Rams’ Matthew Stafford Buys Hidden Hills Vineyard Estate

Although the transaction actually closed last year, it’s only now become known that the buyers of an architecturally atypical Hidden Hills estate were Matthew and Kelly Stafford, he the $160 million man who led the Los Angeles Rams to Super Bowl LVI victory. The Staffords paid $10.5 million for their new home, a notable discount from the original $13.7 million ask.

While most Hidden Hills mansions are newly-built modern farmhouses, this 1980s red-brick manor bucks the trend in its proudly traditional manner, standing rigidly upright atop a high knoll. Altogether, there are eight bedrooms, eight full baths and two powder rooms in more than 11,000 square feet of living space.

The house and grounds were custom-developed in ’88 by shopping center magnate William “Bill” Hayes and his wife Susan Hayes, who turned their L.A.-adjacent mansion into a real boutique winery known as Wish Vineyards, complete with a crew that tends the rows of vines and harvests the estate’s cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes. The vineyard can produce 300 cases of red wine annually, per the listing.

From the street, a long driveway climbs the hill up to the house, which features a very large motorcourt accessible via a covered gate. Though much of the lot is steeply sloped hillside, the entire place is landscaped — there are exquisitely manicured gardens, formal lawns and specimen trees, plus a pool/spa combo, covered patios and an outdoor grilling area. The vineyards are located out back, and several engineered staircases make them easily accessible to crews and the homeowners alike.

Sold unstaged and mostly furniture-free, the home’s interiors retain a traditional sensibility. Many of the lavish formal rooms feature rich wood paneling and custom walnut built-ins, while the floors are a mix of hardwood and stone.

Notable features include a wet bar, a gourmet kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, a fireplace-equipped library, seven ensuite bedrooms in the main house and an additional guest apartment and detached guesthouse. Naturally, there’s also a spacious wine cellar.

It’s not a surprise that the Staffords would be looking to purchase a house of this stature, as they recently sold their former Hidden Hills mansion for $21 million. But the family is hardly downsizing — in addition to their new winery estate, they also recently acquired two smaller Hidden Hills homes from Drake, reportedly to use as investment properties. And the couple still owns their Orange County vacation home — a Tuscan-inspired mansion in swank Newport Coast, purchased back in 2020.

Hidden Hills, a guard-gated community deep in the San Fernando Valley, has become the unofficial hangout spot for the Rams. In addition to Stafford, other current residents include Cooper Kupp, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald and Sean McVay.