Hearst's Former Mansion Goes on Sale for $165m

A 29-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion that can boast the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst as a former owner is believed to have become the most expensive property listed on the American market, with an asking price of $165m (£82.5m).

The Beverly House Compound, close to Sunset Boulevard, was for four years until his death in 1951 the home of Hearst and his long-time mistress, the film actress Marion Davies.

He decorated the property with statues brought north from his famous Hearst Castle in San Simeon and with lifesize paintings of Davies.

The couple lavishly entertained there. When Hearst died, Davies kept the property, marrying a film extra in the movies within 10 weeks of the death. John and Jackie Kennedy honeymooned there in 1953 and later based much of the west coast operation for his 1960 presidential campaign there.

The house has been owned by the investor, Leonard Ross, since 1976. According to the estate agent handling the sale, Stephen Shapiro, Mr Ross is selling it because he wants a "lifestyle change".

The 6.5 acre estate has four houses in pink stucco and arranged in the shape of an H. There are three swimming pools, the largest of which is fed by waterfalls and cascading ponds, a movie theater and disco.

Beverly House Compound was built in 1927 for the banker, Milton Getz, who sold it to Hearst 20 years later for $120,000. Its architect was Gordon Kaufmann, who designed the Hoover Dam and the headquarters of the Los Angeles Times.

The price tag indicates how buoyant the top end of the property market remains on the west coast, particularly within the area known as the Platinum Triangle: Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills.

While the rest of California struggles from a falling housing market, this zone continues to soar, partly as a result of incoming multimillionaires such as David Beckham who will be introduced to fans of his new team, LA Galaxy, on Friday.

But the list price may be wishful thinking. Of the six listed residential properties on the US market for more than $100m, none have been sold. Other properties on the list include The Pinnacle, an estate being built in Montana in the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club, a privately owned mountain-top ski and golf community, which is for sale at $155m; and Hala, a 95-acre estate built in 1991 for the family of the-then Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, at $135m.

None of these properties, though, can match the colorful history of the Hearst mansion. It was used as a location for the Godfather, including one scene in which a Hollywood mogul discovers a horse's head in his bed.