Late TV mogul Michael King’s Pacific Palisades home has changed hands for $33.85 million, a sales-price record for the celebrity-heavy neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles.
King’s estate first put the 15,642-square-foot house on the market for $42 million in May 2016. The price was dropped to $38 million in February last year. It found a buyer earlier this month and closed for $33.85 million last Thursday, according to the seller’s agent, Elisabeth Halsted of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
It’s the most expensive sale ever in Pacific Palisades, according to Ms. Halsted, which is confirmed by sales records on the Multiple Listing Service.
14,000-square-foot New Build to Hit Los Angeles Market for $26.75M https://t.co/ORynGKhN8Q pic.twitter.com/S2cuo2wKrS
— Mansion Global (@MansionGlobal) May 27, 2018
King purchased the 1.39-acre property in 2002 for $11 million, per public records. He then had the house custom built in 2005 by Ferguson and Shamamian Architects with interiors by Michael Smith, who has been the White House decorator for over a decade.
The home features detailed and exquisite finishes and fixtures, including inlaid mother of pearl wall panels in the dining room, Ms. Halsted said.
"Additionally, the home boasts views of the Pacific Ocean, San Gabriel Mountains, Getty Museum and downtown skyscrapers," Ms. Halsted said.
The home has seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, a center entrance hall, a gallery, a library, formal living room and dining room, chefs’ kitchen, wood-paneled family room, as well as home theater, gym, staff quarters, offices, playroom.
Outdoors, there are manicured gardens, a pool with spa, pool house and a fireplace.
The buyer of this house is Bui Simon, a source confirmed with Mansion Global, which was first reported by The Real Deal.
The transaction has yet to appear in online property records.
Ms. Simon, a crowned Miss Universe in 1988 and founder of the Angels Wings Foundation, which supports education in her native country Thailand, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
She is married to Herbert Simon, owner of the Indiana Pacers basketball team and shopping mall developer Simon Property Group. Mr. Simon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent to his real estate company.
King, who died in 2015 at 67, built his family’s company, King World Productions, into a syndication powerhouse, which distributed shows such as "Wheel of Fortune," "Jeopardy!" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
The company was sold to CBS in 1999 for $2.5 billion.