Judy Garland’s Bel Air home was knocked down and sold for $6.7 million

Judy Garland is one of many iconic actors from a bygone era of Hollywood. She was just a teenager when she landed the painful lead role in The Wizard of Oz. At the time of the film’s production, she and her mother moved into a newly built Bel-Air house.
Garland’s former residence is still there today, and ownership has changed hands several times. Over a decade ago someone bought the property. Once they flipped the house, they put it back on the market at a higher value.
Judy Garland has owned various properties during her life
Garland’s fame skyrocketed in the late 1930s, and she had plenty of money to go with it. Despite struggling with debt, the iconic actress had a net worth of $20 million when she died. She had bought several properties during her life with the wealth she had obtained.
According to Mansion Global, one of the homes Garland bought was the Dakota Building. The property is on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and it’s a three-bedroom apartment. It’s unclear when Garland owned the house, but the value is over $10 million.
The next house on the list is a Hollywood Hills property. According to Architectural Digest, Garland lived there with her second husband from 1944 to 1948. One of the features is a hidden bedroom that people can find behind the library. The property listing is over $6 million.
Another home Garland purchased was a beachfront property in Malibu. The price at the time of purchase is unknown, but the actor lived there between the late 1940s and the 1950s. Features of the home include marble countertops and a deck, and the value is nearly $4 million.
Judy Garland’s Bel Air home sold for millions after multiple renovations
Bel Air is an exclusive, upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles whose hills are part of the landscape. The land contains many extravagant mansions, and several celebrities live or have lived there. One star who was a former resident for nearly a decade was none other than Garland.
Garland’s Bel Air house was completed in 1938, and she was about 17 when she moved in. While a team was building the property, she and her mother helped design it. Country Living reports that the warm brick exterior and wide porch were Garland’s ideas. However, her mother decided to add yellow umbrellas to the backyard.
In 2011, the Bel Air house became available on the market. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stephanie Booth Murray bought the five-bedroom building. She bought it because her other place was being renovated.
After its acquisition, Murray set to work flipping the house. In 2012, she relisted the residence for $7.1 million but sold it to an unknown buyer for around $6.7 million. Because of such a long history, the house would probably be worth more today.
What changes did the previous owner make to the house?
The original listing for Garland’s former residence was around $5.2 million. Murray was able to sell it for more money thanks to the renovations she made to the place. For example, she transformed the red brick exterior into white walls. Other extensive upgrades included landscaping.
Additional backyard features are a swimming pool and cabanas. Murray also installed a writer’s booth which gives a person some solitude. The backyard is probably very different from when Garland lived there.
The upgrades that took place during the turnaround process went to the building’s mechanical systems. Mechanical systems include plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning. Since the house is decades old, improvements were probably needed.
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