Former Beverly Hills home of developer Paul Trousdale lists for $32 million

Onetime home of Paul W. Trousdale
The Beverly Hills home, listed for $31.99 million, was built for developer Paul W. Trousdale, who created the Trousdale Estates neighborhood. (Hilton & Hyland)

In Beverly Hills, a home built for real estate developer Paul W. Trousdale is for sale at $31.99 million.

Trousdale, who died in 1990 at 75, built more than 25,000 homes throughout Southern California. In the 1950s, he purchased the 410-acre Doheny Ranch in the hills north of Beverly Hills to create the tony Trousdale Estates neighborhood, where one-acre home sites started at just $40,000. He would later create residential communities in Marin County, Hawaii and Palm Springs.

Crowning a three-quarter-acre knoll, one of the highest points in Trousdale Estates, the Hollywood Regency-style residence was designed by architect-to-the-stars John Elgin Woolf and built in 1959.

A brick driveway leads past gates and winds up the sloping lot before reaching the 5,592-square-foot house. Inside, a great room conjures images of Old Hollywood with wood-paneled walls and parquet wood floors. A rounded sitting area is connected to the formal dining room. Floor-to-ceiling windows take in westward views of the city and ocean.

There are three bedrooms and seven bathrooms in about 5,600 square feet of space.

Outside, there’s covered patio space, a circular swimming pool, lawn and a reflecting pool.

Following Trousdale’s passing, the estate was sold by his family in 1997 to Carson car dealer Don Kott for $1.75 million. More recently, the property changed hands in 2010 for $13 million when it was purchased by the former president of Country Life Vitamins, Ryan Drexler.

Rayni and Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland hold the listing.