Blog: Onetime estate of Rudolph Valentino hits market for $30M

Rudolph Valentino and 1436 Bella Dr, Beverly Hills (Credit: Wikipedia and Hilton Hyland)

A four-acre Beverly Crest property once owned by silent film star Rudolph Valentino is on the market for $29.5 million.

Valentino’s Spanish Revival home was demolished years ago, but there are now approved plans for a 30,000-square-foot mansion on the property, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The property has been owned since 2006 by Michael J. Rogerson, CEO of Irvine-based Rogerson Aircraft Corporation, property records show. He paid $4.8 million for the property. The property is now referred to as Falcon Lair, the name of Rogerson’s 220-foot super-yacht.

The home would inclue 4,000 square feet of covered patios, a wine tasting room, and a private garden for the master suite. It is designed to take advantage of the property’s views over Beverly Hills. The grounds have olive, lemon, pomegranate, and avocado trees, according to a listing with Hilton & Hyland. There is an existing guest house and garage on site.

A number of high-profile undeveloped properties have hit the market in Beverly Hills this year. The late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen listed a 120-acre site in July. A 157-acre site, known as the Mountain, caused a huge stir when it hit the market for $1 billion in August.

Valentino, an early Hollywood film legend, rose to prominence in the 1920s. He died in 1926 at the age of 31. The property was later owned by Doris Duke, a socialite and heir to a tobacco fortune. She died there in 1993. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch and Haru Coryne

Source: The Real Deal Los Angeles