Los Angeles' much ballyhooed Carolwood Estate—the 35,000-square-foot mansion on the site of Walt Disney's last home, which rumbled onto the market in 2012 with a $90M pricetag—has finally sold for $74M. In 1998 billionaire and Houston Dynamo owner Gabriel Brener bought the animator's old barn from the estate of his widow for $8.45M. He promptly tore it down—not even the property's charming Mickey Mouse gate survived!—and dragooned the neighboring property so that, in 2001, he could commission the construction of the megamanse of his dreams: an eight-bedroom Xanadu complete with 19th-century marble mantels, intense "use of pure mahogany," a wine cellar, putting green, three bars, two safe rooms, quarters "designated for help and special event staff," and a two-story oval foyer "with plaster-veneered walls, crown molding, and statuary and verde jade marble flooring," all according to the brokerbabble.
Since being hulked onto the market a few years ago, the limestone mansion in Holmby Hills has been in the capable brokering hands of big-time real estate guy Mauricio Umansky of the Agency. Last spring rumors swirled that Formula One Tamara Ecclestone toured and "really liked" the property, though ultimately it looks like she didn't fall for its 17 bathrooms and 3.7 acres that "feel like seven." Though, actually, the WSJ writes, that the buyer is an "undisclosed international" human, which doesn't necessarily exclude the heiress.
When it listed in 2012 the estate was one of the most expensive listings in the country, though it didn't impress too many commenters. One at Curbed LA summarized the state of affairs thusly: "The modest family home [Disney] built was knocked down to build this ostentatious...thing...that, if anything, is the antithesis of Walt Disney's personal taste and idea of a 'home.'"
That being said, Forbes once reported that the property retains Disney's 90-foot underground tunnel that once hosted the 1/8-scale steam railroad Disney built in 1950, shortly after he and his wife purchased the parcel. The Carolwood Pacific Railroad, as it was known, "would serve as part of the inspiration to create Disneyland."
· The Carolwood Estate [The Agency]
· Former Disney Estate Sells for $74M [WSJ]
· All Carolwood Estate coverage [Curbed National]
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