After Buying Barron Hilton’s $61.5 Million Estate, Ex-Google CEO Buys the 1970s House Next Door

Last May, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt plunked down $61.5 million to buy a historic Los Angeles estate owned by the late hotelier Barron Hilton. Now the billionaire tech mogul has added to his seam-bursting real estate portfolio of trophy properties yet again, acquiring the traditional 1970s house right next door to create a nearly 3-acre compound.

Records show that Schmidt won his property in a bidding war, paying $300,000 over the nearly $4.9 million asking price. Sited on almost a quarter-acre parcel that’s technically located in the Beverly Hills Post Office neighborhood — though it actually sits at the sought-after intersection of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills and Benedict Canyon — the wood-clad structure was built in 1972 and designed by the noted architecture firm Benton/Park/Candreva, but per the listing has since been remodeled.

Set high above the street, with a circular driveway holding court out front, the home includes four bedrooms and five baths in 3,700 square feet of multi-level living space punctuated throughout with vertically lined redwood paneling, rustic hardwood floors and soaring wood-beam ceilings. Highlights include a great room accented by a wall of windows overlooking treetop views, and a study/den centered around a cozy brick fireplace and built-in wet bar.

A formal dining room has sliding glass doors that open to the backyard, while the updated kitchen is outfitted with ceramic countertops, stainless appliances, a center island, walk-in pantry and an adjacent breakfast nook. Upstairs, the primary suite comes complete with a sizable walk-in closet, plus a sun-drenched bath equipped with dual vanities, a dressing area and spa tub resting beneath a skylight.

Elsewhere in the house are three additional ensuite bedrooms, including one on the lower level that’s accessible to the attached two-car garage; and out back, an enclosed patio stretching the width of the house steps up to a large flat area surrounded by stacked stone.

Schmidt’s vast repertoire of properties also includes a renovated French chateau-style mansion he paid the family of actor Gregory Peck $22 million for in 2014, along with a $31 million Santa Barbara mega-estate, a $20 million Montecito estate he purchased from Ellen DeGeneres in 2007 and  a $15 million Manhattan penthouse. His primary residence remains a multimillion-dollar compound in the posh Silicon Valley town of Atherton, California.

Michael Collins of Coldwell Banker Realty served as the listing agent.