Built in 1939 and restored multiple times since, the five-acre estate comes with a 15,000-square-foot home, tennis court, saltwater pool and golf course.

(Simon Berlyn)

Billionaire Ron Burkle chases record $29 million for Bob Hopes Toluca Lake estate

Jack Flemming

May 17, 2022

Four years after buying Bob Hopes longtime estate in Toluca Lake and restoring it to its former glory, billionaire businessman Ron Burkle is shopping it around for $29 million.

Thats nearly double the $15 million he paid for it in 2018. The extensive renovation saw Burkle modernize the living spaces with high-end fixtures and finishes but preserve the residences classic elements including Hopes oak library and a one-hole golf course that the late comedian designed himself.

If he gets his price, it will be the most expensive sale in the history of Toluca Lake, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

The trophy home is one of many that Burkle has owned over the years. He sold Frank Lloyd Wrights iconic Ennis House for $18 million in 2019, and his current real estate portfolio includes Bob Hopes futuristic Palm Springs retreat and Michael Jacksons Neverland Ranch.

Hopes Toluca Lake home was built in 1939 by Robert Finkelhor and updated two decades later by John Elgin Woolf, the Hollywood Regency-style architect who designed bold, opulent houses for other celebrities such as Cary Grant, Errol Flynn and Judy Garland.

Hope used the home to entertain high-profile guests such

Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and the estate still features Old Hollywood style today with roughly 15,000 square feet of chic spaces marked by wood, stone and glass.

Between the main house, staff house and apartment above the garage, the

-acre compound has eight bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. Other highlights include six fireplaces, a marble kitchen, bar and billiards room lined with memorabilia.

The amenities continue outside, where patios and lawns lead to a tennis court and saltwater swimming pool. An additional structure adds a commercial kitchen, conference room, security office and fireproof safe.

Burkle built his fortune buying and selling supermarket chains, and hes currently the owner of the SoHo House chain and part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. Forbes puts his net worth at $2.2 billion.

Kevin Dees of the Agency holds the listing.