MostPeople spend their 20s living in a room with other people. A few manage to get enough to purchase a starter home. Petra Ecclestone isn’t like most people. In2011 when she was 22 London-born Formula OneRacing heiress bought one the largest houses in The United States — Spelling ManorIn Los Angeles — for $85 million, more than almost anyone had ever paid for a house in CaliforniaAt the time.
SheThe next ten years were spent learning how to live in it with a staff that included housekeepers, drivers, and landscapers.
Now, she and her fiancé, Sam PalmerThey are putting their experiences to work in a venture they have been inspired by. Spelling ManorThey sold the house in 2019 for $120 Million TheyThey will help other wealthy people to buy, sell, decorate, and staff their homes.
ItThis will be a one-stop service for ultra wealthy home buyers.
Mr. Palmer already runs Staffing Properties, a company that places employees in homes of the wealthy. HeLast month, he received his real-estate license and is now joining a luxury real estate firm Hilton & Hyland. Ms. EcclestoneShe stated that she will be handling branding and interior design.
TheCouple would be able to cater to the increasing number of global wealthy people who have flocked. Los Angeles in recent years for the weather, the lifestyle and, presumably, the proximity to other global rich people — much like they did.
TheyI can personally attest that the market is ready for what they have to offer. AfterAll of them know that being an ultra-wealthy homeowner requires some expertise.
OneCommon challenge: Navigating labor laws which vary from one country to the next, and sometimes from one state to another, is a common problem. (Mr. PalmerIt can be deceivingly high to have a large household staff in the U.S. AnotherProblem: Upkeep and Pay. (“I come from the real world,” Mr. Palmer said. “SoI am familiar with real-world prices. It’s crazytown when you get into this world.”)
Rick Hilton, founder of Hilton & Hyland(and the father of). ParisAnd husband of Kathy), has known Ms. EcclestoneSince he sold her the ManorBack in 2011. HeThat was the conclusion Mr. Palmer “has lots of global connections, and I think he could be a very strong agent.”
“And Petra, with her taste level, it could be great,” he said.
A 56,500-Square-Foot Learning Experience
Ms. EcclestoneNow 32, she is blonde and willowy with the unmistakable charm of a woman of immense privilege. A mother of four young children, she’s soft-spoken and a bit guarded, but at times can be disarmingly blunt and funny. SittingOutside, on a warm afternoon, two kitchen staffers quietly served fresh fruit and coffee. Her eldest daughter curled up on her lap. She explained that she purchased the Manor2011: Nothing is seen.
But it wasn’t entirely her idea — it was her ex-husband’s. “He was a bit of an egotistical maniac,” she said, by way of explanation.
BeforeMoving into Spelling Manor, Ms. EcclestoneThe designer can be hired Gavin BrodinAssist in a top-to bottom renovation. OriginallyBuilt in the 1980s to support the TV producer Aaron SpellingThe house featured 27 bathrooms and a gift-wrapping area (which was also included in the sale). Ms. EcclestoneIt was used as an office by her assistant), a barbershop, and a 7,500-square foot primary suite. This suite is, unbelievably enough, about the same size as a standard mansion.
Mr. Brodin described Ms. EcclestoneAs charmingly decisive. Once the plans were set, “there were zero changes,” he said. The project was completed in 12 weeks by a team of 500 workers, instead of the usual nine months.
WhenShe moved into the Manor, Ms. EcclestoneHe was married to James StuntTheir divorce was finalized on 2018 ItIt would take several years more. Ms. Ecclestonemet Mr. Palmer38-year-old, also English.
Mr. Palmer, a friend Ms. Ecclestone’s brother-in-law, was living in AustraliaHe was working in legal recruitment and came to town for a gathering in 2017. TheTwo people were able to do it. Mr. PalmerThey said that their first date was at TaoA restaurant in Los Angeles. TheirSecond date was a vacation to Dubai.
Mr. Palmer, who has a handsome salesman’s charm and is the more gregarious of the two, said he wasn’t the type to be wowed by a person’s house — but Ms. Ecclestone’s, of course, was “spectacular.” ItAlso, she was immaculate. “There was never a leaf on the ground,” he said. HeSoon, it became apparent that maintaining the status quo was complex and costly.
After Mr. PalmerMoved to Los AngelesTo live with Ms. Ecclestoneand her three children, he became very interested in how the ManorIt was successfully completed. (Mr. PalmerAnd Ms. EcclestoneThey had a fourth baby together in 2020.
Mr. PalmerPeople were charging too much Ms. EcclestoneRight and left. It’s almost as if they’d pull up to a 57,000-square-foot house and think that money was no object. Figuring out the complicated math of staffing the home and making sure it ran smoothly became, as he described it, his “life’s work.”
In 2019, Mr. Palmer started Staffing PropertiesThis obsession leads to a skewed view. “I’mThe only person who can say they’ve lived in the biggest house in California,” he said. “A lot of people come to me and say, ‘Sam, you live it. I’m experiencing the exact same difficulties you’re experiencing? What do you do? What’s the magic formula?’”
Beyond the Billionaire Bachelor Pad
TheVery high end of the realty market Los AngelesIn the last few years, there has been a lot of building boom. Developers are in. Bel-Air, BrentwoodAnd Beverly HillsSome with the intention of tearing down older homes in order to build extravagant mansions. ImaxPrivate nightclubs and home movie theaters are often available for unidentified buyers.
TheseWhite, glass-box contemporary spec homes are often designed to maximize views and draw the growing class of global billionaires who flock to the area. Many of them are priced at $100 million or more — well above the once unheard-of price Ms. EcclestoneThe cost of the Manor a decade ago.
Mr. PalmerThe couple believes that the majority of the nine-figure homes that are being built recently are theirs. Los AngelesThese days, bachelor pads are essentially high-end. “There’s black marble everywhere,” he said. “I think, ‘Do I want a house with a helicopter pad I can’t use?’” (He was referencing “Billionaire,” a speculatively built Bel-AirHouse by the handbag designer & developer Bruce MakowskyThe roof housed a restored, deactivated helicopter. It was listed for $250m in 2017 and sold in 2019 for $94m.
“We go look at houses,And I think there’s so much people have missed,” said Ms. Ecclestone. “It’s our passion,” said Mr. Palmer.
Ms. Ecclestone and Mr. PalmerThey have been downsized because there was no other way.
TheA couple paid $22.7million for a 18,000-square foot modern farmhouse located across the street of LeBron. JamesAnd closer to Ms. Ecclestone’s eldest daughters’ school at the time. “People write about it as though we’re living in a tent in Brentwood,” said Mr. Palmer. (Ms. EcclestoneAlso, the 18th-century is also available. GeorgianMansion in LondonAccording to the couple, they are being sold off-market for approximately $200 million.
The Brentwood home is something of a branded experience — which is, not incidentally, how they describe the service they want to provide to clients.
TheyThe new house was dubbed “The New House”. Vita NovaTo symbolize their new life together. VisitorsEnter through a gate marked with the name in a distinctive font. A security guard greets visitors wearing an apron with a logo. Vita NovaLogo, holding a clipboard containing a nondisclosure contract. (A reporter was granted an exemption.
ThereThese are Vita NovaCandles Vita NovaTowels and even towels Vita NovaSignature scent, a delicate blend of lavender and coconut.
A relative skeleton crew, consisting of around 12 people, manages and runs the house from staff quarters which were converted from an old 10-car garage. TheThe area contains several glass-walled offices, a breakroom, and a professional-grade laundry that can also handle dry clean.
Mr. Palmer, whose company offices are also in this space, said he often tries out potential household staff at his own home to see if they’re a good fit before placing them in a client’s home.
OneThe remaining challenge is finding the right staff. AsWith many industries still recovering from the economic effects, the labor market is tight for household staff. SomeWealthy families who laid off workers during the pandemic had difficulty hiring them back.
ThoughAccording to the couple, they are finally happy in their new home. Ms. EcclestoneShe said that their new venture will help her get rid of her house-hunting urges. “I’m constantly bored,” she said. “I like change.”
“I’m very attached to this house and I love it,” Mr. Palmer said. “But I’m quite on board if we can have a profit out of it. WhyNot just keep moving. It’s exciting.”
Source: NY Times
