Sold for $86 Million: An LA Compound With Rod Stewart’s Former Mansion

A Los Angeles compound that includes the musician Rod Stewart’s former home has sold to two separate buyers for a total of $86 million.

The sellers are Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer of the long-running daytime soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and his wife, former diplomat Colleen Bell. They bought the house from Stewart for $6.25 million in 1992.

The roughly 6-acre compound is being divided into two sections and sold separately.

The bigger of the two parcels—a roughly 4-acre lot that includes the main house—was sold to David Zander , a television, commercial and film producer for about $57 million.

The remaining parcel, with a circa-1911 cabin on it, has been sold to Nick Kaiser, co-founder of the private-equity firm Marlin Equity Partners for about $29 million.

Zander has a penchant for storied real estate: He previously bought, renovated and sold Lasata, the circa-1917 Hamptons estate where Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis spent childhood summers.

Neither Zander or Kaiser responded to a request for comment.

Designed in 1925 by Montecito architect George Washington Smith, one of the masters of the Spanish Colonial Revival style in Southern California, the property’s main 17,000-square-foot, six-bedroom Spanish Colonial-style home was built for Henry Kern, a retired distillery entrepreneur, and his wife, Elsa Mary Kern.

The Kerns were tough clients for Smith, forcing him to redesign the property several times and to include greater levels of ornamentation than was his usual style, according to “The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills,” a book by the late real-estate agent Jeff Hyland.

When the Bells bought the main house, they were newly married and in their 20s; Bradley had been making a name for himself in Hollywood producing “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

“I don’t know that we could really even afford it,” said Colleen.

The property required a lot of work, but the house reminded them of Bradley’s childhood vacation home on Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva, where the pair met as teenagers when Colleen’s parents rented the house next door.

They spent two years renovating and restoring the house. Stewart, who bought the house in the 1970s, had added art nouveau-style features, including a disco room.

The Bells removed those elements and restored as many original details as possible, uncovering the coffered ceilings and removing marble floors to reveal the original tiles.

“Of course, it took longer than we anticipated and cost more than we thought it would,” said Colleen, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary under President Obama and is now director of the California Film Commission.

“We just hoped that the [television] work would continue and we’d be able to pay our bills, which it did, and the show stayed on the air.” The drama, which started in 1987, has been running for 38 seasons.

In 2004, the Bells bought the longtime home of the actor Gregory Peck for $19.5 million, razing the Peck home and merging the properties into one roughly 6-acre compound.

The couple had a longstanding friendship with Peck and his wife Veronique Peck; they all frequently had dinner together.

“When Brad and I moved in, they had left a beautiful little Poinsettia plant with a handwritten note that said, ‘Dear Colleen and Brad, welcome to the ‘hood,’” Colleen said.

After Peck died in 2003, Veronique approached the Bells and asked if they’d like to purchase the property.

The Bells weren’t planning to sell, but were approached several times by Zander’s agent. “We said, ‘OK, we’ll just show them around,’” Colleen said.

“Then, one thing led to another, and we started to think about it.” The Bells raised their four children in the house, so selling the property is “poignant,” she said.

Zander wasn’t interested in the entire property, however, so the Bells’ agent, Ben Bacal of Revel Real Estate, brought in Kaiser to take the rest.

The sale has taken more than a year to complete because of the complexities of subdividing the property, Bacal said.

Bacal represented the Bells and Kaiser. Drew Fenton of Carolwood Estates represented Zander.

Sydney is well and truly on the world map when it comes to luxury residential property, rivalling—and even beating—the likes of Tokyo and Dubai in terms of price per square metre.

The harbour capital has also proven itself to be a powerhouse for luxury residential rental growth. Knight Frank’s Prime Global Rental Index Q4 2024 showed prime rents across Sydney grew 4.7 per cent over 2024, the fifth-highest growth globally.

This has pushed several of Sydney’s top suburbs over the $2,000 per week median rent mark for a house, with surrounding areas fast approaching the milestone.

We’ve wrapped up the most expensive suburbs to live in across Sydney, with data sourced from property data analytics firm CoreLogic.

1. Vaucluse: Median purchase: $8.69m; Median rent: $2,198

Vaucluse has consistently ranked as Sydney’s most expensive suburb for rental properties over the past few years, even with annual rents contracting by over 14 per cent. What sets it apart is its unique geography—it’s the only suburb in the Eastern Suburbs that stretches from the harbour to the ocean. Homes in Vaucluse top the price charts because most either boast Sydney Harbour views or enjoy uninterrupted outlooks over the Pacific Ocean.

The Neighbourhood

While most Eastern Suburbs have one main beach, Vaucluse is dotted with several secluded spots, such as Parsley Bay, Milk Beach, and the recently reopened Shark Beach, which had been closed for several years due to retaining wall repairs.

2. Dover Heights: Median purchase: $6.38m; Median rent: $2,024

Vaucluse’s immediate southern neighbour, Dover Heights, is the only other suburb in Sydney with a median house rental over $2,000. Dover Heights hugs the cliffs and is well known as one of the most tightly held house markets in the Eastern Suburbs. The homes are perched on the cliffside, and the majority of houses in the area have at least four bedrooms, pushing up prices.

The Neighbourhood

While there are no beaches to speak of, its elevated position provides some of the highest views of Sydney Harbour. It is also home to the Federation Cliff Walk, a five-kilometre clifftop walk with postcard views of the Pacific Ocean from Dover Heights to Watsons Bay.

3. Bronte: Median purchase: $5.64m, Median rent: $1,963

Bronte takes out the title of the most expensive of the ‘typical’ Eastern Suburbs beachside suburbs. Just 30 per cent of homes in Bronte are separate houses, with nearly half being apartments. Houses in the rental pool are typically original homes dating back to the 1960s that have been renovated over the last decade or so.

The Neighbourhood
Bronte has long been a favourite due to its more relaxed beachside lifestyle compared to the busier Bondi, although Bronte is no longer a ‘hidden gem’ anymore. It offers numerous lifestyle perks, from a small high street lined with shops and cafés to several eateries located by the beach, which also features one of the best natural ocean pools in the Eastern Suburbs.

4. North Bondi: Median purchase: $4.81m; Median rent: $1,932

North Bondi has become a hotbed of new homes, with frequent sales of either original houses or older apartment complexes being bought to be demolished and replaced by brand-new contemporary builds. There’s a mix of original cottages and new homes in the rental pool, the latter fetching over $7,000 a week.

The Neighbourhood
North Bondi is situated in a small pocket, just south of Dover Heights and north of Bondi Beach. Starting at the Ben Buckler Peninsula, near where Campbell Parade transitions into Military Road, North Bondi is one of the most secluded areas on the coastline, with Hastings Parade, Brighton Boulevard, and Ramsgate Avenue all offering a southward view over the sand.

5. Balgowlah Heights: Median purchase: $4.13m; Median rent: $1,930

Balgowlah Heights is the most expensive suburb to rent a house in the Northern Beaches. Land sizes tend to be much larger, and you get more for your money in the area compared to the East.

The Neighbourhood
Balgowlah Heights is the harbourside southern neighbour of Balgowlah. The Sydney Harbour National Park occupies half of the leafy suburb, part of the Manly to Spit Bridge Walk, and is home to Tania Park, with a children’s playground and sporting facilities overlooking Manly Cove. Nestled on the northern shores of Sydney Harbour, it offers a serene and leafy environment.

6. Bellevue Hill: Median purchase: $10.63m; Median rent: $1,917

Bellevue Hill stands as one of Sydney’s most prestigious suburbs and has some of the largest houses by median land size.

Given the large gap between median purchase price and median rental price, it is no wonder renters want to live among $10m homes and pay under $2,000 a week, when a $10m purchase means $2m deposit, over $500k in stamp duty, and roughly $12,000 a week in repayments.

Most mansions will never make it to public rental sites and are often snapped up by Hollywood stars, musicians, or even royalty when they visit Australia.

The Neighbourhood
One of the biggest drawcards for those living in Bellevue Hill is the proximity to two of the country’s top schools. While there are no catchment areas for private schools, Cranbrook School and Scots College will always draw affluent families to the suburb. Scots fees start at around $30,000 per annum from Year One and reach nearly $50,000 by Year 12.

Sydney’s Cheapest Suburb: Tregear; Median purchase: $782,000; Median rent: $544

The cheapest suburb to rent in Sydney is Tregear, located on the outskirts of Mt Druitt, approximately 50 km west of the CBD. The median house rental is $544, which is four times cheaper than renting a house in Vaucluse. The median house price in Tregear is $782,000, around 12 times less than Vaucluse.

Sydney’s Best Suburb: Point Piper

If money were no object, it’s hard to look past Sydney’s most affluent suburb as the top pick for the best place to live in the city, in my opinion.

It doesn’t even have an actual median house price, simply because so few properties change hands. Last year, just five houses sold, ranging from $8 million to $51.5 million. Homes on the best streets offer gun-barrel views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, while the cosmopolitan Double Bay next door provides all the lifestyle conveniences.