1.6-acre estate is located at 500 and 512 Perugia Way
By Dolores Quintana
Corporate housing mogul Howard Ruby has sold his century-old estate that was inspired by the Italian villas on the Amalfi coast for $35 million dollars, which was $14.5 million less than the original listing price as reported by The Real Deal.com. The 1.6-acre estate is located at 500 and 512 Perugia Way near the Bel-Air Country Club and was formerly the residence of Ruby and his late wife, the actress Yvette Mimeux-Ruby for over thirty years. They purchased the home in 1979 and searched Europe for antique furnishing to decorate the house together. One of the pieces os statuary formerly belonged to Madame de Pompadour, who was the principal mistress of King Louis the XV of France. Ruby did not include the furnishing in the sale of the home.
Ruby said of the home, as quoted by The Real Deal.com, “Much like a Fabergé egg, it’s not for everyone,” he said. “It’s not the style that’s in vogue right now, but someone out there is going to understand it and accept it. There’s someone out there who doesn’t want a white box.”
City Planner and architect Mark Daniels designed the home and he was responsible for the designs of the city of Bel-Air, San Francisco’s Forest Hills and Pebble Beach’s 17 Mile Drive. Kalef Alaton, a legend in the interior design world, decorated the home and also designed the interiors of the Hotel Bel Air.
The home has, according to the listing, a “ballroom-sized party room, a hand-lacquered library with a central skylight and chandelier, a formal dining room and a wine cellar. One bedroom has a domed ceiling covered with frescos, a swimming pool with built-in seating and fountains.”
The estate grounds also include a “three-bedroom, Balinese-inspired cottage that came with the sale spans 4,900 square feet and comes with five baths.”
The buyer of the estate has not been named, but the buyer’s representative says that they are a businessperson from California who plans a massive renovation of the estate.
