OxyContin Heiress Madeleine Sackler Pays Cash in Los Feliz
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When “Havana” and “Señorita” songwriter Ali Tamposi put her renovated 1930s Mediterranean villa-style home in L.A.’s Los Feliz neighborhood up for grabs, the $2.8 million listing attracted a flock of interested parties. The house subsequently sold in less than one month for a full $235,000 over the asking price.
The winning bidder is critically-acclaimed filmmaker Madeleine Sackler, best-known for directing and producing gripping documentaries that include “The Lottery” and “Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus,” the latter of which won the 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Arts and Cultural Programming. A skim through public records reveals no evidence of a mortgage on Sackler’s new Los Feliz home, indicating the deal was very likely consummated all in cash.
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Sackler and her films have also garnered controversy, primarily because she is an heiress to the fortune generated by Oxycodone, the highly addictive drug that’s become emblematic of the opioid epidemic. According to the American Journal of Medicine, prescription opioid drugs have claimed the lives — either directly or indirectly — of 200,000+ Americans. Sackler’s grandfather Raymond Sackler created the modern-day Purdue Pharma, the legally-embattled company that produces OxyContin and other controversial pain meds, and her family has reportedly received a whopping $35 billion in total revenue from the firm since 1996.
Secluded at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and fully walled, gated and surrounded by a tall hedge for privacy and security, Sackler’s new mini-estate includes a single-vehicle carport and a tree-shaded front lawn. A short brick walkway leads to the front door, which in turn opens to a wee foyer with golden wheat-hued hardwood floors that continue throughout the structure.
There’s a double-height living room with a painted brick fireplace, a spacious kitchen with stainless appliances and Carrara marble countertops, and foldaway walls of doors that provide that quintessentially SoCal indoor/outdoor living. A cozy family room has direct access to the backyard pool area, and the downstairs maid’s quarters has its own separate entrance.
The upstairs master suite has a private balcony with distant views of the Griffith Observatory, and the accompanying spa-style bathroom has a vividly patterned tile floor, built-in soaking tub and dual vanities. There are two additional family bedrooms upstairs, both of which share a single bathroom.
Out back, there’s a flagstone terrace surrounding a plunge pool, a vine-covered trellis, citrus trees and various succulents. A detached guest studio sports a full bathroom and a private entrance.
Sackler’s family has been much in the property gossip columns as of late; last month, her extended family member quietly sold a $38 million New York townhouse to billionaire Israel Englander. And two years ago, her first cousin David Sackler forked out $22.5 million for a “fixer-upper” estate in prime Bel Air that is currently undergoing some sort of major overhaul.
Sebastian Wolski of Compass held the listing; Ron Holliman of Coldwell Banker repped Sackler.
Launch Gallery: Madeleine Sackler's $3 Million Los Feliz Home
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