Digital business entrepreneur Katherine Power has bought a century-old mansion in Bel-Air for $27 million — or $16 million off its initial asking price.
The co-founder of fashion e-commerce site Who What Wear and her husband, celebrity photographer Justin Coit, purchased the 8,800-square-foot English Tudor-style mansion at 620 Siena Way in an off-market deal, according to the Robb Report.
The seller was Canadian media heiress and actress Taylor Thomson, who listed the house in late 2021 for $43 million. Thomson bought the eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom house in 2001 for $7.4 million.
The stone mansion, built in 1926, was designed by Hoover Dam architect Gordon Kaufmann.
The billionaire Thomson conducted a meticulous restoration of the 1-acre estate, among the first in Bel-Air.
As a result, many of its coveted architectural and interior-design qualities remain, including beamed ceilings, arched doorways, a stone fireplace in the living room and a wood-paneled library, according to Robb.
Thomson updated the kitchen with new appliances, retaining its 1920s-style floor-to-ceiling tiled walls.
A fan of decorative tiling, Thomson also added a guest house to the property, outfitting it with elaborate tile and stone floors and tile features inspired by Moroccan and Turkish designs. The guest house, with a three-car garage, has a bathtub made of an old copper cheese vat.
The grounds, dotted with mature sycamores and redwoods, has an English-style garden, a fruit and vegetable garden, and a chicken coop. A large pool and spa is surrounded by a grassy lawn.
Power, the home’s new owner, runs beauty brands Merit and Versed, and owns the organic wine brand Avaline with actress Cameron Diaz. Her fashion-shopping website Who What Wear was acquired in 2022 by the British media company Future for an undisclosed sum.
Power and Coit still also own a 1920s Spanish-Colonial home in Little Holmby they bought in 2015 for $4.2 million, which they renovated and showcased in Architectural Digest.
Thomson, ranked as Canada’s second-richest woman and heir to the media empire founded by her grandfather Roy Thomson, has a family share in Woodbridge, a holding company with a controlling stake in Thomson Reuters.
Before she listed her Bel-Aire estate, Thomson bought a 14,000-square-foot Pacific Palisades home in 2021 from Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith for $48.6 million, according to Robb. She also owns a Santa Monica compound with a starring role in “Beverly Hills Cop” and an 1880s mansion once owned by Gordon Lightfoot in Toronto’s Bridle Path neighborhood.
— Dana Bartholomew