The hefty asking price of listed Beverly Hills properties doesn’t surprise us, does it? The LA city is, after all, home to some of the world’s most famous celebrities and entrepreneurs, and deep pockets is what these guys are known for. All the same, one specific listing did manage to send shockwaves throughout the world that’s real estate.
Listed for $1 billion, this was just about to be the most expensive property sale of all time. To put it in context, the buyer would have to be ready for the annual $10 million tax bill for this purchase, meaning that they’d have to earn at least $20 million before taxes per year. Shocked yet?
A Tenth of a Million
But as it turns out, this one-billion-dollar property was eventually sold for way less the listed asking price. Are you ready to have your jaw drop? Wait for it – it sold for a mere $100,000. How did it go from the B-club to just a tenth of a million?
The piece of property in question is actually The Vineyard, now better known as The Mountain of Beverly Hills and has quite the intriguing story. The 157-acre piece of land is located a short distance from Rodeo drive, and has generated some interest over the years. Famous names in Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have wanted to own it but to no avail.
The tale of this land goes back to 1977 when Iranian Princess Shams Pahlavi acquired it from Jack Bean. Two years later, the last Iranian shah and Pahlavi’s younger brother was ousted, and Iranian students in LA vandalized her various pieces of property.
Having no interest in owning property in Southern California anymore, the Princess sold the 157 acres to Merv Griffin. Griffin sought to build LA’s largest house at the time on his newly acquired land, but having recently also acquired a hotel, the man was stretched thin.
What then was he to do if not to let go of one of his new acquisitions? Merv chose to keep the hotel, selling off The Vineyard (it was he who named it so) to Mark Hughes, founder of Herbalife for $8.5 million, a record sale in 1997.
Sole Heir
Mark intended to build his dream home at The Vineyard, but he, unfortunately, died in 2000 before reaching this goal. The renowned businessman owned two other pieces of property in Malibu and a Beverly Hills residence, which he all left to his son Alex, aged only 8 at the time.
According to his will, however, Alex would only have access to his estate come 2027. So who was to run affairs till then? The kid’s trustees, who for some reason, mismanaged The Vineyard by agreeing to sell it on loan to Charles Dickens, a man who had no experience in real estate.
Dickens first borrowed $2 million from the trust, but over the years, kept at it and ended up owing them $200 million. For whatever reason, the man transferred ownership to one Victor Noval, who in turn, listed the property for $1 billion.
This was actually smart since if the sale had gone through, it would have offset the $200 million debt while giving him a huge profit.
However, Alex’s trustees forced a foreclosure move, resulting in an auction for the piece of property. $100,000 was the winning bid, and the bidder was, interestingly, Alex Hughes himself. At 27, he got to own the property that he should have after turning 35.
