Colloquially known as the king of Hollywood Regency, John Elgin Woolf designed and built homes for many of Golden Age Hollywood’s biggest stars, everyone from Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck to Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn. The Atlanta-born architect used a healthy dollop of Southern charm to ingratiate himself with Tinseltown’s elite, and along the way inspired many imitators who would help make the Regency style — which marries French-inspired architecture with modernist design tendencies plus a helping of L.A.’s own glitz and glam — a coveted design look even today.
This Beverly Hills home isn’t considered one of Woolf’s masterworks, but it certainly has all the signature hallmarks of a classic Hollywood Regency design. The elegant number was completed in 1954 and includes oval windows, parquet hardwood floors, and towering front doors that are perfect for Lurch to greet the pizza delivery person.
The vaguely crab-shaped house also boasts a sublime location in Beverly Hills, between Sunset Boulevard and Doheny Drive, and the place is just a literal quick skip to West Hollywood and the bustling Sunset Strip. That location was the primary reason the primary property fetched $12.5 million, a whopping $3.6 million over the asking price. Next-door neighbor Jill Tavelman, the second ex-wife of musician Phil Collins, reportedly outbid several interested developers for the .69-acre property, which sits catty-corner to her much larger Waverly Mansion, a Beverly Hills historic landmark.
Tavelman appears to have given the Woolf property to her daughter, successful actress Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris,” “Rules Don’t Apply,” “Les Misérables”). For her part, Collins held onto the house until last month, when she flipped it for $13.5 million in an off-market deal, as was first reported in the New York Post. Deeds indicate the buyer is Moise Emquies, a wealthy L.A.-based fashion designer who — with his ex-wife Carol Ann Emquies — recently sold his former marital Santa Monica estate for nearly $30 million, records reveal.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin Because the Beverly Hills transfer happened off-market, current photos of the property are few. But the place appears to retain much of its original architecture. A massive circular skylight continues to warm the interiors, and there’s an open floorplan arranged around central nexus that contains the library, a living room, and an accompanying wet bar and lounge space. It appears Collins and Tavelman freshened up the place’s somewhat frumpy decor, too, there are new custom built-ins and new furnishings.
Out back, a full-size tennis court has a proper north/south orientation and takes up much of the yard space. On the home’s south side lies an in-ground swimming pool with a brick patio surround; the red brick motorcourt sits behind iron gates and has off-street parking for several cars, and an impressively tall flagpole greets all guests allowed onto the grounds.
No word yet on where Collins is moving, but given her upward career trajectory coupled with her family’s vast wealth — not to mention her recent engagement to writer/director Charlie McDowell — it’s safe to assume her next home may be even more impressive than this grand old dame.
Dustin Nicholas of The Nicholas Property Group held the listing; Branden and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates repped the buyer.
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Image Credit: Redfin -
Image Credit: Redfin