With the proliferation of antiseptic mall-sized ultra-modern mansions and cookie cutter “modern farmhouses,” with their acres of white walls, miles of pale French oak floors and vast walls of disappearing glass, the extravagant, playfully flamboyant more-is-better Bel Air compound of corporate housing magnate Howard Ruby and late actress-turned-artist Yvette Mimieux is a much-welcomed architectural and decorative antidote. Famous for his head-in-the-clouds more-is-more aesthetic, late and influential set designer and decorator Tony Duquette would certainly approve.
An L.A. native who passed in January, at 80, Mimieux was discovered in the late 1950s while horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills. She went on to appear in dozens of television shows and films, including “Where the Boys Are” (1960) and “Light in the Piazza” (1962). In 1964 she earned a Golden Globe nomination when she became what’s believed to be the first woman to bare her belly button on American TV when she guest-starred on “Dr. Kildare.”
After her 1986 marriage to Ruby, wealthy co-founder of Oakwood Worldwide, a provider of furnished short-term rentals, the fiercely private Mimieux, a globe-trotting collector of art and antiques, appeared on screen just twice more, in a 1990 “Perry Mason” TV movie and, her final role, in 1992, as a “thinly disguised” Ivana Trump in the high-camp Jackie Collins miniseries “Lady Boss.”
In recent years, Mimieux and Ruby pursued their personal passions and, though still very much in love, he told Mansion Global last year, lived separately; Ruby, who sold his stake in Oakwood several years ago, lost his sight and moved to his boat in Marina Del Rey, while Mimieux traveled frequently and, when in town, resided in the residence-turned-art studio next door to the Bel Air compound’s main house.
Dubbed Il Sogno (“The Dream”), the main residence was offered last year with an asking price of $45 million. And now, since Mimieux’s passing, the entire one-of-a-kind compound has come available at $49.5 million. The property is listed with a trio of powerhouse Platinum Triangle real estate movers and shakers: Linda May of Linda May Properties, Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency, and Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Realty.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn, courtesy Linda May Properties The sprawling, lushly landscaped compound comprises two parcels that add up to about 1.5 acres in a particularly plummy, rarefied pocket of the tony neighborhood that is surrounded by the manicured grounds of the Bel-Air Country Club. Residents of the well-heeled enclave are offered heightened security, including a dedicated guard.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties Delicate iron gates swing open to a tree-shaded driveway that circles up in front of Il Sogno, a 10,607-square-foot Tuscan villa built in 1928. Originally designed by architect and city planner Mark Daniels, who was involved in the master planning of Bel Air (along with San Francisco’s Forest Hills and Pebble Beach’s 17 Mile Drive), Il Sogno is believed to be one of the first homes built in the prestigious neighborhood.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties A grand feast for the eyes, Il Sogno was purchased by Ruby in 1979, and the mansion’s lavish interiors were curated by late design legend Kalef Alaton. Mimieux moved in after their 1986 marriage.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties A massive antique stone fireplace anchors the cavernous, ballroom-sized living room, where the high ceilings are embellished with intricate hand-stenciled designs.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties A series of towering arched French doors lead to a large terrace beneath a pergola dripping with pink and fuchsia bougainvillea.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties The mansion’s many other rooms include: a small salon that flows into l’Orangerie (above), a vast room with dollar-bill-green marble floors, a wet bar, a fireplace, and an enormous skylight; a formal dining room that spills out to the gardens; a library with hand-lacquered paneling and redwood shelving; a breakfast room (below) with walls sheathed in antique mirrored panels inspired by Venice’s Caffè Florian.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties -
Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties The kitchen is a much sleeker, and far more utilitarian space, with lustrous rust-colored counters, gleaming white cabinets, and a costly, chef-pleasing collection of up-to-date commercial-style stainless-steel appliances.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties The house also includes a spectacular (and impressively stocked), brick-lined wine cellar, two offices and a gym complete with en-suite bathroom.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties Adorned with Italian hand-painted frescos designed by Claudio Briganti, the main bedroom suite offers a sitting area with fireplace, a private patio, and dual bathroom suites trimmed in onyx. There are several more bedrooms on the second floor, along with a second master suite converted to a family room, with wood-beamed ceiling, fireplace and terrace.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties No less elaborate or meticulously cared for, the grounds were designed by David Jones — some of his other clients have included Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor — and incorporate a swimming pool, a grotto spa, numerous fountains, manicured lawns, formal gardens, and a multitude of specimen trees.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties -
Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties The neighboring property, which Mimieux used as an art studio and library, and, in her last years, a residence, was acquired in 2010, according to tax records, for $5.55 million. A whimsical, Balinese-style cottage enveloped in a tropical oasis, the property includes a three-bedroom and five-bath home of about 4,900 square feet, plus a one-bedroom/one-bath cabana.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties Every bit as layered, cultured and emblematic of the couple’s savvy and unrestrained penchant for art and antiques as Il Sogno, the fully self-contained residence has an airy, sky-lit living room and an equally sunny art studio, where Mimieux created energetic, brightly colored abstract paintings.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties -
Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties A small study is lined in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves; the kitchen is a modern, all-white space; the main bedroom is a romantic escape replete with verdant garden views, a skylight-topped ceiling and billowing fabric draped on the four-poster bed.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties -
Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties A tile-faced fireplace allows the solarium (above) to be used in the evening, and a heated lanai (below) overlooks the gardens.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties -
Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties Multi-colored lanterns create a dreamy ambiance in the lush gardens that include a skinny-dip private swimming pool.
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Image Credit: Jim Bartsch, courtesy Linda May Properties Tax records indicate Mimieux’s estate still owns a large home set on a high promontory of almost two acres in the mountains above Beverly Hills. And during their 35-plus years together, Mimieux and Ruby also maintained a hacienda in Mexico’s Yucatán, a pied-a-terre in Paris, and a big spread in Sun Valley, Idaho.