Talk about an only-in-L.A. pedigree.
A Neoclassical chateau designed to resemble Marie Antoinette’s estate at Versailles, built for the family that owned Architectural Digest and known as a draw for The Weeknd and Jennifer Lopez fetched $16.4 million in a sale that closed this week.
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The seller of the property, located at 110 N. Mapleton Drive in Holmby Hills, was heiress Patrice Tarsey, daughter of one of the founding owners of the Dunes Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1950s.
110 N. Mapleton Drive in Holmby Hills (Opendoor)
The buyer was a local developer who works with high-end properties and plans to “restore it to its original grandeur,” said broker Aaron Kirman, who had the listing.
The 11,000 square-foot, nine-bedroom mansion was built in 1990 for Colleen Knapp, whose family founded Architectural Digest. The home was designed after Le Petit Trianon, the summer estate built in the 18th century on the grounds of Versailles for Marie Antoinette, and features suitably decadent amenities, including a double circular marble stairway, 18th century Baccarat crystal chandelier and 14-foot glass and wrought iron doors. The home’s library and living room floors are also a copy of the floors at the Hall of Mirrors, the famous Versailles gallery. The one-acre property also features gardens, waterfalls and a tennis court.
Tarsey is a Versailles aficionado, and she bought the Mapleton Drive property in the early 1990s for an undisclosed amount. Tarsey sold because she has relocated to Florida and didn’t want the upkeep, Kirman said.
In recent years the estate, which sits on among L.A.’s most expensive streets, has sometimes been used as a film location. The Weeknd used it for a music video set in his 2020 hit “Too Late,” and Jennifer Lopez has used it for a photo shoot.
Tarsey had previously listed the property in 2017 for $22.5 million but later took it off the market. The home currently needs “a total interior remodel,” Kirman said; the new owners plan to transform it into a “modern interpretation” of a European palace.
Holmby Hills sees plenty of high-profile luxury real estate action. In June, Jordanian real estate mogul Hasan Ismaik chopped $5 million off the $70 million asking price for a Nile Niami-built spec mansion at 271 S. Mapleton Drive, and in April the late radio legend Casey Kasem’s estate sold for $34 million. That property is located at 138 N. Mapleton Drive.