Byron Allen Adds $20 Million Beverly Hills Mansion to Bulging Portfolio
By James McClain
June 13, 2019
While he awaits the upcoming Supreme Court review of his high-profile $20 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against Comcast, media magnate Byron Allen has selected an upgraded location for residential relaxation. The owner and founder of billion-dollar Entertainment Studios — which owns The Weather Channel and Fox Sports Group, among other assets — has splashed out nearly $20 million for a brand-new mansion on a particularly prime street in the coveted Beverly Hills Flats neighborhood.
Built by Ken Ungar, the celeb-favored architect known for his lavish “contemporary traditional” builds in Brentwood and Pacific Palisades, the stately white brick manse was in escrow just two weeks after its initial list and weighs in with nearly 11,300 sq. feet of living space. Walls and gates surround the .38-acre mini-estate with an additional two-car detached garage out back and more off-street parking in front.
The soaring, double-height foyer will no doubt impress both guests and delivery people alike. Light brown oak floors flow throughout the three-level structure, which impresses with exquisite craftsmanship and sophisticated finishes. On the main floor are formal living and dining rooms, plus an expansive eat-in kitchen and a wet bar-equipped family room, which opens (via accordion-like French doors) to a loggia with an outdoor fireplace.
A hedonistic upstairs master features a fireplace and a private terrace in addition to his-and-hers bathrooms — both massive and marble-slathered — and his-and-hers walk-in closets. The subterranean lower level, meanwhile, is party-ready with a lounge, wet bar, enormous walk-in wine closet and a home theater with several rows of tiered seating. For fitness fanatics, there’s also a mirror-walled gym and spa facilities.
Avid real estate watchers will recall this is not Allen’s first foray into Beverly Hills real estate. Way back in May 2012, he paid billionaire Texan banker Gerald J. Ford exactly $17 million for an oversized contemporary mansion in an even swankier pocket of Beverly Hills just north of Sunset Boulevard. For the last several years, the house has sat vacant, awaiting demolition as Allen and his longtime wife Jennifer Lucas continue to push plans to build a 24,000 sq. ft. mega-mansion with a bowling alley and subterranean garage in its stead. However, the project has provoked some neighborhood opposition, despite the support of several folks on the street — including his next-door neighbor, multibillionaire financier Leon Black — who have written letters to the Planning Commission expressing support for Allen and Lucas’s proposed project.
Allen also still owns his “starter” home in the nearby Hollywood Hills — a single-story contemporary Mediterranean fusion once owned by Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst and tucked high up in the fashionable Bird Streets neighborhood. But his most impressive residential property is undoubtedly the $22.8 million Hawaiian estate he picked up last year. Spectacularly set on Maui island with 130 feet of ocean frontage, the contemporary villa features an elevator and negative-edge swimming pool.
David Offer of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland held the Beverly Hills Flats listing; Terence Hill of BT Equities repped Allen.
Link to article: https://www.dirt.com/showbiz/studio-executives/byron-allen-house-1203241867/