In 1928, Howard Hughes was fresh off the success of producing the Oscar-winning silent comedy Two Arabian Knights. Seeking a more permanent home in LA, Hughes and his wife, Ella, moved out of their spot at the Ambassador Hotel and settled into a Spanish Colonial in Hancock Park. Nearly a century later, the landmarked eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom house has reemerged on the market with a $23 million price tag, per the Wall Street Journal.
It was this spot where the magnate spent the next 14 years. During that period, he produced the hit films Hell’s Angels and Scarface (the 1932 version), smashed the record for fastest flight around the world, and dated Katharine Hepburn, who then resided with him in the stucco and clay tiled home. The dwelling was built in 1926 by architect Roland E. Coate right off the eighth hole of the Wilshire Country Club golf course—a draw for Hughes, who was an avid golfer at the time.
Sellers Ash and Niroupa Shah bought the 10,179-square-foot home in 2011 and set out to modernize the space. “When it was built, there was a clear delineation of, ‘This is where the family lived and this is where the staff lived,’” Ash told the Wall Street Journal. “We spent some time bringing it into one cohesive home.” The couple added a family room off the kitchen, an outdoor kitchen equipped with a pizza oven, and a sleek new swimming pool in the backyard. Hughes’s wood-paneled study became a media room with jet black lacquered walls and his basement vault was repurposed as a wine cellar that can accommodate up to 2,500 bottles.
