Back in January, a new sales record was set for L.A.’s Hancock Park when showrunning powerhouse Shonda Rhimes raked in $21 million for her Italianate mansion, designed in 1923 by Elmer Grey and revamped nearly a century later by Bill Baldwin and Michael S. Smith. As 2022 winds down, another one of the historic neighborhood’s pedigreed properties is winding up to take a crack at that record.
Located a little west of the Wilshire Country Club, on the same tree-lined street as the homes of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Mercury Insurance founder George Joseph and actor Max Greenfield, the residence in question was designed in 1929 by high-society architect Roland Coate, whose clientele list also included movie moguls David O. Selznick and Jack Warner and director George Cuckor.
The Tudor Revival-style manor was commissioned by tennis pro Gerald Young and his wife, Gertrude Kerckhoff Young, whose father co-founded the Southern California Gas Corporation. Built for the then-astronomical cost of $100,000, the home was constructed with the finest quality materials available, while its grounds featured a championship tennis court and a formal English garden designed by A.E. Hanson, landscape architect of Los Angeles’ official mayoral residence, the Getty House, as well as the Harold Lloyd estate in Beverly Hills.
The Youngs split up in 1935, with Gertrude remaining in the home for another decade. Following her departure, the property traded hands a number of times before becoming the longtime residence of orthopedic surgeon Steven Field and his family. In 2020, after several decades of ownership, the Field family sold the stately manor to medical supply company founder Shlomo Rechnitz and his wife, Tamar, for $11.5 million. Two years later, following a makeover executed by Mark Stevens Construction and MR DESIGN, the seven-bedroom, thirteen-bathroom home is being sent back to the market with an eye-watering $26 million price tag.
Along with period features such as coffered ceilings, diamond-pane leaded windows, mahogany paneled walls, multiple fireplaces with elaborately carved mantels, and detailed crown moldings, the 14,649-square-foot house sports a brand-new kitchen by Cooper Pacific, revamped baths, a new home theater, infrared spa / massage room, and a billiards room with built-in bar. The one-acre grounds have also been overhauled, and now feature a pool with Baja shelf, spa, an outdoor kitchen with barbecue grill and Alpha 4 pizza oven, two fire pits, and a pickleball court with half basketball court.
The glammed-up estate is listed with the Altman Brothers of Douglas Elliman.
