Beyoncé and Jay-Z make $120 million offer for spec-built Los Angeles mansion

BUYERS: Beyoncé and Jay-Z
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
LISTING PRICE: $135,000,000
SIZE: (approx.) 30,000 square feet, 8 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms

YOUR MAMA'S NOTES: Wildy rich pop culture supernovas Beyoncé and Jay-Z were reported in the Page Six column of the New York Post to have made a heart stopping $120 million bid for a brand spanking new, never lived in spec-built mansion in the tony Bel Air area of Los Angeles. The property in question was not listed on the open market but was being shopped around to the deepest of deep-pocketed buyers with an astronomical asking price of $135 million. It's no secret the couple, currently preggers with twins, have been on a multi-year house hunt for a West Coast trophy estate but, for what it's worth, one of the high-powered Platinum Triangle real estate movers and shakers we yammered with, who confirmed an offer was proffered, expressed skepticism about the reported $120 million figure.

See the gorgeous property:

Designed by architect Paul McClean and built by high-end property developer Dean McKillen, son of Irish tycoon Paddy McKillen, the boutique-hotel sized mega-manse sits behind massive woven metal gates at the end of an olive tree-lined and stone-paved driveway on a 1.88-acre hillside parcel in the plummy heart of prime East Gate Bel Air with panoramic city views over the rooftops of surrounding mansions. Linked by a spectacular circular staircase luxuriously lined with butter soft leather, the multi-level residence encompasses around 30,000 square feet of interior space spread over six ultra-contemporary structures that spill out through automated floor-to-ceiling glass panels to more than 10,000 square feet of outdoor living areas. According to marketing materials and press accounts, there are eight bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, an astonishing four swimming pools, a basketball court, garaging for up to 15 cars and separate staff quarters. Additional features include a library/office, a screening room, space for a recording studio and a spa/fitness suite with gym, hot tub, sauna and steam room.

The music and entertainment industry heavyweights, with a staggering 43 Grammys between them and a combined fortune the bean counters at Forbes estimate at about $900 million, have spent the last several years peeping and poking around some of the highest priced properties in Los Angeles. In the spring of 2013 there were unsubstantiated reports the couple wanted to buy Cher's Malibu home — they didn't — and the following year they were widely rumored to have been outbid on a 23,000-square-foot spec-built mansion in the Trousdale Estates area of Beverly Hills that went for $70 million to Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson. Over the summer of 2016 there was a mountain of unconfirmed scuttlebutt the couple had set their real estate sights on another spec-built mansion, a 30,000-square-foot contemporary on 3.2 acres in Holmby Hills that was first listed at $150 million, but it was sold to billionaire investor Tom Gores in a complex $100 million deal in which several properties changed hands. Later in the year they were widely reported to have been outbid by designer Tom Ford on the former Beverly Hills estate of "James Bond" producer Albert Broccoli, now owned by Brad Korzen and maximalist decorator Kelly Wearstler — Ford didn't buy the Broccoli/Korzen/Wearstler spread and instead dropped $38.75 million for the Holmby Hills estate of late socialite Betsy Bloomindale — and, finally, just last month the couple were rumored to have had some interest in the 56,500-square-foot former Spelling mansion, now owned by Formula One Racing heiress Petra Ecclestone and listed for a mouth-drying $200 million.

Time will tell if the couple, who maintain an 8,300-square-foot penthouse in lower Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, move forward with the purchase of this latest home in Bel Air but for the time being the couple, who have bounced around to several prodigiously pricey Platinum Triangle rentals over the last few years, currently occupy a lavish estate across the street from the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills for which some reports suggest they shell out $150,000 per month. Once owned Baby Face Edmonds and later by former Dodger's co-owner Jamie McCourt who sold it in 2015 for $45 million to the current owner, a British billionaire, the 2.61-acre spread offers a super-luxe 20,637-square-foot European-style villa with five bedrooms and six bathrooms plus an indoor Olympic-length swimming pool, a separate guesthouse and detached staff quarters.

Listing photos: Hilton & Hyland

Launch Gallery: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Proffer Offer on Massive Spec-Built L.A. Mansion

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