Candy Spelling Sells Biggest House In America

Late TV producer Aaron Spelling's 57,000 square-foot mansion and five-acre estate in Bel Air, California, which ranked as America's most expensive home when it went on the market in 2009, has finally been sold.

The house, dubbed “The Manor,” which Spelling’s widow Candy, 64, had listed for $150 million, was sold for the much lower, but still enormous price of $85 million to Petra Ecclestone, daughter of Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone (who has a net worth of $4 billion). And before you start to think Spelling got a raw deal, know that she will earn more than $1,000 a square foot. Ecclestone, 22, plans to split her time between London and Los Angeles ahead of her August wedding to businessman James Stunt, The Wall Street Journal said.

The property, built in 1991 in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood, features more than 100 rooms, a double staircase inspired by Gone with the Wind, multiple flower-cutting and gift-wrapping rooms, a screening room, a game room, a two-lane bowling alley, a pool, a tennis court, exquisite gardens and parking for 100 cars. It remains one of the largest single-family homes in California.

Spelling is moving into a two floor condo in Century City, valued at a mere $35 million. Her new place is only about as big as the attic of The Manor. Spelling thought that The Manor was too big for one person. “I'm not worried about leaving here [The Manor],” she told 20/20 in March 2009. “I'm just worried about, can I pack it all up? And what will I do with it?”

Spelling’s house was not Ecclestone’s first choice. Instead, it was the “Fleur de Lis,” a $125 million home also in Holmby Hills. That house is owned by Suzanne Saperstein, ex wife of Texas billionaire David Saperstein. Ecclestone is known for her expensive tastes. Her father recently bought a $56 million home for her in London. She claimed it was for her five dogs.