01/08/09

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Historic Hollywood mansion hits market

The view from the patio captures the feel of a bygone era.

Hollywood's Joseph Young Mansion, built in 1925 by the city's founder and one of the 100 richest men in America at the time, had become a shattered relic of a bygone era. Less than a decade ago, it exemplified the word "neglect."

In fact, it was in such bad shape that the young California couple who purchased it for $750,000 in 2002 debated whether to tear it down and build something new or embark on the expensive, multiyear process of restoring it to its once glorious condition.

Owners Richard and Michelle Vest took the Rubush & Hunter-designed estate, which sits on three Hollywood Boulevard lots in the Hollywood Lake areas, and painstakingly restored every detail, from the carved faces that adorn the ceiling beams to the Italian marble mantles on the four fireplaces. Their stunning work has been documented everywhere from local television news to the Fine Living TV and HGTV cable networks.

Now, after a $1 million restoration and four (going on five) children, the Vests are returning to California and the JW Young mansion is on the market for $2.3 million. The 7,200-square-foot, 23-room, Moorish-style estate includes six bedrooms and bathrooms; a billiards room where President Warren Harding played on a few occasions; a new roof and kitchen; an interior fountain made of hand-cut Moroccan tile; and a cabana and pool area adorned with sculptures and pottery imported from overseas.

"Before that house, we had only owned a townhouse. We had never renovated anything or done anything like that, and we saw it as a labor of love," said Vest, an investment broker who relocated to Florida for his job. "We had one child and another on the way. I figured if my wife was going to trap me at home, I might as well have something to work on."

The ideal buyer? Not someone who has an eye on tearing the place down and turning it into condos, Vest said.

"It's just important. We feel that preservation is important, preserving that sense of time and place," said Vest, whose growing family has since returned to the San Diego area to be closer to relatives and where Vest has started his next business, Staffing Solutions. "We know it's going to be someone else's house, but we would like a buyer who is sensitive to the architecture and will appreciate it."

Young, who also founded Port Everglades, was a friend of famed Palm Beach architect Addison Mizner. Mizner's influence on the home's aesthetic is evident, said Alex Bruno, the listing agent for the Blithell-Stalmach Team at Re/Max Executive Realty in Hollywood.

Bruno said the Vests have rejected an offer of nearly $2 million, despite the soft market, because of the home's architectural and historic importance.

"Many people believe if the asking price is $2.5 million, you can get it for $1 million, and this house doesn't qualify for that sort of reduction. This house is priced well," Bruno said. "You're buying a mansion with 23 rooms, three lots, and it's unbelievable. There is no other house in Hollywood with this kind of construction, no other house with the finish and touches of this house.

"They put $500,000 into it, just to make it livable," Bruno added. "Everything was then restored to first quality: every window restored, a new roof made to look like it was old style, pottery imported from Columbia, statuary from Europe. They didn't ignore any details."

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

According to the Downtown Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency, Joseph Young's vision for Hollywood was to build a "dream city" of 30,000 people based on new zoning techniques, with separate areas for residential, business and industrial areas, as well as some allowances for mixed use development — such as apartments over retail.

The first plan filed for "Hollywood By the Sea," as the town originally was known, was Central Hollywood, the nucleus of Young's new town. Land was allocated for a school and park, and according to the redevelopment agency's Web site, a large parcel of it was set aside for the Hollywood Golf and Country Club. Young selected Spanish and Moorish architecture because it was compatible with South Florida's climate and his landscape preferences.

It's that historic architecture that Vest is interested in seeing preserved, and not just where his own house is concerned. Vest sat on the board of the Hollywood Historical Society and led the charge in 2005 to save the Great Southern Hotel from condo developers. "There were so many beautiful buildings lost throughout the years. When I drive my boat down the ocean, you can see the different skylines. Hollywood is unique in that it doesn't have condo towers everywhere, although there is a big push for that," Vest said. "I hope they can preserve the sense of a bygone era."