Home of the Week: This Paul McClean-Designed LA Mansion Is Like a $65 Million Spa
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Flamboyant movie-producer-turned-property-developer Nile Niami has a new addition to his growing list of un-sold Los Angeles mega-mansions.
This one, a brand-new 28,0000-square-foot stunner on two acres of tony Bel-Air hillside, has been designed by architect-to-the stars, Irishman Paul McClean. It has just hit the market for a jaw-dropping $65 million.
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Niami’s current inventory includes the One, the headline-grabbing 100,000-square-foot hilltop eerie, also in Bel-Air, that maxes out at 20 bedrooms, its own nightclub with jellyfish tank, a casino and IMAX theater. Asking price? Half a billion dollars.
Add to that Opus, a 20,000-square-foot spec home on Billionaires’ Row in Beverly Hills that hit the market in 2017 for $100 million, was dropped to $60 million, but oddly resurfaced last month with its asking price back up to $80 million.
Then there’s Niami’s own 14,000-square-foot bachelor pad just off Sunset Strip, that listed in January for $55 million. To create some buzz, he staged an open house for 500 guests featuring fire dancers, mermaids and…a camel.
His latest offering, on Bel-Air’s coveted Carcassonne Drive, a stone’s throw from the Bel-Air Country Club, is as breathtaking and over-the-top opulent as the others.
Designed as a resort-like oasis, the main house features a 160-foot-long outdoor pool and a 30-foot-tall water wall; and a wellness spa with yoga studio, massage studio, facial room, meditation room, hair salon and state-of-the-art fitness center. For movie nights, there’s a spacious 14-seat cinema with stretch-out leather sofas.
To enter the home, you first take stepping stones over a moat-like reflecting pool that wraps around the house. The hotel lobby-like grand foyer soars 25 feet high and features a majestic curved staircase up to the second floor.
The family room is more cozy, with its wide fireplace and lower ceilings. Walls of glass retract to open out on to that Olympic-size pool with its well-equipped outdoor kitchen.
The vast main kitchen is a contrast of sleek black cabinetry and white marble floors and countertops with a stunning gold-ball chandelier. Close by is the towering, stand-alone glass box wine room filled, in Niami fashion, with nothing but Cristal Champagne.
There are nine bedroom suites with the master defining “huge.” The adjoining dressing room and closets are equally expansive and feature stunning exotic wood cabinetry.
The home is the latest collaboration between Niami and prolific architect Paul McClean, who also designed the One and Opus.
Dublin-born McClean, whose forte is big-windowed, light-flooded houses, has designed mega-homes for the likes of Beyonce and Jay-Z, Calvin Klein and the Winklevoss Twins—they’re the ones who sued Mark Zuckerberg and are now Bitcoin-famous. McClean is considered the architect who’s currently defining California luxury living.
His work is showcased in a new 240-page book, McClean Design: Creating the California House which explores in detail, 21 of his homes.
With a general slowdown in sales at the top end of LA’s residential market, it will be interesting to see if McClean’s star power—and the lure of spa treatments—can attract a buyer.
The home is listed with Jennie Priel and Aaron Kirman, both with Compass Realty’s Aaron Kirman Group.
Juwan Li and Marc Angeles, courtesy of Compass
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