In honor of this sizzling Saturday, Yolanda thinks she should give y’all something hot and juicy. Something fresh off the real estate grapevine. And the latest whispers emanating from Beverly Park, the biggest, fanciest Big Kahuna of all the big, fancy guard-gated communities in SoCal, provide fresh-squeezed red, red, real estate wine for your gurl.
So here we go. Once upon a time there was a big-ass mansion in Beverly Park. Well, actually, there were a lot of big-ass mansions in Beverly Park. And nearly all of them are still standing. But today we’re going to discuss one that was recently demolished. May she rest in peace.
We’re referring, of course, to Real Housewife of Beverly Hills‘ star Lisa Vanderpump‘s palatial pad, which was torn down a year or two ago by the new owners, the ones Ms. Vanderpump (and her bouffant-haired hubby Ken Todd) sold to after after she expressly denied the home was for sale in the first place. “Only for the right price, dahhhlings,” she breezed.
Oh puh-leez, gurl. What a silly thing to say, right? All rich folks know that everything, literally everything, is always for sale at the right price. But apparently Ms. Vanderpump was fudging a bit on what her “right” price was. Though the official “not-for-sale” asking price was $29,000,000, property records show Ms. Vanderpump (and Mr. Todd) sold the frou-froued-up estate in September 2011 for “just” $18,800,000. Still, that’s significantly more than the $14,000,000 they paid contemporary art collector Rosette Delug for the house back in 2004.
The new owners, as far as we know, never moved into the opulent Richard Landry-designed mansion. We’re not sure whether they planned to do so or whether they simply intended to renovate and flip. But we do know that in June 2012, a construction crew somehow set fire to the residence. Though the flames caused in excess of $1 million in damages, firefighters managed to salvage most of the structure. The blaze itself was eventually termed an accident caused by a waterproofing torch.
Though the roof was patched up, it wasn’t long after that unfortunate (alleged) accident that the new owners basically said “to hell with this bullshiz” and elected to demolish the entire property instead.
By this time, you might be wondering who currently owns the property. Well, that person is technically shielded behind a unimaginatively-named shell company, so we can’t prove anything, but Yolanda has heard many, many times over the years from several different folks that the current owners are Russian, specifically a telecommunications mogul named Albert Avdolyan and his wife Elena.
For what’s it’s worth, our boy Mr. Avdolyan’s ethnic background is actually Armenian. He’s been ranked by the peeps at Forbes as having a net worth right around $750 million, so we’d bet he can easily afford this estate and several more just like it, if he so desired.
But we digress. Yolanda has long wondered what the Avdolyans are planning to build up on their newly-vacant lot Beverly Park. Now, thanks to our real estate insider friend Don Won — a seemingly bottomless treasure chest of Beverly Park secrets — we’ve gotten a gander at the official renderings of the future estate, which will be designed by mega-mansion specialist Richard Landry. Again!
Hot damn, kids. Though Mr. Landry’s website does not divulge dimensions and specifications of the planned residence, the swollen French Chateau-esque monster looks absolutely gigantic. No question it’s going to be much larger than Ms. Vanderpump’s comparatively-puny 15,560 square foot teardown. There’s also a significant basement level/underground garage, which Ms. Vanderpump’s home did not possess.
25,000 square feet? 30,000? Bigger?! We don’t know, but this is one big baby.
Anyway, maybe it’s so big because this is not Mr. & Mrs. Avdolyan’s first time on the real estate teardown rodeo. Property records reveal they own — through a trust — another huge mansion that’s pretty much right down the street from Beverly Park. For what it’s worth, the property also happens to be right next door to David & Victoria Beckham’s Beverly Hills abode.
The couple paid a big-time $13,000,000 for the 4-bed, 7.5-bath, 10,311-square-foot house in December 2009. However, something must not have been suited to their liking because they tore the structure apart, right down to the damn studs. The thing is now more of a contemporary than the mock-Med it once was.
And can you guess who the architect was for the ground-up remodel of the Avdolyan residence? Of course you can. Our boy Richard Landry, once again.
Okay, that’s enough for today. If you’ll excuse your gurl, we’ve got some serious tanning to do. Shalom!
