One of L.A.’s ‘Most Interesting’ Estates Lists for $15 Million

Around 14 years ago, Moby doled out just over $3.9 million for a “replica of a Norman castle” that was reportedly occupied in previous years by the likes of Debbie Reynolds, Marlon Brando, and The Beatles. Alas, the Los Angeles spread proved too “elaborate for one simple little guy,” so the musician and architecture aficianado wound up selling the fairytale-esque digs after four years and an extensive restoration at a hefty profit. Now, a decade later, the illustrious structure has once again popped up for sale in the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood of Hollywood Hills, this time with a $15 million asking price.

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“I loved Wolf’s Lair,” Moby said of the place he called “the most interesting home in L.A.” at the time. “If I’d started a cult or a family (and trust me, I’ve tried to start both) it would have been the perfect home. Basically I wanted something simpler than a mountaintop castle.”

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Originally built in the late 1920s for real estate developer and art director L. Milton Wolf (complete with a turreted room for his exotic pet gibbon), the estate was sold to Moby in 2010 by businessman Jay Faires and onetime TV host Debbie Matenopoulos. Moby went on to drop about $2 million on an extensive renovation and restoration before transferring it in 2014 as part of an off-market deal to an LLC tied to Switzerland-based Nathaniel (Nat) Rotschild, a wealthy heir to the Rotschild banking dynasty, who undertook his own update of the premises.

Hidden away behind walls and gates, atop a secluded promontory spanning 3.4 acres, the property includes a main house and a guesthouse that was tacked on in the 1960s by noted modernist architect John Lautner—for a total of eight bedrooms and six baths in nearly 5,000 square feet boasting carved-wood details, arched doorways, coffered ceilings, and large windows overlooking picturesque views of Lake Hollywood, the iconic Hollywood Sign, and Griffith Observatory.

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Inside the primary residence, largely period interiors are highlighted by formal living and dining rooms, as well as a galley kitchen sporting high-end stainless appliances and a breakfast nook with built-in banquette seating. One of the bedrooms has been transformed into an office space, while the primary suite features a bath equipped with dual vanities, a soaking tub, and a separate shower.

A two-bedroom guesthouse that was used as a recording studio during Moby’s tenure has its own living area, kitchen, and roof deck, and rounding it all out are park-like grounds showcased by a kidney-shaped pool nestled alongside a pool house, a pergola-shaded dining area, and private hiking trails. There’s also said to be a “secret” subterranean room that once served as a prohibition-era bar, plus an attached two-car garage and a cobblestone motorcourt.

The listing is held by Billy Rose of The Agency.

Click here for more photos of Wolf’s Lair.

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