LOS FELIZ—Actress, director, and philanthropist Angelina Jolie has purchased a Los Feliz estate once owned by filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille for $24.5 million, the Los Angeles Times first reported on Thursday, June 1.
According to reports, Jolie paid $450,000 less than the original asking price of $24.95 million. The sale price of the home broke the record for the highest amount ever paid for a Los Feliz property, topping the $11 million Rossetti mansion comedian Chris Hardwick and heiress Lydia Hearst purchased in 2015.
The 2.1-acre property is located in the gated Laughlin Park community and contains a Beaux Arts-style mansion built in 1913, a pool house, and a guest house. DeMille acquired the main residence for $28,000 in 1916. According to Variety, DeMille later bought the house next door, a smaller property once occupied by silent film actor Charlie Chaplin, and connected it to the main home. DeMille resided there with his family for four decades until his death in 1959. The property remained in the family until the late 1980s.
The 11,000-square-foot main mansion features six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, four fireplaces, a foyer with a curved staircase, an updated kitchen, and a wood-paneled formal dining room. Other features include delicate wainscoting, arched French doors, arched casement windows, and a library with floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
Outside, the estate boasts formal gardens, tree-studded lawns, sitting areas, a motor court, a detached garage, a swimming pool, and city and ocean views. The pool house sits adjacent to the pool, which has cascading fountains and a tea house. The guesthouse has its own entrance.
According to reports, the latest sellers of the DeMille estate were writer Richard Grossman and art consultant Lisa Lyons, who acquired the property in the late 1990s. The home was restored and updated in the early 2000s by the architectural firm Tichenor and Thorp, while maintaining some original features. Grossman and Lyons previously listed the estate for $26.25 million.
Brett Lawyer and Rayni Williams of Hilton & Hyland were the listing agents.
Jolie has received multiple awards for her work, including three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award. She has also received wide recognition for her humanitarian work, including the Citizen of the World Award in 2002, the Global Humanitarian Award in 2005, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2013.
She has appeared in films such as TNT’s “George Wallace” (1997), “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001), “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005), and “Maleficent” (2014).
Written By Joanne Yi
