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Lavish Los Angeles Passion Project to Hit Auction Block

The home has five subterranean levels of amenity space, including an indoor tennis court

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The famously lavish estate that imports tycoon John Z. Blazevich spent 17 years completing—and which features five subterranean floors of amenity space—in the guard-gated Los Angeles city of Rolling Hills will head to auction next month without reserve.

The 51,000-square-foot Mission-style mansion, filled with expansive, exquisitely detailed rooms, will sell to the highest bidder on July 26 through Concierge Auctions after spending roughly five years on the market.

Mr. Blazevich first listed the compound in 2013 for $53 million, but his over-the-top passion project has proved too difficult to price. He’s poured millions if not tens of millions of dollars into building the ornately detailed home to his exacting personal tastes—ending up with something that, at least for the neighborhood, is without compare.

In order to comply with strict building codes in the surrounding posh equestrian community, the home has only a single level above ground with the majority of its cavernous amenity spaces cut into the bedrock below, said listing agent Jason Oppenheim of The Oppenheim Group.

"One of the most unique aspects about the home is the difficulty in being able to recreate something like this," said Mr. Oppenheim, who has co-listed the estate with Jade Mills and Tiffany Mills of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate.

If someone wanted to replicate the home, "it would probably cost $100 million to build this, but the most difficult thing is the passion and the commitment it would take," he added.

The owner hired knighted Spanish architect Rafael Manzano Martos to design the Andalusian-inspired home—the only work by the prominent designer in the U.S. He hosted a Spanish artist in residence for a decade to hand paint elaborate frescoes around the property, including the images of madonna and child in a Renaissance-inspired chapel and bedroom ceiling murals, photos of the home show.

"He spent 17 years of his life flying in designers and painters from all over the world," Mr. Oppenheim said.

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Mr. Blazevich bought the underlying property in 1993 for around $2 million, razed the home that was there, according to property records, and began his project, which would take the better part of two decades. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

The seven-acre estate has nine bedrooms, a whopping 25 bathrooms in total, enough room for it to comfortably serve as a corporate retreat. Some of the most impressive spaces sit below ground, where there is a two-story 15,000-square-foot neoclassical ballroom—that conveniently turns into an indoor tennis court (there’s also an outdoor clay tennis court).

A car collector could also convert the grand space into a flashy showroom for two-dozen automobiles, Mr. Oppenheim said.

Another centerpiece of the house is a 10,000-square-foot hammam and indoor lap pool with authentic details that include rows of marble columns and intricately carved doorways.

The owner also installed a geothermal system that has cut utility costs by around 70%. There are months when the gas bill for the humongous home was as low as $40, said a spokeswoman for Concierge Auctions.

"You would never, ever see a spec house like this, there were millions if not tens of millions of dollars spent on the details," the agent said.

The auction will be held onsite and also remotely through the New York-based auctioneer’s secure app. Without a reserve price, the sale could close for less than the owner originally spent building it.

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