Move over, Jed Clampett! News Corp. co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch has paid a record price of roughly $150 million for the 10-acre Bel-Air, California, estate known as Chartwell — including the mansion used in the credits of the 1960s sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
The deal, which also includes the former home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan that sits behind the main house, is the most expensive residential sale in California history, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The property, sold by the estate of the late Univision CEO A. Jerrold Perenchio, was once listed for as much as $350 million. A rep for Murdoch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the listing, the property includes the 25,000-square-foot French Neoclassical main house (designed by Sumner Spaulding in 1930), a Wallace Neff-designed five-bedroom guest house, a 75-foot pool, tennis court, 40-vehicle car gallery, 12,000-bottle wine cellar and well-manicured gardens.
But for such a high-end listing, it’s not exactly move-in ready since it was last renovated in the 1980s (though by noted designer Henri Samuel).
The estate also comes with an annual tax bill of $1.3 million, according to the L.A. Times.
Chartwell is the latest L.A. area home to sell for more than $100 million. Earlier this year, Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone sold her Holmby Hills house (formerly owned by TV producer Aaron Spelling) for nearly $120 million and NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer sold his Malibu home for about $100 million, the Journal reported.