Sonny & Cher’s Former Mansion Owlwood Estate Hits the Market for $180,000,000

10 park-like acres in the middle of Holmby Hills and an incredible mansion steeped in Hollywood history. The former home of Sonny & Cher, actor Tony Curtis, 20th Century Fox cofounder Joseph Schenck, Superior Oil founder William Keck, and Joseph Drown, the founder of the Hotel Bel-Air, the Owlwood Estate returns to the market listed at a cool $180,000,000.

The estate was built in 1936 and sits on more than 10 acres between Sunset Boulevard and the Los Angeles Country Club. Its centerpiece is a 12,000-square-foot, Italian Renaissance-style main house by architect Robert Farquhar. When Sonny & Cher purchased the property in 1974 they paid $750,000 – quite a steal considering today’s price tag!

Sonny and Cher lived at Owlwood Estate throughout the 1970s. Here are a few photos of the legendary music duo at home during that time.

The home sold just last year for $90,000,000, at the time the second largest sale ever in Los Angeles county. The home is now listed for double that price. The storied estate received increased attention and market interest earlier this year, after Jay-Z hosted Roc Nation’s annual Grammy Brunch Party at the estate where attendees included Rihanna and Sean Combs.

The sprawling estate currently has one existing residence, an ornately articulated Italian Renaissance villa designed by illustrious architect Robert D. Farquhar and built in 1936 for Florence Letts Quinn, ex-wife of department store magnate Arthur Letts, Jr.

Owlwood shares a long border with the northern edge of the posh Los Angeles Country Club and the park-like property is currently composed of three buildable parcels. One lot is vacant, a second includes the existing Farquhar-designed residence and a third has an extensive leisure complex that includes a swimming pool, a spacious poolside guesthouse and a sunken tennis court.

Inside the home, wood paneling and intricate molding on the ceilings recall old-style Hollywood. In the mid-1940s, it is rumored Marilyn Monroe moved into the estate’s guest house while she had an affair with Joseph Schenck. Schenck would later help Monroe catch her first big break in a small role in the film Dangerous Years. She later had bit parts in the studio’s films Green Grass of Wyoming and A Ticket to Tomahawk and finally culminating in the classic All About Eve before she moved onto her most famous starring roles at the studio.

Outside, the grounds are lush and private. And for $180 million they better be!

Much of the home has been gracefully updated while maintaining the home’s opulent design and history.

A dramatic living room features tall ceilings, an incredible fireplace, and ample bright light from floor-to-ceiling windows.

And, yes, of course there is a second living area.

And a third.

This gorgeous kitchen is a real show stopper.

The home boasts six bedrooms, all wonderful, and some with easy outdoor access and fireplaces.

In 1966, Monroe’s Some Like It Hot co-star Tony Curtis snapped up the mansion. Cher and Sonny Bono fell in love with it when they went to a party there in 1967 and purchased it in 1970. After the pair split, they eventually sold off the property to businessman Ralph Mishkin for $950,000. He restored the estate and named it Owlwood.

If that stunning outdoor pool wasn’t enough for you, there’s this truly luxurious indoor pool.

The development will include an option to subdivide a portion of the additional 10 acres into buildable land or additional homes. If that’s the case, Owlwood Estate(s) would become an exclusive gated enclave with a private street. And just in case you were wondering, Owlwood Estate, at $180 million, is not Los Angeles’s most expensive listing. It’s currently LA’s third.

Photos courtesy of Adam Rosenfeld, Mercer Vine.

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