With every step forward, it’s two steps backward in selling off late actor and comedian Bob Hope’s many real estate assets in Southern California—where his family home is now in a tug-of-war with the City of Los Angeles over a potential historic designation.
The 5.2-acre estate in question is hidden behind a tall privacy hedge and a set of gates emblazoned with the letter "H"—the only indication visible to the public that Hope, a prolific entertainer and philanthropist, lived there.
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In 1939, Hope commissioned architect Robert Finkelhor, who also designed homes for Harpo and Zeppo Marx, to build a roughly 7,000-square-foot home in the French-revival style on a mansion-lined street in Toluca Lake.
An avid golfer, Hope installed a hole in the backyard, and neighbors said they often saw him driving his golf cart over to a local golf course. Friend and co-star Bing Crosby also moved nearby, and their presence made the neighborhood as exclusive as it is today, preservationists argue.
As a result, a motion is now headed to L.A.’s City Council to designate as a landmark the Toluca Lake home, much to the ire of Hope’s heirs, who want to sell off the family properties and donate the proceeds to charity as per their parents’ last wishes. The income from the property is earmarked for the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation, which provides assistance to the poor and veterans in Southern California.
"The designation flies in the face of my father’s wishes," Hope’s daughter Linda Hope said earlier this month at a public hearing for the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission.
A storied past for the Hope property
Ms. Hope and three siblings were raised in the Toluca Lake home, which also hosted Hollywood elites like Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball—a testament to its historic relevance, according to the nomination for its historic status.
Hope also built a 4,000-square-foot office building on the property, where he managed his successful radio, television, film and real estate businesses, the nomination says.
But a landmark designation could take away from the market value, as it would make future additions and renovations to the property more complicated, Ms. Hope and lawyers for the actor’s estate argued at the commission meeting this month.
"He would be disappointed if we couldn't sell it for the maximum value," said Ms. Hope, adding that the proposal has already cooled interest in the property.
The Cultural Heritage Commission sided with the Hope family and voted against a designation at the hearing earlier this month, but the proposal will still go back to L.A.’s City Council. Two-thirds of the council will have to vote in favor of the motion for it to pass, lawmakers said.
The issue does not appear on this week’s City Council agenda, and the councilman who proposed the designation, David Ryu, did not return an email Friday asking when the vote will take place.
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At the hearing, some commissioners, most of whom are architects or similar experts, called the property architecturally insignificant, mostly due to additions that have all but hidden Finkelhor’s original design. Between 1940 and 2000, Dolores Hope altered the house more than a dozen times, doubling its size to its current 15,000 square feet, and turning it into an architectural "hodgepodge," Ms. Hope said.
"My mother fancied herself an architect," Ms. Hope said, a fact that has reduced the overall value of the home.
Home now listed for half the price
The house went on the market for $27.5 million in 2013 following the matriarch’s death but has struggled to sell ever since. Hope died in 2003 at the age of 100, while his wife died in 2011 at 102. The property has undergone a number of price cuts, and is now selling for $12 million, according to a listing by John Aaroe Group.
This month, realtors in Palm Springs were finally able to sell off another of Hope’s houses after a similar spate of price reductions. The iconic, UFO-shaped mansion built by starchitect John Lautner—originally listed for $50 million—sold to billionaire investor Ron Burkle for $13 million, sources told Mansion Global.
Likewise, the home in Toluca Lake had just received an acceptable bid when Mr. Ryu submitted an emergency motion to preserve the home as a historical-cultural monument and scared off the buyer, according to Ms. Hope.
Mr. Ryu said in his emergency proposal that his intention was to prevent the property from being demolished.
"We’re blessed in Los Angeles to have a number of entertainers and personalities that contribute to the fabric of our diverse city. Bob Hope is one of those personalities: he is an American icon," Mr. Ryu said when proposing the designation in September. "Today’s emergency legislation gives the city an opportunity to consider the estate’s historic designation status before it is demolished. It’s important that the city’s historic-cultural resources are celebrated and rich architecture preserved for future generations."