The long-time home of Bob Hope and his wife Dolores in Los Angeles' Toluca Lake neighborhood is on the market for the first time since it was built for the Hopes in 1939. The swallow-hard price tag: $27.5 million.
Aside from the "Bob Hope slept here" factor, the price is, in part, justified because of the 5.15 acres of land that the compound sits on; it's a rare bit of tranquility in the shadow of urban development that includes close proximity to Universal Studios. The eight-bedroom main house is 14,876 square feet and there is a two-bedroom guesthouse as well as a two-bedroom maids' quarters and offices. The home was designed by Robert Finkelhor and remodeled by John Elgin Woolf in the mid-1950s.
The property has both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and a Bob Hope special: a one-hole golf course. President Richard Nixon once landed his helicopter on Hope's back lawn so that the president could play a few golfing rounds at the nearby Lakeside Golf Club, according to the Los Angeles Times. The home was also where Hope entertained the likes of Lucille Ball and Jack Benny. Hope died at age 100 in 2003, leaving the property to his wife. She died in 2011 at 102 and the estate is now held by family members in the Dolores Hope Trust.
Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker and Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland are the listing agents.
Bob Hope's home for sale
Photos courtesy of Realtor.com