LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $4,250,000
SIZE: 11,341 square feet, 8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Poor, poor Dr. Arnie Klein. Once upon a time he was the Beverly Hills-based dermatologist, the so-called "Father of Botox"whose image obsessed clientele included nipped, tucked and injected Showbiz luminaries like Elizabeth Taylor, Carrie Fisher, and Michael Jackson. Alas, in the chaotic and highly publicized wake of Michael Jackson's sordid 2009 death, Dr. Klein's lavish lifestyle quickly evaporated in a haze of salacious accusations, a flurry of scandalous lawsuits, and a debilitating bankruptcy.
In late 2011 Dr. Klein—who reportedly supplied Michael Jackson with all sorts of prescription drugs and occasionally hints that he might be the father of at least one of The Gloved One's three children—listed his ocean front residence in Laguna Beach for $12,000,000. The cliff hanging house was finally sold in February (2013) for $7.1 million and yesterday his stately Tudor style mansion in L.A.'s affluent Hancock Park/Windsor Square area popped up on the open market as a bankruptcy sale with a listing price of $4,250,000.
Property records are not entirely clear but it appears to Your Mama's boozy-woozy eyeballs that Mister Klein picked up his Hancock Park spread in March 1985 for just $255,000 and over the years secured several mortgages and personal loans against the value of the historic mini-estate.
Current listing information shows the three story, 11,341 square foot Tudor style pile was built in 1914 on a very busy .66 acre corner lot and has eight bedrooms, five bathrooms and at least three fireplaces. Additional living space for guests or staff sits atop the detached five car garage that sits at the tail end of a long gated drive.
Listing photographs show the house has seen better days and, indeed, listing details describe the house as a "rare yet tarnished treasure with remarkable potential" and "a treasure waiting to be set free." Inside, as per online marketing materials, there's a grand, paneled foyer with an all wood double staircase, elegant formal living and dining rooms, a library, a garden room, and—somewhat curiously—a dance studio. Outside the slightly unkempt grounds include a swirling array of knee height box woods, a slightly unkempt rose garden, fountains, and swimming pool and spa that looks to have been long ago drained.
As evidenced by the thick layer of dust and debris that coats the main staircase, the financially beleaguered Mister Klein moved from his Hancock Park mansion some time ago. In early 2011 he agreed to pay $60,000 per month to lease a seven bedroom and 10 bathroom mansion in the Beverly Park community in Beverly Hills but was subsequently evicted.
Your Mama has no current intel about where the doctor holes up nowadays but perhaps the disgraced dermatologist decamped to Palm Springs where property records show he still owns a mid-century modern house in the upscale Vista Las Palmas area that he acquired in mid-2008 for $1,462,500. As far as Your Mama's brief and unscientific research, Dr. Klein's Palm Springs property is not currently on the open market and there does not appear to be any foreclosure activity on the property.
*Just for shits and giggles, Dr. Klein's former rental, an 11,000 square foot Frenchified villa, is back up for lease at $45,000 per month.
listing photos: Coldwell Banker
