Newly listed, this glammed-up estate sits on the best block of one of the best streets in the Beverly Hills neighborhood pocket known as the “Flats,” a collection of stately homes bordered by Santa Monica Boulevard on the south, and Sunset Boulevard to the north. Fully gated and watched over by a sophisticated security system, the half-acre property consists of a clapboard-sided East Coast traditional main house, plus a large grassy backyard and a detached guesthouse with garage parking.
Built in 1927, the home’s most famous owner thus far has been Leeza Gibbons, who bought it in 2014 for about $7.7 million. The talk show stalwart subsequently gave the tired old place a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion that was completed in 2017; she subsequently sold the property the following year for $15.4 million to its current owners, partnered Londoners Alex Schmid and Catherine Orridge, who have now flipped the house back onto the market with an $18.5 million ask.
A quick comparison of listing photos from now and then reveals the Orridge-Schmids have kept the place in immaculate condition and added subtle cosmetic renovations of their own. The interiors are light, bright, and distinctly err on the feminine side, with cream-colored decor in the formal living and dining rooms, the latter of which easily seats 12. Like the living room, the roomy family room offers its own fireplace, and the adjoining kitchen offers a breakfast bar and top-of-the-line appliances. There are also a separate breakfast room with seating for six, a plush movie theater with leather-lined seating for eight, and staff quarters on the ground level.
Upstairs, the decor shifts from merely elegant to decadent in the master suite, which includes a vaulted ceiling and marble fireplace. The upgraded closet puts any boutique to shame with its rows of custom doors and cabinets, all of them sporting their own draperies. In the master bath, there’s a built-up soaking tub set up hard against another fireplace, plus dual vanities and a makeup station. Accessed via French doors, a private balcony overlooks the backyard, where an al fresco entertaining loggia spills out to verdant lawns, back toward the saltwater pool with its raised spa and waterfall feature.
At the far rear of the property is the one-bedroom, 2.5-bath guesthouse, which is a mini-replica of the main house with its own stainless appliance-equipped kitchen and breakfast bar, a massive living area, and marble-lined bathrooms. The attached garages, accessible via a discreet alleyway that runs behind the main house, have also been converted by Schmid and Orridge into a state-of-the-art, epoxy-floored gym with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Other estate amenities include a full outdoor kitchen with built-in BBQ, additional off-street parking for four cars, and a high-tech automation system that controls the property’s lights, sound, and security cameras from afar.
Born and raised in Germany, Schmid is the founding partner and CEO of London-based investment company ESO Capital, which has more than $500 million in assets under management and offices in Luxembourg and Zurich.
Anthony Batarse and Robert Gertz at Atwater Properties hold the listing.