A year after it was put up for grabs with a $13 million pricetag, records reveal the longtime Bel Air home of Nigel Lythgoe has sold in an off-market deal for a substantially lower $11.4 million, though that’s still almost $4 million more than the TV talent show tycoon (“American Idol,” “So You Think You Can Dance”) paid for the place exactly a decade ago.
Built circa 1933, the genteel East Coast traditional was reportedly once occupied by Lana Turner and later owned by both “All in the Family” star Jean Stapleton and philanthropist Nancy Daly, respectively. The rambling main house spans just over 5,200 square feet with five bedrooms and seven baths, per the listing, and is clad in clapboard and black shutters for an authentic East Coast traditional appearance.
Inside are elegantly scaled living, dining, and family rooms, all of them decked out with fireplaces, and a clearly updated kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances and a wood-topped center island. There’s also a fireplace-equipped library with paneled walls and three bedrooms, including a lavish master suite that spans nearly the entire upper floor and features dual marble bathrooms and a glitzy dressing room.
Two additional bedrooms lie in the detached guesthouse/garage building. Much of the hillside backyard is steeply sloped, though it’s been nicely terraced with colorful gardens and meandering pathways. Other amenities include a trellised dining terrace, a swimming pool, grassy lawns, and even a classic London-red telephone booth secluded in the gardens.
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Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow And while the property’s .7-acre lot isn’t especially big, it’s sited in prime lower Bel Air, on a quiet cul-de-sac near the mouth of the Bel Air Country Club. Perhaps that’s why, unfortunately for lovers of 1930s-era traditional architecture, the house may not be long for this world. Records indicate the new owner is Philip Rahimzadeh of real estate investment firm Core Development LLC, and one of the most prolific real estate developers in Downtown L.A.’s Arts District.
Local real estate watchers may recall Rahimzadeh caused a spectacle back in 2019, the year he paid $11 million for the so-called Eva Gabor estate in nearby Holmby Hills, which included a 1930s mansion designed by legendary architect Paul R. Williams. At the time, the property was under consideration as a potential L.A. historic landmark, but Rahimzadeh quickly demolished the home’s façade and several of its key “architectural elements,” all without permits, allegedly so the place would not be landmarked.
Rahimzadeh denied knowing of the home’s potential landmark status when the city finally got around to issuing a stop-work order, but by that time it was too late for the house, which was effectively ruined and declared landmark-ineligible, leaving Rahimzadeh — or a potential future owner — free to complete the Holmby Hills demolition.
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Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow -
Image Credit: Zillow