A Los Angeles estate previously owned by the late eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes is now on the market for $23 million. This 1920s Spanish Colonial home is situated on the eighth hole of the Wilshire Country Club golf course in the Hancock Park neighborhood, as per marketing materials. Hughes resided there for over a decade during the peak of his career as a movie mogul and aviation pioneer, owning the now-defunct Trans World Airlines. The house was featured in Martin Scorsese’s 2004 film “The Aviator,” which chronicles Hughes’ years in Hollywood.
The home sits on the eighth hole of the Wilshire Country Club golf course.
Currently, the property is owned by Ash Shah, a former movie producer turned restaurateur, and his wife, Niroupa Shah, who purchased the house for $6.3 million in 2012, according to property records. Ash Shah mentioned that they spent around a year and a half renovating the house and bringing it up to modern standards.
The owners replaced the pool and built up the outdoor living areas.
Set on nearly three-quarters of an acre, the house spans about 10,200 square feet and includes eight bedrooms, one of which is an apartment above the three-car garage, according to the listing. It features a motor court, a swimming pool, and an outdoor kitchen equipped with a pizza oven. The interior courtyard is paved with California river stones.
A sitting area has wood-beamed ceilings and a fireplace.
Hancock Park is synonymous with old Hollywood stars and is known for its historic Tudors and Spanish Colonials, explained listing agent David Berg of Compass, who is marketing the property along with his colleague F. Ron Smith. Designed by architect Roland A. Coate, the house was originally built for the widow of a prominent businessman. In the late 1920s, as Hughes’ reputation in Hollywood grew, he sought to move into a “suitable house,” as noted in the book “Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters.” His criteria included an entrance that could accommodate multiple cars, stone floors in the kitchen, and windows throughout the house that opened but had permanent screens to keep out bugs, the book said.
He rented the Hancock Park house for $1,000 a month before purchasing it for $135,000 in 1929, according to the book “Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness.” He lived there until the 1940s, when he moved out and claimed to be a resident of Texas to avoid paying California income taxes.
Over the years, actress Katharine Hepburn lived with Hughes in the Hancock Park home. He also had several phone lines installed in the house for his various love interests, according to “Hughes.” He died in 1976.
Originally built in the 1920s, the house has been extensively renovated.
The Shahs bought the house from Robert Bookman, a motion picture literary agent, according to records. They purchased the house because they were expecting their fourth child and needed more space, Ash Shah said, but he was also captivated by the home’s history. “It was intriguing to me for sure,” he said. “I used to be in the movie business, and back in the day I used to fly TWA.”
When they bought the house, only one room had air conditioning, and the layout was “chopped up” into smaller rooms, Ash Shah said. “When it was built, there was a clear delineation of, ‘This is where the family lived and this is where the staff lived,’” he explained. “We spent some time bringing it into one cohesive home.”
The home is about 10,200 square feet.
The Shahs built a family room off the kitchen, added the outdoor kitchen and pizza oven, replaced the pool, and finished the lower level. They also enhanced the outdoor spaces, including creating a courtyard with sofas and a fireplace. Where possible, the Shahs preserved original details such as the hardwood flooring and tile work. They rebuilt the front door based on the original building plans. Hughes’s basement vault is still there, repurposed by the previous owner as a 2,500-bottle wine cellar, with the original vault door set off to the side. The wooden gates to the property retain the original hydraulic system created by Hughes Tool Co. engineers. Although the hydraulics no longer function, and the door must be opened manually, Ash Shah said.
There is an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven.
The Shahs transformed the library by covering the wood paneling with black lacquer paint and converting it into a media room. In the kitchen, they added gold ceramic tiles and a brass countertop. “Anybody who knows me knows I will put gold on anything,” said Niroupa Shah.
The house has eight bedrooms, including an apartment above the garage.
The Shahs said they are selling because they are moving to the East Coast to be closer to their children’s boarding school.
Overall, L.A.’s luxury market has slowed due to limited inventory, rising interest rates, and the introduction of a new mansion tax. According to Redfin, luxury home sales dropped 36.17% year-over-year for the three months ended June 30.
Howard Hughes lived at the house during the heyday of his career.
Berg said that although transaction volume is down, demand remains strong, which has kept prices steady. “It’s not like 2021,” he said, “but certainly we feel the market for the right product—where they’re priced appropriately—is healthy. It’s a normalized market.”
