Thursday, March 13, 2008

Kurt Rappaport: Really Rich Real Estate Broker

BUYER: Kurt Rappaport
LOCATION: N. Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: $13,2000,000
SIZE: 12,981 square feet (as per assessor), 6 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Located behind gates in the most prime estate section of Beverly Hills. Spectacular stone manor w/ hand chiseled slate roof. Built with incredible quality and craftsmanship. Grand scaled room, perfect for major entertaining, beautiful grounds and total privacy. 2 story entry, spectacular living room, large formal dining, gourmet kitchen, family room, luxurious master suite, theatre, elevator and more.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Fasten your safety belts children because Your Mama is feeling long -winded this morning and we got a lot of ground to cover on this one. So grab yourself a sweet snack and settle in for a long ride through real estate whirligig of one of Los Angeles' richest and most successful real estate brokers.

Anyone who follows the high dollar real estate deals in the better zip codes of Los Angeles knows full well that Kurt Rappaport sits at the tippy top of real estate broker heap. Not only does he earn a big income by being a co-owner of the swankiest and most exclusive boo-teek brokerages in the Los Angeles (Westside Estate Agency), the man makes millions personally listing and selling the luxurious homes of the rich and famous in Los Angeles. None the less, the churlish children are more likely to remember Mister Rappaport as the man who sold his big house on Calle Vista Drive in Bev Hills to Scientology kingpin Tom Crooz and his mousy but extremely well dressed wifey Kate Holmes in April of 2007 for a eye popping $30,500,000.

On a side note, the gossip glossy Life & Style reported this week that Mister and Missus Crooz are holed up in a Scientology owned apartment while they cough up another $15,000,000 renovating the mansion that Mister Rappaport had just completed renovating before selling to the kinda creepy Crooz couple. Besides adding a 1,500 square foot closet/dressing room for the Missus and carving out space for all the Crooz family members and Scientology minders that are rumored to shack up with them, Your Mama imagines that the pricey renovation might also include creating two separate bedrooms suites, one for the Mister and one for the Missus, because it's been widely and salaciously reported that Kate sleeps in her own bedroom because Tiny Tom snores so loud that she's unable to get her bee-yootee rest.

Anyhoo, let's get back to Mister Rappaport and his new house. After selling to the Crooz's, Your Mama spent many a sleepless night wondering where Mister Rappaport and his wifey moved. Property records show the couple owns two contiguous and vacant lots on Pacific Coast Highway in Malee-boo that happen to be a few doors down from Cher. However, despite the stellar location and staggering views of the Pacific from the bluff top lots, we just couldn't picture the very rich and pampered Rappaports camped out in an RV on their property in Malee-boo.

Naturally, Your Mama put the inquiry feelers out to our extensive and well connected spider web of contacts in the Platinum Triangle, and of course we scoured the property records. But alas, we continued to come up empty handed, which only led to more nights of tossing and turning. Then, like a submarine rising unexpectedly out of the placid water, Your Mama received a phone call from the always on top of all things real estate Lucy Spillerguts who whispered in our big ear that since turning over their colossal crib on Calle Vista to the Crooz couple, the Rappaports have been shacking up in the same Country English style house on Bellagio Road in Bel Air that Hollywood honcho Sheri Lansing and her Oscar winning huzband Billy Friedkin leased for many years before they finally forked over the big bucks to buy a major estate up on Levico Way in the hills above Bel Air in August of 2005.

But children, lucky for us, Lucy Spillerguts didn't stop there with the real estate skinny on the Rappaports. Oh no children, the impressively informed tattle tale went on to reveal that the really rich Rappaports just purchased a large and lavish house on N. Crescent Drive in what is arguably one of the very best part of the Bev Hills.

Well, it didn't take Your Mama long to figure out that Mister and Missus Rappaport purchased the gigantic house owned by auto accessories and tire tycoon Lawrence Kraines (Kraco) which had been on the market for nearly a year with an asking price of $18,950,000. Perhaps not surprisingly, the house was listed with Mister Rappaport, and thanks to information we received form Our Fairy Godmother in Bev Hills, Your Mama learned that Mister Rappaport negotiated a pretty good deal for himself by paying $13,200,000 for the ornate 12,981 square foot mansion with its lush landscaping and double gated circular drive . Interestingly, according to O.F.G. in B.H., the MLS indicates Mister Rappaport paid $15,990,000. Not sure why. Perhaps there was some sort of other asset swap that totalled that number? Hmm.

Listing information for the "spectacular stone manor" indicates that in addition to the designed to impress the guests double hight entrance hall with its curving Scarlett O-Hara style staircase, there are 6 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, 5 fireplaces, a large living room, a double height dining room room with lurid red wallpaper, a den, and a gourmet kitchen that Your Mama thinks could use a sear-ee-us re-do. The listing goes on to include additional rooms and amenities such as a family room, a gym, a media room with projection equipment, a brick lined wine cellar, a guest house, a service entrance for the staff (thank heavens they don't have to come right through the front door), and an elevator, because who's capable of walking up even one flight of stairs after a long night of gin and tonics in the library with the multi-millionaire neighbors?

Now children, please don't think that every real estate agent in Los Angeles lives in a $16,000,000 house, because, trust Your Mama, they do not. Mister Rappaport, bless his big fat wallet, is a rarity among real estate agents.

Your Mama wishes Mister and Missus Rappaport a happy new home...at least until one of their mega-money clients makes them an offer they can't refuse to sell the place.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did the word garish come to anyone's mind when they looked at the interior pictures?

Alessandra said...

Maybe it's just my mood this morning, but this particular house is just not all that exciting. It's large. It's grand. It's rather, dare I say it, dull.

It is, however, superbly located, and as any good Realtor, including Mr. Rappaport knows, that makes all the difference.

Anonymous said...

From when it first hit the market, loved the exterior, disliked the interior on this one...but with about $15-million in profit between the sale price on the place he sold Crazy boy and the price he paid for this place, lets hope some major interior renovations will take place...Love the neighborhood...one of my fave LA homes to hit the market this century is the old Harry Cohn estate @ 1000 N Crescent, which was put on the market by then owner Georges Marciano (or so I read) back in '05 for $32-million, then $28-million, then disappeared, and I have never read anywhere what ultimately happened, if Marciano pulled the place off the market or if he sold it (there's one to research mama!)...one of the few LA estates that I thought wasn't just worth the money, but was actually a STEAL at that price...(but who knows, maybe the place had mold or mechanical problems, LOL)

Anonymous said...

I've been in the house and it's dreadful.

It's amazing how some of the wealthiest and "classy" people can live in the tackiest, coldest large mcmansion places. I don't think the inside of this house ever gets an inch of light with the trees around it.

At least he can entertain all his clientele in the surrounding streets

Anonymous said...

Hope they fumigated b/c Britney looked at this place a few months ago.

Anonymous said...

Th Cohn place is cool, but in my opinion there are too many big houses crammed onto pie-shaped lots at the top of Crescent. Feels cramped and showy.

As to the Rappaport house...I half expect Belle to come around the corner, singing with a teapot and a candlestick.

Anonymous said...

I agree, I would definitely want to be on the even-numbered side of Crescent, where the lots are larger (the Cohn place sits on over 2 acres...)

Anonymous said...

Really rich real estate agent with Really bad taste.

Anonymous said...

This home is a dump. Looks as if they did the "lip stick on the pig" routine. Yes its large, yes its located well - but the house stinks; @ that price point you haev so many better choices - I guess this will be another one for the Russians.

Anonymous said...

Egads! It's all too light and fussy.

Mama nailed it with the kitchen - morgue-like, uninviting.

I do like the pitch of the roof line at the rear. It's not what I expected and pleasing to my eye.

Anonymous said...

'Russians'?

Since when have all the wealthy Russians moved to LA? London has 300,000 of them because they're close to Moscow & given the timezone they can deal with the Asian / Europe / N.Y markets ... In LA they're to far from everywhere ... I haven't heard of any wealthy, well known Russians living/buying in LA.

Anonymous said...

I like it. It looks like a fairy princess's castle and I could play make believe there.

Anonymous said...

Imagine the commission if he ever sells that $165,000,000 listing on N. Beverly.

Anonymous said...

Why do the property records indicate Lawrence M. Kraines as the owner? Also, didn't Britney Spears look at this house at some point?

Anonymous said...

The Harry Cohn house on the corner draws tourists by the droves. The current owner of the house parks at least 8-10 new Ferrari autos, plus a Rolls and Bentley in it's motorcourt. Every 5-10 minutes cars and vans roll by taking pictures of the house and cars. The house has it's own guard shack at the gates. Whoever buys the Stone House better not mind tourists at the gates. (they also walk-up from the B.H. Hotel)....

Anonymous said...

I always thought the Marciano house/car museum was the one at the NE corner of Foothill and Sunset (and wasn't that where LiLo ran after her drunken car crash on Sunset last year?)

Anonymous said...

As far as I know, the current owner is still Georges Marciano (of Guess jeans fame), since I never read any reports that he actually sold the place when it was on the market in 2005...

Anonymous said...

Ew.

Despite the credo location, location, location, even if this pile of rocks was at the right hand of God himself I wouldn't live there.

I liked PCH's characterization of Belle and the candlestick; I half expected to see a pack of Disney animatronics in the gazebo singing "It's a small world, after all . . . "

Lipstick on a pig indeed.

Anonymous said...

re: aerialdave - 12:35

Lawrence M. Kraines is Chrmn/CEO of Kraco Enterprises, Inc. - kraco.com
world's largest aftermarket manufacturer of....wait for it...high-end rubber auto floor mats. would explain the OTT bourgeois interior, i guess.

so_chic_darling said...

This is a very ugly house at any price.

Anonymous said...

"high-end rubber auto floor mats" you say? Thanks, I have been looking for some of those for quite some time and now I know where to go!

Anonymous said...

$15M teardown. Yuck.

I've been resisting commenting about something else on this board for a while, but here goes...

LGB, you need to lighten up on the semi-colons. I am a big fan of them, and they're seriously underused by most writers, but I'm now officially irked by the sight of them.

I say this with good cheer...please don't all of you start hating on me.

:)

eloque33 said...

I can only imagine how beautiful their Cresent Estate will be after they get through remodeling.

Anyone who was lucky enough to have been inside the Rappaports Calle Vista Estate would know they have the most exquisite taste! The spent two years and spared no expense doing the house...

I happen to know that "Missus" Juliette Rappaport has an eye and talent for taking anything and making it beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hi 2:06,

No blasting from me, please know that. Here's my take on semi-colons. On these blogs, even if comments go long, there's a goal to compress word count. I use the semi-colon too, bridging one thought immediately with a closely realated corrensponding thought. It could be the evolution of blog speak. Dunno. It works for me--and it's a good way to cut intro of assoc. thought.

Please, my lit profs, I know better but ... creative license in changing times. :)

Anonymous said...

I wasnt lucky enough to see inside the Rappaport/Cruise Estate on Calle Vista, But I've heard from some pretty chi-chi people that it was one of the most tasteful homes in the city. I saw their new Crescent Mansion while it was for sale; there no way they wont gut it, it looks like a Joan Collins wet dream, but it has incredible scale and could be spectacular and I am sure they'll spend millions to make it great.

Anonymous said...

It's verbose. Bigger is not always better. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

uhh the kichen lighting and oven.... barf bag please

Anonymous said...

Kurt's house that he sold to Cruise was amazing. Very tasteful. I'm sure they'll spend a few million making this place over into a sophisticated home.

Anonymous said...

This home is NASTY and who needs all that room?

Does this man and his family really need a place that big??

I've been inside the place... there is not much you can do with the space and bedrooms because the whole layout is tacky. Doesn't matter if he spends millions... this place will never be one I'd consider any sort of comfortable home (other than it can comfortably house 25 people)

Anonymous said...

Rappaport for flick this property in a year. I heard some sick stuff happened in that house back in the late 80's - sex romps and a porn video was made there

Anonymous said...

Check out the Ferrari collection at the corner 1000 N. Crescent. Marciano must pay more to wash and service the cars then 90% of people reading this blog make in a year.

Anonymous said...

No, Russians are not moving in droves to LA-- but they have bad decorating taste and the Russians would like this house, that's what the previous blog was saying

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