Guess Who's House This Is

SELLER: Georges Marciano
LOCATION: 1000 N. Crescent Drive, Beverly Hills
PRICE: $28,000,000
SIZE: 23,306 square feet, 10 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Former Harry Cohn (co-founder of Columbia Pictures) estate. Incredible "Old Hollywood" Italianate mansion. Designed by John Farquhar in 1927. Completely restored and impeccably maintained to retain its original charm and character. Grand two story entry, spectacular living room, formal dining room, family room, and professional 35mm screening room. Over two acres of manicured grounds, spectacular pool, championship tennis court, and much more. Last of its kind available. All clients much be pre-qualified.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: This Beverly Hills extravaganza does not belong to a movie star or even an industry bigwig. No babies, this is the house the 1980s designer denim craze bought. It was confirmed to the Real Estalker by a little bird in Los Angeles, that Georges Marciano, co-founder of the Guess? fashion empire, has called this pile home since the late 1980s.

Before getting to the house, Your Mama wants the children to have a little history lesson about the Marciano clan and the Guess? brand. Lawhd children, the business end of this family's life is like a story line from one of Your Mama's favorite daytime soap programs. Moroccan born and raised in France, the Marciano clan emigrated to Los Angeles in 1981-82 and opened a clothing store in Beverly Hills. It is reported the the four brothers (Georges, Maurice, Armand, and Paul) left France in order to avoid a tremendous tax bill they didn't want to pay (but eventually settled in 1986).

Almost immediately these entrepreneurial brothers jumped on the designer denim wave and were pushing high end, European style jeans at Bloomingdales and other high end retail outlets. The business exploded and the brothers got rich. In 1983, overwhelmed with the expanding business, needing capital and inexpensive manufacturing options, the Guess? brand sold 50% ownership to Jordache. That deal went sour and the Marcianos spent 5 long years in litigation in order to have control of the company returned to them.

About this time, along comes Anna Nicole Smith and the rest is advertising history. However, even with the empire expanding at an exponential rate, Georges wanted out...claiming differences in the direction of the company. In 1993, he reportedly sold his 40 percent share of the company to the other brothers for an estimated $200,000,000. Boggles the mind babies. According to his own personal website, Mr. Marciano now invests in "major real estate holdings" and counts his money. Well, his website did not say he counts his money, but Your Mama knows he do.

Now, on to the house...located smack in the middle of Beverly Hills, where the flats turn into the hills, this two acre property is spitting distance to the Beverly Hills Hotel. This is a convenient location for stumbling home from those liquid lunches at the Polo Lounge.

Your Mama would like the children to note the plastic covering the carpet on stairs in the entrance hall. We know that carpet probably cost more than a BMW, and the plastic is an effort to keep high-end house-hunter shoe dirt from getting on the rug, but hunnies, that is not a good idea. Please. This house has a price tag of $28,000,000. No one wants to be slipping and sliding on the stairs while shopping in this price range.

Your Mama would also like y'all to have a look at the kitchen. No offense intended to the Marciano family, but this kitchen is a classic case of how NOT to do it. The floor looks like linoleum and the whole business just looks like something in a big suburban house in Missouri. This room hurts Your Mama's eyes and soul.

But children, that swimming pool is dee-vine. Imagine strapping on your bikini and having your pool boy serve you a fresh avocado and tomato salad for lunch out there.

In the interest of covering all the bases, the public records for this property show the house at 14,000 square feet (rather than 23,000 as the listing shows), and as having 8 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. Your Mama is not sure why the discrepancy but we're inclined to believe the listing information as public records are often incorrect or plain old wrong.

Sources: Westside Estate Agency, answer.com, georgesmarciano.com