Movie Mogul’s Estate (and Marilyn’s Haven) Sells for $88 Million

The Owlwood Estate on South Carolwood Drive in Holmby Hills, formerly the home of movie mogul Joe Schenck, has been sold to an unnamed billionaire for $88 million, Variety reports – significantly less than the $150 million price tag when it went on the market in 2012. It was sold for $90 million in 2016 as part of a notorious Ponzi scheme, and re-entered the market with a $115 million asking price in 2019.

Built in the 1930s, the 10-acre compound became home to Twentieth Century Fox founder Joseph M. Schenck in the late 1940s. After he befriended Marilyn as a young studio player, she frequently stayed in his guest cottage. While many speculated that their relationship was more than platonic, both consistently denied it.

Marilyn’s rival bombshell Jayne Mansfield built her ‘Pink Palace’ at the residence neighbouring Schenck’s. Jayne’s mansion later became part of the Owlwood estate, but was controversially demolished in the early 2000s. After Schenck died in 1961, Owlwood was purchased by Marilyn’s Some Like It Hot co-star, Tony Curtis, who sold it to Sonny and Cher in the 1970s (just before their divorce.) It was then occupied by a succession of business tycoons, including a rumoured arms dealer who hosted lavish parties on the lot.