David Geffen: Is He or Isn't He?

WHO: David Geffen
WHAT: 10 acre estate
WHERE: Angelo Drive, Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: rumored to be $100,000,000

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A blurb in a recent Wall Street Journal article about insanely expensive homes mentioned that itty bitty billionaire David Geffen, who is believed by many to be the richest man in Hollywood, "has quietly shopped his historic 9.4-acre Los Angeles estate for $100 million, according to a broker who has shown the property."

You can imaging the firestorm of emails and phone calls that went from real estate gossips to high end real estate agents all up and down Sunset Boulevard. Two agents told Your Mama that the estate is NOT for sale, and Miz Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood , who typically has very accurate poop, also reported that the estate is absolutely not for sale and that Mister Geffen turns down offers in excess of $100,000,000 "all the time." The Wall Street Journal itself amended their article to reflect that Mister Geffen himself says the estate is not for sale. Hmm.

Your Mama hears something a little different. Not only did ol' Ms. Louella, who believes Mister Geffen's estate may in fact be worth close to $100,000,000, tell us that Mister Geffen, "has quietly been peddling his humble abode for some time." We have also heard through the gossip grapevine that the estate will soon be coming to the open market. Now children, please do not go repeating that rumor as truth, because it is NOT substantiated by anyone connected with Mister Geffen. It's just what we heard from a swanky and well connected real estate agent in Bev Hills who has visited the estate. Given that Mister Geffen has an ego at least as large and hungry as all the other billionaires with homes on the market for $100,000,000+, it's not such a stretch for Your Mama to believe that vanity will force Mister Geffen to put his big and beautiful house on the market. Keep in mind that just because it's on the open market, does not mean it's actually for sale.

Mister Geffen purchased the 9.38 acre former Jack Warner (of Warner Bros.) estate on Angelo Drive in Bev Hills in 1990 for a reported and staggering $47.5 million dollars. At the time that was the highest price ever paid for a private home in the United States. Your Mama hears that the price included all the interior fittings and furniture. Ms. Louella whispered to Your Mama that after purchasing the estate Mister Geffen had the priceless antiques hauled across the pond to London where they were sold for many millions of dollars.

Reports of the property say that Mister Geffen spent another $45,000,000 renovating the property, including a reported and shocking $20,000,000 on landscaping alone. Somehow we doubt the landscaping bills were anywhere near that high. Several acres of sod, a few dozen specimen trees and some extremely tall hedging just can't be that expensive...or can it? We do however, understand that the behemoth mansion houses a nice selection of Mister Geffen's outrageous contemporary art collection, some of which has been recently sold off at spine tingling and record prices.

According to the tax man, the impressive colonial style house, which is accessed by a long and swooping driveway, sprawls across 13,612 square feet and includes 8 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. Since Your Mama has read no recent reports of the number of sleeping chambers and poopers, we're just going to have to go with what the tax man says. If any of you many, and we mean many, young, smooth and well toned gentlemen that have visited the estate want to clue us in to anymore more specific, we'd be happy to hear what you have to say.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Deadline Hollywood, Pacific Coast News (photo)