Bennifer Bails Out, Moves on to Gregory Milken’s $64 Million Manse

Now that they’ve officially cancelled escrow on a brand-spanking-new Pacific Palisades mansion priced at $34.5 million, the $64 million question is will newlyweds Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck complete the purchase of another much more expensive, nearly 20-year-old Pacific Palisades estate?

Married six months ago, the showbiz heavy hitters have since moved in to a rented Beverly Hills mansion while shopping for a Gatsby-size home to more permanently house their Brady Bunch-style brood. Affleck sold his Pacific Palisades bachelor pad last year for $28.5 million and in early February, right about the same time Lopez listed her lavish Bel Air retreat at $42 million, the couple initiated the purchase of a brand-spanking-new mansion set on a landscaped acre in the Rustic Canyon area of Pacific Palisades.

Then, in late February Michael Milken’s son Gregory heaved his 1-plus-acre compound in the ultra-prime Palisades Riviera area of Pacific Palisades on the market at $64 million. Clearly, the manicured estate got Bennifer’s attention because it wasn’t too long before they were seen passing through the gates in Affleck’s all-electric S-Class Mercedes and giving the place a thorough walkabout.

And now, having bailed out on the Rustic Canyon deal, a decision that likely cost them a lot of money, the Platinum Triangle real estate gossip grapevine is abuzz with speculation about whether the fickle pair will press forward and finalize the purchase of Milken’s manse. Though online listings show Milken’s spread is still available, gossip juggernaut TMZ reported the couple are already in escrow for the property. Fred Bernstein and Ethan Peskowitz of Westside Estate Agency hold the listing.

Squirreled down a private road and secured by imposing gates, a wide driveway curls down to the front of the stately traditional mansion. In addition to the 13,000-square-foot main house, with six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, the 3,000-square-foot detached guesthouse contains two more bedrooms, four more bathrooms and an 800-square-foot gym. With a resort-style pool and a vast sweep of lawn, the elevated parcel allows the 8,000-plus-square-foot backyard to take advantage of sweeping canyon, city and mountain views.

While the couple tries to sort out their primary home in Los Angeles, they have several other homes to which they can get away. Affleck has long maintained a secluded riverfront compound in Georgia, where the Hollywood royals were married, while Lopez’s holdings include an Hamptons estate and a duplex penthouse in New York City that has been on and off the market several times since 2017.