October opened with a reminder that, in Los Angeles, the most important conversations about a house are increasingly happening before it ever reaches the open market. A philanthropist’s Beverly Hills estate closed well below its summer ask. The name behind last month’s DeMille estate sale finally surfaced. And the fight over how luxury homes are marketed — publicly, privately, or somewhere in between — moved from strongly worded letters to a federal courtroom. Meanwhile, two of the Westside’s most productive teams joined forces around the most coveted pipeline in the city: the Palisades rebuild.
Transactions
Glorya Kaufman’s Longtime Beverly Hills Estate Trades for $19.3 Million
The Laurel Way home of the late philanthropist Glorya Kaufman has sold for roughly $19.3 million, The Real Deal reports — a reduction of more than $5 million from the $25 million at which it was offered earlier this year. Kaufman, the arts patron whose name graces USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, purchased the property in 2012 for $18.2 million and lived there until her death last year at 95. All proceeds will go to the Glorya Kaufman Foundation.
Built in 1989 on nearly an acre above the Beverly Hills flats, the residence offers about 5,890 square feet with four bedrooms, a pool and spa set within a lawn, an open patio and a covered loggia with a fireplace. Douglas Elliman’s Rachelle Rosten and Kelly deLaat represented the estate; The Agency’s Christine Martin and Samira Fores represented the undisclosed buyer.
- $19.3M — Sale Price
- $25M — 2026 Asking Price
- $18.2M — 2012 Purchase Price
Estate sales tend to clear with unusual candor. There is no seller waiting for a better number — only a fiduciary obligation to close. That makes this result a useful benchmark: a well-located, nearly one-acre Beverly Hills property with a celebrated owner traded about 6 percent above what it fetched fourteen years ago, and about 23 percent below its opening ask.
Industry & Policy
California’s Largest MLS Sues Compass Over Private Listing Rules
The standoff between Compass and California Regional MLS escalated sharply this week. In a September 8 letter, Compass gave CRMLS until October 6 to stop fining agents who publicly market office-exclusive listings, or face federal antitrust litigation. CRMLS rejected the demand outright — “They want us to not enforce the rules,” as CRMLS put it — and announced a legal defense fund for multiple listing services facing similar pressure.
Then, a day before the deadline, CRMLS moved first. On October 5 it filed suit against Compass in federal court, asking a judge to declare its Rules 7.9 and 7.9.1 lawful under both the Sherman Act and California’s Cartwright Act, and seeking an injunction barring Compass from pursuing antitrust claims over them.
At the top of the Los Angeles market, discretion has always been part of the product. The question now before a federal judge is who gets to decide how much of it a seller can buy.
For owners of significant properties, the outcome matters more than the headlines suggest. Private and office-exclusive marketing has become a standard tool for sellers who value privacy or wish to test pricing quietly. How the court rules will shape whether that discretion carries a cost in exposure — and how buyers’ agents gain access to inventory that never touches the public feed.
Transactions
Madonna Is Revealed as the Buyer of the DeMille Estate in Los Feliz
Last week we reported Angelina Jolie’s $24.75 million sale of the Cecil B. DeMille estate. This week, the buyer has a name: Madonna. The sale closed September 24, after Jolie had listed the property in the spring at $29.9 million. According to Robb Report, the singer’s interest was sparked by a video tour arranged through her representatives.
Built in 1913, the gated compound includes an 11,000-square-foot main residence with six bedrooms and ten bathrooms, a library, wine cellar, gym, guesthouse, pool and tea house. One cultural icon handing a century-old Hollywood landmark to another is the kind of chain of title that only adds to a property’s story — and, over time, to its value.
Brokerage
Two Compass Teams Combine Around the Santa Monica–Palisades Corridor
Compass’ Pence Hathorn Silver and The Jancula Group have formed a strategic partnership aimed at the flow of buyers and sellers moving between Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. Under the arrangement, the teams’ agents will share first looks at each other’s off-market properties, draw on each other’s client rosters and collaborate on digital marketing.
- $218M — PHS Trailing Volume
- $300M — Jancula Trailing Volume
- 22 — Combined Team Members
Ryan Jancula, a Palisades native, has concentrated on the neighborhood’s recovery and new development since last year’s fire. Pairing that pipeline with a Montana Avenue–based team rooted in Santa Monica reflects a simple reality: many Palisades families are living in Santa Monica while they rebuild, and both sides of that transaction now move through the same relationships.
Notable Listings
Two Hollywood Hills Homes With Famous Pasts Come to Market
Dolly Parton’s onetime Hollywood Hills residence has listed for $7.95 million, its first public offering in about 25 years. Parton and her late husband, Carl Dean, bought the property in 1985 for $750,000; it was rebuilt in 2009 and now offers about 4,700 square feet, four bedrooms, a library, media room, pool and spa, and city-to-ocean views. Edward Tinney of Nourmand & Associates holds the listing.
Nearby, the former home of Michael B. Jordan has arrived at $14 million. Designed by architect Jeffrey Mills in 1997, the house has traded at $4.5 million (2005), $5.8 million (2019) and $6.95 million (2022). A remodel by Ome Dezin added a mirror-clad sauna pavilion inspired by Doug Aitken’s Mirage. The asking price — roughly double the last sale — is a direct test of how much a design-forward renovation can add in the Hills.
Market Pulse
A snapshot of the numbers and signals shaping the season.
- Measure ULA stays in place through November. The statewide measure that would have curtailed the city’s transfer tax was withdrawn from the ballot; Proposition 43, which voters will consider instead, does not repeal or change ULA.
- The tax remains a line item buyers and sellers price in. A Brentwood Park spec home that sold for $26 million last month carried an estimated $1.4 million ULA bill.
- Fall contract activity has returned. The Eklund weekly report tracked $181.2 million in signed luxury contracts across L.A. County in a single mid-September week, with the South Bay contributing about 41 percent.
The Takeaway
Discretion Has Become the Market’s Most Contested Asset
Every story this week turns on access. The Kaufman estate cleared at a realistic number once the market had its say. Madonna found the DeMille estate through a private video tour. Two leading teams merged their off-market pipelines. And California’s largest MLS is now asking a federal court to settle how much of that private activity can coexist with public listing rules.
For sellers, the practical lesson is to choose a marketing strategy deliberately — private exposure can protect privacy and pricing, but it can also narrow the buyer pool, and the rules governing it are in flux. For buyers, representation with deep off-market relationships matters more than ever. And with Measure ULA unchanged for the foreseeable future, transfer-tax planning should be part of any significant transaction from the first conversation.
For guidance on navigating the current luxury market, contact Aram Afshar at [email protected].