In winter 2022, just before Ryan Murphy listed a Cliff May-designed horse ranch in L.A.’s Brentwood for almost twice the $7.15 million he paid less than two years earlier, the prolific TV show creator and real estate investor acquired a landmark midcentury-modern home in Bel Air for $29 million. This property, now revamped and dressed to the nines, is on the market for $34 million, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The listing is managed by Aaron Kirman of Christie’s International Real Estate, along with Riley Schmidt and Timothy Wollaston of Riley Real Estate.
An aerial view of the property.
A “Gazing Ball” painting by Jeff Koons dresses up the living room.
The fireside living room opens to a terrace bedecked with a cocktail table converted from an antique mill stone.
The primary bedroom has a wall of windows framed by a majestic oak tree.
The primary bedroom is outfitted with a 1920s French daybed below a Lisa Yuskavage painting.
The primary sitting room is adorned with a painting by Robin F. Williams and a display of pieces from Murphy’s collection of Jean Després silver.
This bathroom features a wall clad in black mosaic tile.
A workstation sits next to a 2014 painting by Jamian Juliano-Villani.
The main kitchen connects to a secondary catering kitchen down below.
Artwork by Mark Ryden serves as a backdrop for the office’s George Nakashima desk.
A 2017 Nicolas Party portrait depicting St. Sebastian hangs in the ground floor entry.
The pool area is flanked by a one-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse.
Landscape designer Scott Shrader crafted eye-catching outdoor spaces with sculpted plantings.
An al fresco lounge area is decked out with curved benches fashioned from a 19th-century French cider press stone.
A stairway leads to the main entrance of the circa-1950s home.
Originally designed in the mid-1950s by modernist architect Richard Neutra and previously owned by fashion mogul Tom Ford for about two decades, the “Brown House” has been meticulously restored and modernized by Murphy and designer Trevor Cheney of Seventh House Gallery. The result is a 3,800-square-foot home with five bedrooms and eight bathrooms over two levels, featuring restored terrazzo floors, numerous built-ins, and vast glass walls for seamless indoor/outdoor living.
The guesthouse is notched into a steep hillside.
Murphy is open to selling the home’s avant-garde furnishings as seen in Architectural Digest, including an antique silver collection, a 19th-century Biedermeier table, contemporary artwork, and a built-in settee from Ford. The house, perched atop a hill overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club on a gated three-quarters-of-an-acre parcel, is accessed via a ramp leading to an entryway with cantilevered bars. Inside, a walnut-paneled hallway leads to a double-wide living room with a brick fireplace and floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening to a terrace. A nearby dining room features a gray alabaster table and a rectangular window resembling a still-life painting.
A striking lounge chair by designer Terje Ekstrøm can be found in the media room.
Other highlights include an office, media room, main kitchen with a secondary catering kitchen, and a primary bedroom with aubergine lacquered walls and a stylish sitting area. Outdoors, Scott Shrader-landscaped grounds include a Romanesque garden reoriented around a 17th-century urn fountain, a black-bottom pool, and a one-bedroom guesthouse, all offering picturesque city and ocean views.
A gray alabaster table crafted by married artisans Rick Owens and Michèle Lamy serves as a centerpiece of the dining room.
Murphy, a six-time Emmy winner, rose to prominence with shows like Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story, leading to his record-breaking 2018 Netflix contract. His real estate portfolio includes numerous multimillion-dollar properties, such as a Beverly Hills mansion sold for $16.3 million in 2020, a Laguna Beach compound sold for $10.6 million in 2021, a $15.5 million residence in Brentwood, a $24.5 million townhouse in Manhattan’s West Village, a waterfront hideaway in Provincetown, and a sprawling estate in Westchester County purchased from Richard Gere for $24.1 million in 2023.
A 19th-century Italian sculpture of Cupid is visible through the dining room’s lengthy rectangular window.