The HBO hit “Succession” has made use of some incredible scenery throughout its three-season run thus far, with the series’ central family, the uber-wealthy Roys of the media conglomerate Waystar Royco, inhabiting and visiting some of the world’s finest and most expensive real estate in such far-flung places as New York, Croatia, Scotland, Iceland and Tuscany. And now, in its fourth and final season, which just hit the network and sister streamer HBO Max last week, California is finally getting in on the action!
As the premiere episode, titled “The Munsters,” opens, Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) and his brother Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and sister, Shiv (Sarah Snook), are shown living in a grandiose modern manse where they are plotting to create a “revolutionary new media brand that’s gonna redefine news for the 21st century,” aka “an indispensable bespoke information hub,” which they have dubbed “The Hundred.”
While there is no shortage of extravagant homes in the Sunshine State, only one proved suitably over-the-top to house the fictional billionaire siblings during their stint out West – especially since “The One” in Bel Air was already being utilized by fellow small-screen billionaire Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph) on the Apple TV+ comedy series “Loot.” Instead, the “Succession” production team looked to the San Onofre Estate, a sprawling Pacific Palisades pad that recently changed hands for an incredible $83 million IRL.
Although its location and relationship to the Roy family are not discussed in the episode, in actuality the mammoth pad sits at the end of a sleepy cul-de-sac perched atop a nearly one-acre bluff overlooking the ocean directly next door to Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks’ longtime house in the Palisades’ exclusive Riviera neighborhood.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Per DIRT’s own James McClain, who has reported on the property several times, the colossal residence was “built over several years on speculation by high-stakes developer Ardie Tavangarian.” The so-called “starchitect” and founder of the Arya Group architecture and design firm purchased the Cliff May-designed pad that initially stood on the premises for $7.25 million in 2013 and razed it shortly thereafter. He then spent nearly a decade erecting the San Onofre Estate. Upon its completion in the midst of the pandemic in 2020, Tavangarian initially opted to list the place on the rental market for a staggering $350,000 a month before ultimately offering it for sale. Featuring six bedrooms and an incredible 18 baths in a gargantuan 20,000 square feet, the dwelling was eventually offloaded in July 2021 to Austin Russell, the founder of the self-driving automation company Luminar, who was only 26 at the time.
As DIRT detailed later that year, “Luminar develops laser-based radar sensor tech for automobiles, specifically for those upcoming models with yet-to-be-released autonomous driving features. Luminar went public last December, making Russell an overnight billionaire. Forbes subsequently crowned him the world’s ‘youngest self-made’ billionaire; as of today, the publication estimates his net worth tops $1.7 billion.” Though his current valuation measures in at a slightly less $1.6 billion, it is still far more than enough to afford $83 million digs!
Powerhouse couple Branden and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates represented the young entrepreneur in the purchase, which amounted to California’s fourth-highest residential real estate transaction that year. The Wiliams also jointly repped Tavangarian in the transaction, along with Judy Feder, who was then with Hilton & Hyland but is now with The Beverly Hills Estates.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Fashioned from board-formed concrete dusted with neutral tones, the singular dwelling is fronted by a wavelike façade complete with a “statement wall” (said to have cost a whopping $2 million in and of itself!) that lyrically curves 40 feet upward from a ground level infinity pool to form a screen protecting the rooftop terrace three stories above.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Suitable for a billionaire both in real life and onscreen, the dazzling abode is awash with every lavish amenity befitting its monolith size and then some, beginning with a travertine footbridge leading to a massive bronze front door that opens to a grand foyer boasting 22-foot ceilings and a floating wood and glass staircase.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn The cavernous common spaces are bright and open thanks to towering ceilings and automated retractable glass walls, each room more exquisitely outfitted than the next. The double-height living room is exceptionally plush with its board-formed fireplace and wide plank flooring, while the thoroughly avant-garde chef’s kitchen, replete with onyx accents, was designed by none other than Nobu Matsuhisa, the famed Japan-born celebrity chef who founded the insanely popular and celebrated Nobu restaurant chain.
For the tobacco and cocktail aficionados, there is a dedicated cigar and wine room with its own ventilation system, a bronze and marble bar and a cellar with space for 1,200 bottles of your finest vino. An entire level is also dedicated to wellness and entertainment, with an indoor/outdoor gym featuring equipment fashioned out of walnut, a stacked stone and onyx-encased spa with a massage room and a cold and hot plunge, and an auto gallery/nightclub with a rotating driveway that doubles as a spinning dance floor.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Upstairs, you’ll find a “pajama lounge,” aka a family hangout comprising a television, couches and an adjacent zen garden with a cedar spa, as well as a gaggle of guest rooms and the lavish owners’ suite. Accessed via a retinal/fingerprint scanner (natch!), the latter is warm, inviting and intimate despite its massive size and such swank creature comforts as a boutique-like closet, a glam room, access to the rooftop terrace and its antique greenhouse, and a retractable ceiling for an authentic sleep-under-the-stars experience, onto which movies can also be projected.
Other deluxe home-viewing options offered at the estate include an 18-seat Art Deco-style theater inspired by the design of Radio City Music Hall with a 20-foot screen and chairs stitched of Tuscan-imported leather, as well as an outdoor cinema, for those who prefer to watch films al fresco. Two safe rooms are also located on the premises, and unparalleled views of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean can be had throughout.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Resort-like exterior features include the aforementioned infinity pool plus a jacuzzi, cabanas, an outdoor dining area and, as detailed by The Wall Street Journal, a “‘sauna pod’ designed to frame the mountain views.”
Palatial through and through, the San Onofre Estate is precisely the type of place you’d expect to find a Roy family member living.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Of “Succession’s” many opulent locations, series production designer Stephen H. Carter tells Filmmaker Magazine, “We always try to make sure that [the cast] are the focus of attention. If I get into any environment and some billionaire has made design choices that are going to potentially upstage Logan Roy [Brian Cox], I’m going to try to rein it back in.” Despite Carter’s valiant efforts, the San Onofre Estate certainly manages to steal the show in “The Munsters!”
While the property is only featured in the first half of the episode, it packs a solid cinematic punch, its flowing walls and serene views effortlessly pulling focus from the scheming siblings and their latest wheelings and dealings as they attempt to outmaneuver their father in a major negotiation.
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Image Credit: Simon Berlyn Both the interior and exterior of the manse appear prominently in the episode, with Roman attending a meeting via Zoom in the living room, where no filter whatsoever is needed to showcase the surrounding beauty!