A property that changed hands at a loss in 2013 is now pitched at a monthly figure that, annualised, would exceed $3 million.
A century-old estate in the Hollywood Hills has returned to the rental market at $275,000 a month, according to a Realtor report carried by the Times of India. The property, known as Park Hill Estate and located at 8159 Hollywood Boulevard, was purchased by Katy Perry and Russell Brand for $6.5 million in 2011, roughly a year after their marriage. The couple never lived there permanently; Perry reportedly used it as a private wellness retreat for yoga and Pilates, and occasionally slept in a greenhouse on the grounds that has since been demolished.
The marriage did not outlast the purchase. Brand filed for divorce towards the end of 2011, and the separation was finalised in 2012. The following year the Las Vegas hotelier Lorenzo Doumani acquired the estate for $5.56 million, a loss of nearly $1 million on the original price. Doumani then undertook an extensive renovation, which according to The New York Post involved removing the roof and reworking the property while seeking to preserve its historic character. The result is a refreshed estate that pairs its 1923 architecture with contemporary luxury expectations.
The property's history reaches beyond its celebrity owners. It was built in 1923 by the real estate developer C.F. DeWitt and later owned by the music industry pioneer Ralph Peer, whose gatherings reportedly drew Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. According to an exclusive New York Post report, more recent visitors have included Drake, Adele, Daniel Kaluuya, Kevin Hart and the Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, along with the basketball players Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler. Adele reportedly hosted a birthday celebration there.
The asking price places Park Hill among the most expensive rentals in the Hollywood Hills, the Realtor report claims, though another residence in Beverly Hills on Lawlen Way reportedly commands $500,000 a month. The listing is handled by the Serhant broker Patrick Michael and Sarah LaRose Doumani of LA Estate Brokerage, who is married to the owner, according to The New York Post. The property returned to the rental market barely a month after being leased at the same rate, and the monthly asking price can reportedly climb to $395,000 depending on the season and demand.
For an informed reader, the interest lies less in the celebrity pedigree than in what the listing says about the top end of the prime rental market. A property that changed hands at a loss in 2013 is now pitched at a monthly figure that, annualised, would exceed $3 million. That is a claim about scarcity and about the willingness of a narrow pool of tenants to pay for a historic address with a modern interior. It is not evidence of a broad market trend, and the report offers no detail on who the recent tenant was or how long the previous lease ran.
Several points remain unconfirmed. The Times of India account relies on Realtor and The New York Post, and the rental figures are described as asking prices rather than achieved ones, with the exception of the reported recent letting. The extent of the renovation and its cost are not given. Whether the estate finds a tenant at $275,000, or at the higher seasonal figure, will be the clearest test of whether Hollywood history still commands a premium in a cooling luxury rental market.
