In 1949 Lillian Disney telephoned Harold Janss about purchasing a parcel of property in his new subdivision. Janss, building upon the work of his father-in-law Arthur Letts Sr., was developing a large tract of Los Angeles land called Holmby Hills. Soon after, Lillian and her Hollywood husband Walt acquired a parcel on Carolwood Drive and built their dream home.
In the new estate's backyard Walt Disney built a one-eighth-scale steam railroad, inspired by the ones his company's animators (Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston) had implemented on their own properties. He erected a standalone barn housing a control room and carved out a half-mile worth of track including overpasses, a 46-foot-long trestle and an s-shaped subterranean tunnel hidden underneath his wife's flower beds. The train would famously come to be known as the Carolwood Pacific Railroad and it would serve as part of the inspiration to create Disneyland, the first of his eponymous theme parks.
Now, more than six decades after the Disney family laid claim to the property, the remnants of that Carolwood Pacific Railroad are up for grabs. The former Disney estate, better known now as the Carolwood Estate, is on the market. The official asking price: $90 million.
The Carolwood Estate's current owner is Gabriel Brener, chief executive of private investment firm Brener International Group and co-owner of the Houston Dynamo soccer team. He purchased the property from the Disney estate for $8.45 million in 1998, a year after Lillian Disney's death. Brener razed the original house, reportedly replete with asbestos, and erected a brand new 35,000-square foot mansion in 2001. He also acquired the lot next door, adding more acreage.
Encompassing nearly four acres of land, the (new) home touts eight bedrooms, 17 baths, a two-story entry foyer, and staff quarters. Outrageous amenities include a custom movie room, three bars, a library, a gym, a wine cellar and two safe rooms. The grounds boast a swimming pool with pool house, a tennis court, and a putting green. Tucked behind gates and tall hedges, the estate sits completely hidden from its neighbors, equipped with a security system designed by celebrity security guru Gavin de Becker.
But while Disney's original dream home no longer stands, artifacts from his tenure still populate the premises. Most notably, the 90-foot underground tunnel remains, tucked discreetly among coiffed landscaping. Its entrance is marked by an ivy-covered miniature stone archway with the date "1950" -- the year the railroad began operating -- etched on it. (The barn and track have since been relocated to Los Angeles' Griffith Park, while the train itself stands on display in San Francisco at the Walt Disney Family Museum.)
"This is a true, true definition of a trophy property," gushes Mauricio Umansky, chief executive of The Agency, a Los Angeles-area luxury realty firm. Umansky represents the home with two co-listing agents: Jay
The $90 million price tag is based off of a handful of other trophy homes located in the Los Angeles area. Namely: Fleur de Lys, a 35,000-square foot chateau that has bounced on and off the market asking $125 million since 2009; the Weber Mansion, the former Hilton estate that Gary Winnick purchased for more than $90 million in 2000 (and is reportedly available for $225 million); and the Spelling Mansion, which billionaire heiress Petra Ecclestone snapped up for $85 million in 2011. He also points to the
The Carolwood Estate officially came to market in October of 2012, after being shopped around unofficially as a so-called pocket listing in 2011. It remains absent from the Multiple Listing Services and while the home has a listing page on The Agency's site, neither the price tag nor images (save one photo) have been available to the public. The team is discussing the property publicly now for the first time in an exclusive interview with FORBES.
"It's a very special property that isn't going to sell quietly, but we try to market it as quietly as possible and keeping it off the MLS is one of the tactics," says co-listing agent Harris, director of the estates division at The Agency.
The brokers say the property could appeal to both domestic and international buyers, most notably wealthy Russians, Saudis and Brits. Earlier this year rumors surfaced that Tamara Ecclestone, billionaire heiress to the Formula One empire, was interested in the property, which is located on the same street as her sister Petra's 56,500-square foot mega mansion.
"When people buy into L.A. real estate, especially on this magnitude, it's nice to have a tie to Hollywood and this area of Holmby Hills was and still is the who's who of Hollywood," asserts Harris.
Indeed. Holmby Hills sits to the west of Beverly Hills and the south of Bel Air, comprising one-third of what is often referred to as the exclusive Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles. An enviable roster of A-list celebrities have called Holmby Hills home, both past and present. Among them: Hugh Hefner, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, Barbara Streisand, and Bing Crosby. Carolwood Drive specifically peddles some of the priciest real estate in the country, including the Owlwood Estate (once home to Sonny and Cher, Jayne Mansfield, and Tony Curtis) that's rumored to quietly be asking $150 million and Suzanne Saperstein's $125 million Fleur de Lys estate sits directly across the street from Carolwood Estate.
Now to see if the brokers can work some of that Disney magic.
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