A glass-half-full, glass-half-empty sale recently closed in Beverly Park, where an Italian-inspired mansion called Villa Firenze sold at auction for $51 million. The deal makes it the priciest home to ever be auctioned off, but the final number is more than $100 million shy of its original price tag of $165 million.
The official sale price in the public record is $51 million, but an additional deal with furnishings from the home brought the tag up to around $60 million, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Spanning 10 acres and centering on a 28,600-square-foot mansion, the estate had been floating on and off the market since 2017. It surfaced for sale at $160 million last summer before eventually hitting the auction block with no reserve earlier this year.
Concierge Auctions, an online marketplace that specializes in luxury real estate, handled the sale. The company broke its own record; in 2018, it auctioned off a Florida mansion modeled after France’s Palace of Versailles for a then-record $42.5 million.
It’s also Southern California’s most expensive on-market real estate deal so far this year, beating out a Mediterranean-style spot in Beverly Hills that sold for $35.2 million in February, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
The seller was Hungarian billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy, the executive chairman of Air Lease Corp. who made his fortune in the airplane leasing industry. Forbes puts his net worth at $4.3 billion.
He bought the property in 1993, and the impressive estate was finished five years later by architect William Hablinski. It combines three lots in North Beverly Park, a gated community with $3,000 monthly HOA dues known for its large properties and high-profile residents, including Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington and Sylvester Stallone — who’s currently trying to sell his place in the neighborhood for $110 million.
Private gates open to a lush courtyard under 40-foot palm trees with parking for 30 cars. Inside, formal living spaces combine arched doorways, dramatic columns, tall ceilings, custom fireplaces and floors of marble, brick and stone. Between the main house and two-story guesthouse, there are 13 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms.
Trails meander through the manicured grounds, stopping by a four-acre backyard, resort-style swimming pool, spa, pool house and tennis court.
Rick Hilton and Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland held the listing. Richard Klug of Sotheby’s Intenational Realty represented the buyer.