The most expensive house for sale in the United States has just received a massive price cut, reports Mansion Global. Originally listed at $250 million in June of this year, the home, known as Casa Encantada, is now asking for just $195 million. At this (still astounding) amount, it now shares the title for most expensive listing with two other properties: a Malibu mansion designed by AD100 architect Robert A.M. Stern and a penthouse at the top of Central Park Tower in Manhattan. [Source: AD]
“These kinds of estates come up only once every few decades and once they’re gone, they’re gone,” Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency, who shares the listing with Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates, previously told the Wall Street Journal. Spanning 40,000 square feet, the home was built in the middle of the Depression for Hilda Boldt Weber, the wealthy widow of a glass manufacturer from Ohio. Boldt Weber bought the land for $100,000—an impressive sum today but a truly astounding amount in 1934 amid the greatest economic crisis of the modern industrialized world. She’d felt ostracized by her late husband’s peers, who reportedly looked down on her for coming from humble beginnings, and opted to build a grand estate to solidify herself in California society.
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Designed by James E. Dolena in a modern-influenced Georgian style, the home looks out over the the Bel Air Country Club golf course. Since Boldt Weber’s passing, the property has known various high-profile owners including Dole Food billionaire David Murdock and hotelier Conrad Hilton. Most recently it’s been under the stewardship of financier Gary Winnick and his wife, Karen Winnick, an artist and author, who told the Wall Street Journal in June that they were ready to downsize after more than 20 years in the home. “To me, this is a work of art, and I have been its steward,” Gary said.
Before listing, the Winnicks undertook and extensive remodel and restoration overseen by architect Peter Marino. It took over two years with 250 craftspeople onsite daily to restore plasterwork, refinish lacquer walls, and hand-polish 14 layers of paint. There are over 60 rooms in the expansive residence including servants’ quarters and three walk-in vaults in the basement.
The price cut comes following Gary’s death last month. According to Mansion Global, the husband had a strong emotional attachment to the home and wouldn’t part with it for less than $250 million. But now, Karen is ready to move the sale along, prompting the eight-figure price cut. Once the most expensive house for sale in the United States, if it had gone for it original asking price, it would have set another record entirely: the most expensive residence ever sold in the United States. It’s a title Casa Encantada knows well, since it previously held the crown in 1980 and again in 2000. However, it seems Ken Griffin, whose 2019 purchase of a $238 million Manhattan penthouse earned him the accolade, will maintain the record for now. [Source: AD]
