Standup comedian, actor, author and Emmy-winning reality TV veteran Kathy Griffin hopes to laugh her way to the bank with the sale of her gigantic mansion in L.A.’s ritzy Bel Air neighborhood. The endlessly opinionated, famously sharp-tongued and occasionally polemical insult comic has listed her more-than-13,000-square-foot home at just under $16 million, a small fortune more than the $10.5 million — in cash — she shelled out for the gated estate a bit more than four years ago.
Behind custom gates atop a subterranean garage, and positioned on a ridge-line plateau of about two-thirds-of-an-acre with open mountain, canyon and city views, the hulking neo-Mediterranean manse has a total of eight bedrooms and a dozen bathrooms over three elevator-serviced floors.
The grand scale of the home slaps guests across the face upon entering the long and wide entrance gallery, with its polished pale-grey marble floor, wrought-iron railed staircase and iconic Andy Warhol photograph of a bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume. Wide, wood-trimmed arches lead to adjoining formal living and dining rooms, the former not-very-formally with a big TV hung over the fireplace and the latter capable of comfortably seating fourteen around an oval table on a lilac-colored carpet.
Opening to a deep loggia that runs the width of the house and overlooks the backyard and swimming pool, the more relaxed but no less grandly proportioned great room offers a fireplace, a wet bar and banks of windows that slip into the walls to merge indoor and outdoor living spaces. Open to the great room, the chef-accommodating kitchen has not just one but two large work islands, plus premium-quality commercial-style appliances.
There are seven ample, en suite guest bedrooms throughout the house while the sprawling second-floor owner’s suite showcases a fireplace and a private 1,100-square-foot terrace with toe-curling views and stairs to the backyard. There are also two lavish bathrooms, “hers” in white marble with a fireplace and steam shower, and two huge custom-fitted walk-in closets, “hers” with a wall of shoe shelves where Griffin’s many kicks are carefully lined up by color.
In addition to a four-plus-car garage, the basement was designed as a private retreat for leisurely relaxing and entertaining. An spacious lounge has a wet bar and a climate-controlled wine cellar behind huge glass panels, and a professional screening room comfortably seats eight or ten in deep-cushioned rust-colored leather sofas on tiered platforms.
Outside the great room, the loggia gives way to a flat patch of grass alongside an open-air pavilion and, dynamically placed at the bluff’s precipitous edge, an infinity-edge swimming pool and spa are lined with mosaic tiles.
Fun facts: The hardworking showbiz polyglot, who’s career took a distinct (and still recovering) nosedive in 2017 when of a photo emerged of her holding up a mask that depicted the severed, bloody head of Donald Trump, was married to her longtime boyfriend, marketing exec Randy Bick, at the estate earlier this year in a ceremony officiated by comedy legend Lily Tomlin. And, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West used to own the mansion next door. (It was sold in late 2017 for $17.8 million to Ukrainian socialite Marina Acton who took a sweat inducing $3.8 million loss when she dumped it less than a year later for $14 million to a not-famous couple whose fortune stems from real estate investments.)
Griffin’s estate is available through Josh Altman and Matt Altman of The Altman Bros. Team at Douglas Elliman.