After investing millions of dollars and about half a decade into one of Santa Monica’s largest residential properties, Shane Smith, the executive chairman of Vice Media, has put the sprawling home back on the market for $50 million, more than double the $23 million he paid for it in 2015. The Mediterranean-style home was built in 1932, with its lavish Old Hollywood detailing now restored thanks to Smith.
The compound’s 3.35 acres comprise three separate structures totalling 14,000 square feet of living space. The main house holds eight bedrooms, including a main suite offering dual dressing rooms, a soaking tub, a steam shower, and private patios. Elsewhere in the house are a chef’s kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, a wine cellar accessible only via secret staircase, and a speakeasy bar hidden behind a bookshelf in the library. The mansion is outfitted with soaring beamed ceilings, intricate inlaid flooring, handblown glass chandeliers, and plenty of massive glass doors and windows to take in the resort-style grounds and views of the Santa Monica Canyon.
Split between the property’s two guesthouses are four more bedrooms, as well as meeting rooms and a professional catering kitchen. The lush grounds also include a sizable swimming pool and complementary pool house complete with grill and wood-burning pizza oven, plus a cedar soaking tub, bocce court, and edible gardens loaded with fruit trees, vineyards, and herb and vegetable beds.
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Smith tapped L.A.-based interior designer Kerry Joyce to lead the renovations, with a goal of creating “a one-of-a-kind escape,” Smith told Mansion Global. “We had a vision of a Chateau Marmont–style escape with the dual ability to throw lavish parties and feel homey and secluded at the same time,” he explained. “A sort of mini-resort with the best poolside living in L.A. and a vista from every window.”
