Beverly Hills mansion of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sells for $45 million
Paul Allen’s properties are selling like hotcakes. Days after the late Microsoft Corp. co-founder’s prized land in Beverly Crest traded hands for $65 million, his lavish compound a few miles away has sold for $45 million.
Allen’s estate has been shedding his assets slowly but surely since his death in 2018. In 2020, his 21,000-square-foot mega-mansion in Atherton sold for $35.25 million. His mega-yacht complete with a swimming pool and submarine also found a buyer after once listing for $266 million.
Perched in Beverly Hills Post Office, the Spanish-style hacienda first floated onto the market for $55.5 million last summer. It’s one of Allen’s largest homes, with five structures combining for more than 24,000 square feet.
There’s a 9,500-square-foot villa built in the 1920s, 1,900-square-foot cinema building, 1,700-square-foot guesthouse, 1,100-square-foot staff quarters and a steel-and-glass recording studio that spans nearly 9,200 square feet. Another highlight is the funicular, a glass-lined box that travels from the swimming pool to the tennis court.
The leafy, gated compound covers more than three acres, kicking off with a romantic courtyard covered in bougainvillea. White stucco and clay tile adorn the exterior, and inside, dramatic beams and skylights top bright, open living spaces.
The main level holds a formal dining room, library, movie theater and gym with a massage room. A sweeping, sculptural staircase leads upstairs to a primary suite complete with a limestone bathroom. It’s one of five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
Allen, who died at 65, was a programming genius who was 22 when he founded Microsoft with Bill Gates. After leaving the company eight years later, with what would become one of the largest fortunes in U.S. history, he devoted his life to philanthropic causes and investments, including buying the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers franchises.
Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency held the listing.