Today Yolanda thought we would take things in a slightly different direction with this one. Instead of blabbin’ about some immodest sprawling palace on the Westside, let’s keep it more casual with a quietly lovely compound hidden in the hills above Hollywood.
Built in 1948, this .37-acre gated spread is invisible from the street out front, hidden behind a dense (but carefully manicured) row of hedges. Beyond the foliage lies an updated 1948 spread with a 3-bed main house, a two-story guest house, and a separate music studio. Perfect for an artist client of some sort, right? And even moreso because the property is located in the heart of Nichols Canyon, long a haven for celebrities from all walks of life. Current residents include Lady GaGa, Will Ferrell, and Rose McGowan.
And the sellers of this property themselves were certainly well-known in Hollywood, if not exactly famous. They were film score composer Woody Jackson and his wife Sharon, a high-powered talent agent at William Morris Endeavor (WME), arguably the most high-profile talent agency in LA.
The couple appear to have purchased the property back in 2003 for just $925,000 and obviously substantially upgraded it in the 14+ years since.
Anyway, the house popped up for sale last year and quickly sold little more than a month later for $3,290,000, a whopping $391,000 more than the asking price. Clearly, multiple parties wanted this property quite badly. But there can only be one winner and records show that something mysterious “Damn The Torpedoes LLC” acquired the spread at a hefty $3,290,000 final price. Yolanda just happens to know that the entity is a front for a young-ish lady named Jaime Johnson, an heiress to a multi-billion-dollar fortune.
Our Ms. Johnson — not to be confused with her documentary filmmaker cousin Jamie Johnson — is an heiress to Johnson & Johnson, the $76 billion worldwide conglomerate that was founded back in the day (1886, to be exact) by her great-great-granddaddy, Robert Wood Johnson I, the originator of New Jersey’s wackiest and wealthiest family.
Because of her propensity to avoid public events and the party circuit, you may have never heard of Ms. Johnson herself. But you have probably heard of her other family members. Her daddy Woody Johnson is owner of the New York Jets and is currently United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, appointed by President Trump. Per the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, he is also worth a paltry $4.2 billion.
And also back in the day, Ms. Johnson’s older sister Casey was a big tabloid queen, hangin’ with celeb pals like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. You may recall Casey passed away at the age of 30 after a short life filled with hard partying and high-profile relationships with both men and woman. Perhaps that is why her younger sister chooses to eschew the nightlife scene, perhaps not.
But we digress.
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Privacy, security, and serenity are virtues valued here. The house is surrounded by a bevy of security cameras — 16, to be exact. Access is provided via a large iron gate, which guards a wooden carport capable of covering two vehicles. Gravel pathways lead to the single-story main house.
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Inside, the fully renovated main house has wide-plank white oak floors, snow white walls, and an open floorplan. The icy-lookin’ all-white kitchen sports marble countertops, glass sliders opening to the side yard, and top-of-the-line designer appliances.
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As previously mentioned, there are a total of three bedrooms and four baths in the 2,500-square-foot structure. The master suite has more glass sliders, a bathroom that looks entirely hewn from one chunk of marble, and a walk-in closet.
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An outside staircase leads down from the off-kitchen deck to the private music studio. A manicured walkway connects the main house to the two-story guesthouse that sports a bedroom suite a living room, and a kitchenette.
Before we jet off for the evening, let’s quickly put into perspective just how rich these Johnsons are. In 2015, Woody Johnson — Ms. Johnson’s daddy, as we have already told y’all — sold his New York City penthouse for a shocking $77,500,000 to Ukraine-born billionaire Len Blavatnik. But what is even crazier is that Mr. Johnson never even lived in the apartment — he had bought it many years prior but only used it for parties and fundraisers. Oh, and as a profit-generating box in the sky. You know what they say about the rich getting richer and all that.
Listing agents: Billy Rose & Jon Grauman, The Agency
Jaime Johnson’s agent: Alexander Barad, Sotheby’s International Realty