When Casa Encantada, a storied 60-room estate in Bel-Air, hit the market in June 2023, its $250 million asking price made it the most expensive house for sale in the United States. Though it appeared to be gunning to set a record for the most expensive house ever sold in the United States—a title the home already held twice, once in 1980 and again in 2000—a dramatic price drop in November 2023, down to $195 million, seemingly took it out of the running. Now, the home has received another major discount. According to Robb Report, the home is now listed for $165 million, $30 million cheaper than its most recent asking price and $85 million less than its original.
“These kinds of estates come up only once every few decades, and once they’re gone they’re gone,” Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency, who shares the listing with Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates and Josh Flagg of Compass, previously told the Wall Street Journal. Even so, the current real estate market has made it harder to find a buyer, hence the ever-decreasing price. “If this was 2017, the house would be sold by now, but given the state of the market, there aren’t buyers lining up around the block for any house over $100 million. With that said, there are people out there that can afford a house like this and it just takes that one person,” Flagg recently told Robb.
Spanning 40,000 square feet, the home was built in the middle of the Depression for Hilda Boldt Weber, the wealthy widow of a glass manufacturer from Ohio. Boldt Weber bought the land for $100,000—an impressive sum today but a truly astounding amount in 1934, amid the greatest economic crisis of the modern industrialized world. She’d felt ostracized by her late husband’s peers, who reportedly looked down on her for coming from humble beginnings, and opted to build a grand estate to solidify herself in California society.
Designed by James E. Dolena in a modern-influenced Georgian style, the home looks out over the the Bel-Air Country Club golf course. Since Boldt Weber’s passing, the property has known various high-profile owners including Dole Food billionaire David Murdock and hotelier Conrad Hilton. Most recently it’s been under the stewardship of financier Gary Winnick and his wife, Karen Winnick, an artist and author who told the Wall Street Journal in June that they were ready to downsize after more than 20 years in the home. “To me, this is a work of art, and I have been its steward,” Gary said.
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Before listing, the Winnicks undertook an extensive remodel and restoration overseen by architect Peter Marino. It took over two years with 250 craftspeople on-site daily to restore plasterwork, refinish lacquer walls, and hand-polish 14 layers of paint. There are over 60 rooms in the expansive residence including servants’ quarters and three walk-in vaults in the basement.
In addition to the challenging market, Gary’s death in late 2023 prompted the first price cut, and perhaps this second one indirectly. According to Mansion Global, the husband had a strong emotional attachment to the home and wouldn’t part with it for less than $250 million. But since his passing, Karen has been ready to move the sale along, prompting the two eight-figure price cuts. Had it sold for its original asking price, Casa Encantada would have become the most expensive residence ever sold in the United States. However, it seems Ken Griffin, whose 2019 purchase of a $238 million Manhattan penthouse earned him the accolade, will maintain the record for now.
