Thinking of Trousdale Estates, an exclusive neighborhood pocket within the city of Beverly Hills, tends to conjure up images of groovy 1960s trappings, with the midcentury architecture and interior design that served as the setting for the flashy lifestyles of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, both famously once Trousdale residents.
Perched atop a knoll, this particular Trousdale home is newly available for sale. With its distinctively crescent-shaped roofline and seafoam-green Mercedes 300SL Gullwing in the driveway — and many more vintage autos in the garage — this half-acre estate has the famed architecture and classic cars of that midcentury era in spades, though its heavily modernized interiors are another thing altogether.
Spanning about 6,200 square feet, the large house was originally built in 1958 and designed by noted midcentury architect Robert L. Earl, though it was extensively rebuilt and reengineered in 2017. Today, walk inside and you’ll be struck by a huge jolt of modern-day glitz, with wildly vibrant colors and name-brand contemporary art everywhere. The listing describes the house as the “most exquisite modern interpretation of the greatest era and lifestyle the world has ever known,” and it’s certainly got the price tag to match — a whopping $38 million.
The property’s current owner is Phillip Sarofim, 36, an investor and a son of Texas billionaire Fayez Sarofim. He bought the freshly rebuilt house in 2017, shortly after the work was completed, for $16.3 million. An avid collector of art and cars, Sarofim is perhaps best-known to the general public for his erstwhile romantic relationship with Avril Lavigne.
Sarofim subsequently gave the house another reinterpretation to suit his decidedly bespoke tastes. He hired celebrated New York-based designer Miles Redd to fill the home with a strikingly maximalist, priceless collection of treasures — art by Picasso, Robert Motherwell, Damien Hirst and Doug Aitken; decadent Old World furniture like Louis XVI chairs and other museum-quality pieces. There’s a peacock-blue velvet sofa in the living room, while one of the guest bedrooms has a blue-lacquered canopy bed. The resulting product was photographed in 2018, in all its glossy glory, for Elle Decor.
Out back, the infinity-edged swimming pool includes a sunken conversation area with a fire pit — a cheeky nod to the property’s midcentury roots — and spectacular views of the Los Angeles skyline. Beyond the pool lies a “floating Lautner-esque” staircase that descends into what the listing describes as “the hanging gardens of Trousdale,” complete with a curated mix of exotic plantings.
Branden and Rayni Williams, Trevor Wright and Lawrence Fitz-Simon of The Beverly Hills Estates hold the listing.
