Bobs Hope's estate back on the market for $23 million
TOLUCA LAKE, LOS ANGELES -- The Toluca Lake estate of Bob and Dolores Hope is back on the market. The property was listed 16 months ago for $27.5 million. Now, it's back up for sale with a lower price tag of $23 million.
"The main house is 15,000 square feet. It sits on 5 acres in the heart of Toluca Lake," realtor Craig Strong described.
PHOTOS: Bob, Dolores Hope's $23 million Toluca Lake estate
Strong is taking on the project of selling one of the San Fernando Valley's most famous properties.
"I mean, the location doesn't get better than right here," Strong said.
The estate includes a 4,000-square-foot production office, a pool house, indoor and outdoor pools and a par-three golf course.
Bob and Dolores Hope lived their lives here, and the estate's property manager Jim Hardy says they had plenty of company - and not just celebrities.
"Politicians, presidents have been here. The Reagans were here, the first George Bush was here. President Nixon landed Marine One on the lawn," Hardy said. "Historically, I can't think of a house that's in this part of the world that has that much of a legacy to it."
The sellers are hoping that legacy helps attract the right buyer who can afford $287,000 a year in property taxes.
"You either have the buyer that's going to be a celebrity, producer, writer, someone in the industry or someone that just wants it because they love Bob Hope and they're going to buy it, they're going to restore it. That's what we're hoping for," Strong said.
Strong said there's also the potential for a buyer who would want to develop the land.
"There's always the other buyer who's going to say, 'You know what? It's 5 acres. I can put 'x' amount of houses on it and that's what I want to do,'" Strong said.
Strong gave Eyewitness News a private tour of the home. We got to see the ample dining room, the big kitchen, the spacious bedrooms upstairs, the elevator, plus a guest room with an enormous closet. Then, there is the "silver room."
"This is the silver room. So this room is where you keep the silver," Strong described. Bob and Dolores had a lot of it.
They also had a large staff, including two housekeepers and four full-time gardeners.
"It's not just dirt and, you know, four walls and a roof. There's a whole legacy of a tremendous man and a tremendous family that's associated with this property," Hardy said.
No one has lived in the house except Bob and Dolores Hope and their children. The house is currently being staged for viewing.
