Those who bought Santa Monica property in the 1970s and kept it in the family have managed to amass some serious wealth.
While the beachside enclave has long been affluent, the several hundred thousand dollars a home cost back then pale in comparison to the multiple-million price tags now.
One famous family that have long enjoyed the benefits of Santa Monica living are the Paltrows. The parents of Hollywood A-lister and Goop lifestyle brand founder Gwyneth Paltrow, the director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner were no less famous than their daughter in the 1970s.
In 1974, they bought a 6,887-square-foot property Santa Monica property that they called home until 2008. Gwyneth was, at the time of the purchase, just four years old.
While the property has not belonged to the Paltrows for almost 15 years, its famous owners featured prominently in its marketing when it hit the market earlier this week for $17.5 million.
A Home With Sophisticated And Elegant' Owners
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Located in the even more exclusive neighborhood of Gilette Regent Square, the six-bedroom, six-bathroom home was built in 1913 in the style of a Mediterranean villa.
"A spectacular generational home envisioned and curated by a rich history of sophisticated and elegant owners," reads the listing description. "Located within the premier Santa Monica neighborhood of Gillette Regent Square, this imposing and supremely private home was once owned and designed by Hollywood legends and moguls of industry."
Covered by a wall of garden-style hedges and pathways, the mansion has a stately glass entrance and a number of en-suite rooms, living areas and balconies looking into the garden.
The main property comes with a two-story guest house with its own gym, sauna and office as well as a main pool designed in the Bali style, a theater room, a car showroom and a chef's kitchen with a large marble island.
The inside has a formal grand entry with a mantel and fireplace while the outside comes with a number of patios and lounge areas with their own fireplaces.
The property's one downside is that it does not sit directly on the beach. Robert Edie of Compass (COMP) is the listing agent representing it.
The Wild Worlds of Celebrity and SoCal Real Estate.
Gwyneth and her younger brother Jake either grew up in or at least spent significant time as kids in this property. It was only in 2008 that the Paltrow family sold the property to Jerome Dahan, the French co-founder of popular jeans brands like Citizens of Humanity and 7 for All Mankind.
While details of the transaction were very carefully kept private, it can start to reason that the property significantly appreciated in value. A median home in Santa Monica went for $700,000 in 2008 but now sits at $1.8 million.
That said, the top 10% of homes that are also commonly referred to in real estate as ultra-luxury do not sell as quickly as those near the average price point--the pool of buyers with that spending power is limited while wealthy owners are usually in much less of a rush to sell.
But even when sold at a discount, properties in highly desirable areas like Santa Monica are a significant source of generational wealth.
As an adult, Paltrow invested in a number of equally lucrative real estate purchases. She currently owns a Malibu estate known as the Garwood Residence that she bought in 2014 for $14 million and a New York Tribeca apartment that the Oscar-winning actress designed to her liking.
In 2016, Paltrow also bought a $4.9-million mansion in Montecito that the headlines called a "fixer-upper." A few years later, Paltrow and husband Brad Falchuk tore it down and built a different home in its place.
