Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver two years ago moved from their estate in Pacific Palisades to a mansion in Brentwood. It cost them approximately $11.9 million to buy their ocean view home, which sits on six acres. This is where the couple now spends time when they are in Southern California.
Last year, they decided to sell their Palisades digs. The original asking price was $16 million, making it one of the most expensive properties in the area. Customized and personalized, the five-plus acre province off of Sunset Boulevard was a masterpiece estate.
“It’s a great property,” noted a family friend who wished to remain anonymous. “It’s over the bridge and through the woods to a very special paradise.”
Schwarzenegger and Shriver purchased their first home in Palisades in 1986, the year they were married. They began their expansion when they purchased the adjacent properties in 1993. At its pinnacle, the Schwarzenegger estate features three homes with 16 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, three tennis courts and three swimming pools.
As with many top-end properties, it took several months of innovative marketing to sell the property. Offered as a compound, the four parcels also were divided into three properties for those potential buyers who do not have movie star salaries.
Maria’s cousin, Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, purchased one property. According to the Los Angeles Times, the property was slightly more than an acre with a pool and a tennis court. The asking price was $3.4 million. The house had been a Valentine's gift from Arnold to Maria in 2001.
As you know, Maria’s brother, Bobby Shriver, is running for the Santa Monica City Council. Inevitably his relationship with his sister and the Governator is a popular topic.
A woman who calls Fort Lauderdale her primary residence bought the two of the parcels, which were packaged as a 2.5-plus acre estate located on Sunset between Amalfi Drive and Will Rogers State Park Road. She paid close to the asking price of $7.95 million. Her estate has a fabulous living room with projection facilities, as well as a large master bedroom suite and six bedrooms. She also got bragging rights to say, “Arnold slept here.”
The third property —1.25 acres with a pool and a tennis court — sold in August. The asking price was $4.95 million for this gated, 5,000-square-foot country English retreat with paneled walls and beveled-glass windows. The family also owns property in La Canada.
On the economic statement he submitted when he ran for governor, Schwarzenegger listed several other real estate holdings, including Easton Town Center shopping complex in Columbus, Ohio, valued at more than $1 million. He listed himself as president of Main Street Plaza in Santa Monica — 3110 Main Street — the shopping area that houses Maria’s former restaurant, Schatzi, and a Terminator mural by the elevator.
When Schwarzenegger won the recall election on Oct. 9, 2003, he praised his wife for her political skills. “I know how many votes I got today because of you.”
Money and politics run in the family. According to http://www.celebrity-wonder.com, at his Hollywood peak, Schwarzenegger was paid $30 million for T3: Rise of the Machines. At his body-building peak, his chest was 57 percent, waist 34 percent, biceps 22 percent, thighs 28 percent, calves 20 percent, and his competition weight was 235 pounds — 260 pounds during the off-season. Yet he finds politics more satisfying than either success.
“The greatest thing you can do is serve the people,” the Governator says of his new role. “It gives me the greatest satisfaction — much more than going down another red carpet to do a movie premiere — to go and create after-school programs, help special Olympians, inspire kids to stay away from drugs and gangs.” (For your real estate needs, , or call (310) 309-4219).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2004. Read the original PDF.