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Former Chandler Mansion Back on the Market for $50 million

Dorothy Chandler Mansion
Former home of the Chandler family is back on the market for $50 million.

The Chandler family home in Windsor Square is back on the market for $50 million.  Should it sell close to that number, it would be a record breaker for the area. According to a local realtor, the last time the house sold it went for $9.5  million, in 2014, to the current owners, Nigerian furniture manufacturing tycoon Robert Oshodin and his wife Mimi.

Realtor Jospeh Soaris, with Keller Williams, told the Buzz the house is one of the “best homes of historical fact in Los Angeles,” and that his client has invested at least $15 million in renovations. He said a website featuring the house will be forthcoming but there will be no open houses, just private showings.

“Los Tiempos,” was the home to one of Los Angeles’s most influential family, Norman and Dorothy Chandler for many years, until Mrs. Chandler died in 1997. Interior designer Timothy Corrigan and his business partner Kathleen Scheinfield bought the neglected mansion in 1997 for $2.025 million.  Corrigan sold the estate in November 2006 for $8.07 million to Courtney Callahan and Joseph Handleman, who later contended that Corrigan had failed to reveal the true nature of the property. The case was settled by an arbiter who determined the claimants had failed to prove their case against Corrigan and ordered them pay the legal fees in the case, reported the Los Angeles Times in 2014.

According to Variety, the Handleman-Callahans:

…initiated an ugly, years long and ultimately fruitless legal dispute, in which they claimed, according to reports, that the sellers failed to disclose “faulty water pipes, leaky roofs, black mold, raw sewage and dangerous wiring” that cost them nearly $3 million to repair.

After exhausting their financial resources on a variety of repairs and restorations, the Handleman-Callahans put the property up for sale in the spring of 2012 for $11.25 million. (Mr. Handleman, who reportedly suffered from a range of health issue and ailments, died in an apparent suicide the day after the legal fracas was settled in July 2012.) When the estate was re-listed in the fall of 2013, the asking price had plummeted to $10.6 million and, after a flirt with foreclosure, the estate was finally sold in June 2014 for $9.5 million to its current owner Robert Oshodin.

In 2015, the Buzz reported that Oshodin’s bright white paint on the mansion had so incensed the neighborhood, they began a campaign begging Oshodin to repaint the house and restore its elegant facade. Ultimately Mr. Oshodin repainted the house to a more historically appropriate off-white color.

The 9,329 square foot mansion sits on a a 35,981 square foot lot in prime Windsor Square at the corner of 5th street and Lorraine Boulevard.

This story has been updated to include a statement from a founding member of the Windsor Square Concerned Citizens League, the group of neighbors who banded together to pressure the current owner to repaint the mansion.  

“One only needs to read the Zillow-ad for the Chandler Mansion to realize what the community has been facing with the current owner. The ad is poorly written in all caps with little punctuation and grammatical errors. In the ad the current owner takes credit for restoration that was done by the previous owner/s. It’s a generally poor presentation punctuated with an asking price, which more than quintuples the Zillow-estimate and the last recorded purchase price from just a couple of years ago. Altogether lacking the polish and sophistication that one would expect of a property with a $50M price tag.  

After several perceived atrocities (including painting the building bright white), last year the Dorothy Chandler mansion was brought up to community standards and city codes, therefore the community would happily welcome Mr. Oshodin to stay and would also welcome a new owner with open arms. Our beautiful hamlet, Windsor Square, is loaded with kind and loving residents. In fact, finding welcome gifts on your front porch from your new neighbors is not uncommon when new owners move in. We are home to many eccentric residents and ALL the residents and properties surrounding the Chandler mansion are important, so as long as the present or new owners abide by HCM and HPOZ guidelines, and their properties are kept clean and manicured, they are considered valuable members of the community and are totally welcome in Windsor Square. 

As for the asking price, is it possible that someone will be willing to pay $50M for the Dorothy Chandler Mansion? I suppose it’s possible that Barack Obama will become a famous swimsuit model after his tenure as President. Good bones and good bone structure go a long way. However albeit either scenario is technically possible, neither is likely, at least in the short term.”

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Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard is the publisher of the Larchmont Buzz. Patty lives with her family in Fremont Place. She has been active in neighborhood issues since moving here in 1989. Her pictorial history, "Larchmont" for Arcadia Press is available at Chevalier's Books.

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