Flash back to a little over five decades ago, and Lakers basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain — affectionately known to his fans as the “Big Dipper” — had just purchased a $150,000 plot of land in the rugged mountains above Bel Air. A basketball superstar at the time, he went on to enlist noted architect David Tenneson Rich to design an extravagant $1.5 million bachelor pad on the site and called it “Ursa Major.”
“I wanted the feeling of the house to be like the Baptist church I remember when I was growing up,” the 7’1.5″ center told the New York Times.
Since then, the brutalist-style dwelling has been extensively renovated and modernized by its subsequent owners, doing away with original details like the mirrored, retractable ceiling in the master bedroom and waterbed-clad playroom; now its back up for sale, asking a smidge under $15 million.
On and off the market for the past few years — once for as much as $18.9 million — the home was purchased from Chamberlain’s estate by TV writers George Meyer and Maria Semple in 2002 for nearly $3 million. The pair sold the place to its current owner for $6.5 million in early 2009.
Nestled amid a secluded cul-de-sac — on a gated, 2.5-acre hilltop parcel that served as a Nike anti-aircraft missile site during the Cold War — the redwood, glass and stone structure was completed in 1970, and contains several bedrooms and seven baths in almost 9,400 square feet. There are glitzy amenities like media and billiard rooms, a gym and redwood sauna, with walls of glass providing seamless indoor/outdoor environs, plus sweeping mountain, ocean and reservoir views.
A stone walkway traverses a water feature before emptying out at the massive 2,000-pound front door. From there, a soaring great room rests beneath a 40-foot-tall cathedral ceiling, and displays a sunken conversation pit warmed by a wood-burning fireplace sporting a stone chimney. There’s also a sleekly designed gourmet kitchen outfitted with high-end stainless appliances and a separate dining area.
A “floating” staircase heads upstairs, where the master retreat spans the entire second floor; and outdoors, the lushly landscaped grounds hold a large pool that “wraps the house creating an impression that it is floating in a lake,” per the listing, along with numerous spots ideal for al fresco entertaining and lounging.
Chamberlain played for Lakers for five seasons during the ’60s and ’70s, and was an essential part of their ’71-’72 team, which is considered one of the best in NBA history. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, and was later named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. Chamberlain died of heart failure at his Bel Air home in 1999 at age 63.
Zac Mostame, Santiago Arana and Jonathan Carr of The Agency serve as the listing agents.