Acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay has paid $9.8 million for the Los Angeles villa of prolific screenwriter-producer Josh Schwartz (“The O.C.,” “Gossip Girl,” “Chuck”) and his wife Jill. The transaction ranks among the biggest ever recorded in the historic Los Feliz neighborhood, where the half-acre estate is secluded on a hillside cul-de-sac, with sweeping views of the Downtown L.A. skyline.
The sumptuous compound was never on the market, records reveal, but Schwartz more than doubled his money on the place, having paid $4.6 million for it a decade ago. Deeds and tax documents show the fortified property is comprised of a 6,300-square-foot main mansion built in 2004 and designed in the Mediterranean architectural style. There’s also a detached guesthouse/garage with space for three automobiles, additional off-street parking, formal gardens, and a 70-foot saltwater swimming pool with room for Olympic-sized lap swimming.
Indoor amenities are not limited to a movie theater, presumably one with pitch-perfect acoustics, numerous sets of French doors leading to various terraces and gardens, a kitchen with top-of-the-line stainless appliances, a so-called “chilled wine vault,” and covered loggias with their own fireplace.
It’s not particularly surprising that DuVernay would be in the mood for a big residential upgrade — about a year ago, she inked a historic $100 million deal to create content for Warner Bros. television, one of the biggest figures ever paid to a single filmmaker. The former journalist and PR guru continues to own her L.A. starter house, a 3,600-square-foot modern abode in the easter Hollywood Hills, about 10 minutes by car from her new compound.
