or delusional.

[left-of-center2012]

6. The word 'overthinking' comes to mind

Is that a word?