Platinum Triangle mega-broker Kurt Rappaport’s newest eight-figure listing, in a coveted cranny of L.A.’s Brentwood Park neighborhood and priced at $44.5 million, is particularly near and dear to both his design-savvy real estate heart and his pocketbook.
About four months after former CAA honcho (and former Madison Square Garden Company President and CEO) Doc O’Connor hoisted a vacant parcel on the market in the fall of 2018 at $12.7 million, Rappaport swooped in and plunked down $11.75 million for the not quite one-acre property that happens to share a border with his own multiacre compound.
The co-founder of the Westside Estate Agency, who has represented more A-listers in the purchase or sale of a home than an Oscars red carpet, David Geffen, Ellen DeGeneres, Warren Beatty, Sean Combs, Dr. Dre, and Adam Levine among them, not only saw an opportunity to ensure that the neighboring home would be drop-dead gorgeous and built to the same exacting standards as his own home but also an opportunity to expand his already sprawling multi-acre estate. A couple of quick calculations based on figures culled from the tax assessor and real estate listings indicates Rappaport shaved off about one third of an acre of the O’Connor parcel and incorporated it into his own estate, where he’s since built himself a 100-foot-long infinity-edge swimming pool.
Architect Scott Mitchell and interior designer Clint Nicholas — the same duo who whipped the five-structure compound of Rappaport and his model wife Zorana Kuzmanovic Rappaport into such fine fettle it was just featured in Architectural Digest — were brought on board and, with Rappaport’s input and checkbook, spared no expense or effort on sourcing premium materials and hiring expert craftspeople to make it stunning and worthy of its $44.5 million price tag.
Crisply contemporary with minimalist tendencies mitigated with a range of natural materials used in bespoke ways, there are hand-built steel doors and windows, hand-plastered walls, wide-plank white oak floorboards, and grain-matched natural oak paneling. A glass, steel and wood staircase makes a gravity-defying link between all three floors, while an elevator makes for an easier if less theatrical conveyance. And, stocked with all the high-tech accouterment expected in a home of this caliber, the whole shebang is controlled by a comprehensive state-of-the-art touch-pad home automation system that controls, lighting, sound, window coverings, entry gates, security, and more.
Fronted by a gated and graveled motor court flanked by a pair of two-car garages, main floor spaces flow easily into one another and include high-ceilinged formal living and dining rooms and a paneled library/office/bar. The kitchen is complemented by a breakfast area, a family room and a separate and smaller though equally gourmet chef’s kitchen for messy menus and catered events. Throughout the main floor, huge expanses of glass glide open to blur distinctions between indoor and outdoor spaces.
There are five bedrooms and nine bathrooms dispersed throughout the mansion’s 13,000 square feet. Four guest bedrooms each have a walk-in closet and en-suite bath, while the primary suite offers a private sitting area, huge and dramatically lighted walk-in closets, and a bathroom that showcases more than 50 slabs of boldly veined and carefully book-matched black-and-white imported stone.
A world unto itself, the sprawling subterranean level has more than plenty to keep everyone in the household (and a whole lot of people they invite over) entertained and engaged. A red neon text sculpture animates a climate-controlled wine cellar that’s encased in glass for maximum display from the spacious lounge and tasting area. A sleek bar is backed by a trio of flush-mounted flat-screen TVs, a plush Dolby Atmos screening room is big enough to accommodate a pool table, and a wellness facility is complete with a gym and spa facilities, including a hair and makeup salon.
Landscaped to look like it’s had years to grow and blot out neighboring homes, the grounds includes rare specimen trees, a dark-bottom pool amid a thick carpet of fresh sod, poolside patios for dining and lounging, and a separate pavilion for ducking out of the sun and grabbing a cold drink.
Rappaport holds the listing along with Westside Estate Agency’s Kevin Booker.
As one of L.A.’s top brokers, this is not, by far, Rappaport’s first time at the rodeo marketing a mansion with a $44-plus-million price tag. It’s also not the only seriously swank home he’s built on spec. In fact, he’s built more than 30 homes across the Los Angeles area, six of which have been featured in Architectural Digest. His Malibu beach house, which he sold in 2018 for a bone-rattling $85 million, was featured in Tom Ford’s film “Nocturnal Animals,” and many of his personal residences have been sold to business, media and entertainment industry heavyweights who include Tom Cruise, Michael Rapino, Jeff Shell, David Murdock, Larry Ellison, Daryl Katz, Ben Soleimani, and Sean Rad.
