As was reported by The Blast — and confirmed by property records — singer/songwriter/music producer extraordinaire Pharrell Williams has tossed down the big A-list bucks (a hefty $15,600,000) for a decidedly unique Los Angeles mega-mansion way up yonder in the hills.
This despite that he and Robin Thicke were recently ordered to pay $5.3 million in damages (stemming from their mega-hit Blurred Lines) to the estate of Marvin Gaye. According to Mr. Gaye’s ex-wife, “Pharrell and Robin should have done the right thing by licensing Marvin’s composition and crediting him.”
Well! There you have it.
Needless to say, Mr. Pharrell is still exceptionally wealthy and one of the most decorated peeps in the music industry. He sports eleven Grammies, two Oscar noms, and myriad other awards and records over his 25+ year career. Not bad for a 45 year old dude, eh?
Pharrell and his longtime lady-love — a gal named Helen Lasichanh — have been hitched since 2013. Together, the couple have a 10-year-old son named Rocket. Last year, Ms. Lasichanh additionally gave birth to triplets, although the names and sexes of the bundles of joy apparently remain top-secret. Anyway, now that the Williams family numbers six, it was only natural that our boy would want to upsize his residential circumstances.
In 1992, the late billionaire physicist/philanthropist Alfred E. Mann had a custom glass-and-steel mansion built on a private promontory. It was in this house where he lived until his 2016 death at the ripe old age of 90. From there, his estate initially tried to sell the porker with a $30 million ask.
It took over a year and several massive price chops before along came our gurl Madea — aka Tyler Perry — who scooped it up for the bargain-basement price of $14,500,000.
Good ol’ Madea, bless her sassy heart, never spent a night in this house. Nor does it appear that she made any changes and/or improvements to the property. Reportedly, although she made noise about wanting to “restore” the house, her intention all along was to flip it to a buyer with “a vision” for the substantial spread. Just six months after acquiring it, she slapped a gutsy $17 million ask back on the behemoth. Along came Pharrell with his $15.6 million offer and, well, the rest is now history.
The house in question is located just off world-famous Mulholland Drive. Although not within the gates of the celeb-infested Mulholland Estates enclave (residents include Kendall Jenner, DJ Khaled, Paris Hilton, Big Sean, etc), the property is so close that Mr. Pharrell could very easily walk to their guardshack and request a borrowed cup of sugar.
The mega-manse-sized 17,245-square-foot residence sits on a gated, expansive 4.19-acre lot with majestic views over a wide swathe of the San Fernando Valley. Yet the pad is exceptionally private and essentially has no neighbors. The closest nearby structure, actually, is LA County Fire Station #99. So if Pharrell ever gets real hot (and not in a good way) the firemen could literally douse his house without the fire engine having to leave the bay. How convenient!
Anyway, the “house” obviously looks less like a home than it does a fancy office complex. It has the parking of an office complex, too — the motorcourt can accommodate 30 or more vehicles, per the listing. The structure has a total of 10 beds and 11 baths. Resort-style features include a sunken tennis court, a freeform swimming pool w/ grotto, an outdoor dining terrace, and a koi pond/streem that flows throughout the entire estate.
Interior spaces contain a decidedly early 90s flavor. Yolanda is nearly dizzy from all the angles up in this bitch — pyramids here, rectangles there, icicles everywhere — but we also suspect that Mr. Pharrell is plotting a significant overhaul. We shall see.
One thing we shan’t ever see is Mr. Pharrell’s window-washing bill (we hope). Egads! Can y’all imagine?
One quick note: although Pharrell’s new mansion has the coveted 90210 zip code — and thus he can write his address as “Beverly Hills, 90210” — this house is actually nowhere near the city of Beverly Hills. It takes at least 15-20 minutes (with no traffic!) to reach B.H. from this pad. In fact, since the house is north of Mulholland Drive, it is technically located in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Sherman Oaks.
But we digress.
Mr. Pharrell is clearly a guy with taste for some very stark contemporary architecture. His current home, purchased in 2015 for $7,140,000, is one of LA’s most photographed abodes. The sleekly sublime Skyline Residence (as it is known) is tucked way high up in the Laurel Canyon area of the Hollywood Hills. (For even more pics of that place, check out architect Hagy Belzberg’s site).
Fun throwback: way back in the day (2007), Pharrell spooned out about $12.5 million for a triplex penthouse in Miami’s Bristol Towers complex. After years on and off the market, he finally sold the contemporary white elephant in June 2016 for just $9.25 million (ouch!) to a pharmaceutical exec named Ketan Mehta. Our Mr. Mehta, who seems like a nice guy, actually gave a quick interview about the transaction to the local newspaper.
No word yet on what Pharrell plans to do with his latest residential acquisition, but Yolanda expects the self-admitted perfectionist to endow it with a comprehensive makeover — at the very least.
Tyler Perry’s agents: Matt & Josh Altman, Douglas Elliman
Pharrell’s agent: Jonah Wilson, Hilton & Hyland
