Financier Busts Piggy Bank for Beverly Park House

CHIEF DWELLINGS: $14.9 million hacienda home picked up by Alex Von Furstenberg.

By Ann Brenoff

Monday, March 21, 2011

Alex Von Furstenberg, a financier who may be better known as the son of the fashion star who brought the world the iconic wrap dress, just wrapped himself around the purchase of a Beverly Park home for $14.9 million. The property had been listed at $15.9 million for less than two weeks.

Von Furstenberg is the co-managing member and chief investment officer of Arrow Capital Management LLC, a private investment firm in New York that focuses on global public equities and manages the Von Furstenberg money. As a partner and director in his mother’s Diane Von Furstenberg Studio, he is also responsible for a restructuring of the design business, taking it from $1 million in annual revenue to more than $200 million. He also serves on the board of Internet conglomerate IAC. His career began in 1993 as a trader on Allen & Co.’s risk arbitrage desk.

He is engaged to Ali Kay, the face of Diane von Furstenberg Studio and the co-founder of her own fashion line, Keep Me.

Von Furstenberg has donated generously to L.A.-area institutions, including the Curtis School in Los Angeles. His family has given more than $6 million to education and he donated $25,000 to the Beverly Hills Police Officers Association last year to help provide ongoing medical benefits for retired officers.

The 13,700-square-foot Spanish hacienda he bought is surrounded by sprawling lawns. The four-bedroom main house has a grand entrance and high ceilings. There is a sunken bar, library, both formal and informal living rooms, gym and sauna. The detached two-story guest home has three bedrooms.

Mia Trudeau and Mauricio Umansky, both of Hilton & Hyland Real Estate, Beverly Hills, had the listing. The selling agents were Aileen Comora and Paul Lester of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills.

Malibu Abode

If you are a card-carrying member of the hip crowd, you know that People’s Liberation has nothing to do with China and everything to do with jeans. I have clearly misplaced my hip crowd card. Colin Dyne, who hasn’t misplaced his, just listed his Malibu ocean-view house for $5 million.

Dyne is chairman and chief executive for People’s Liberation, a company that designs and sells casual apparel under the People’s Liberation, William Rast and J. Lindeberg labels internationally. Dyne also serves as vice chairman for Talon International, the owner of Talon zippers – the world’s original zipper brand, founded in 1893.

He is selling a large horse property in the Malibu Park area. There is a five-bedroom main home and two-bedroom guest houses for a total of 7,000 square feet of living space. The estate sits on more than three acres and is gated with two driveway entrances, a large motor court with covered portico, two-stall horse barn, saltwater pool and outdoor hot tub. The hacienda-style home has a media room, two offices and chef’s kitchen.

Madison Hildebrand, Coldwell Banker Malibu Colony office, is the listing agent.

WeHo Colonial

Don Cook’s Ah Men was the first gay-oriented business to open in West Hollywood back in 1962, and the shop remained a symbol of gay culture until its closing in the early 1980s. Cook has listed his 1935 colonial home – on the market for the first time in 38 years – for $3.8 million.

Ah Men was way more than a men’s clothing shop that catered to a gay clientele. It was a cultural crossover success, frequented by celebrities. Cook regularly pushed the envelope by introducing new and racier clothing, and was also the founder of the Numbers restaurant, opened in 1976 on Sunset Boulevard and sold nine years later. Both businesses have found their way into best-selling novels by Jackie Collins (“Hollywood Wives”) and Joyce Haber “The Users”).

“Before I opened Ah Men, men had two choices for shirts – solid or striped,” Cook said. “So I bought women’s dress fabric and made shirts out of it.” There were eventually satellite stores in Silver Lake and Houston. The clothing was primarily marketed through catalogs that were popular with gay men and have since become collectors’ items.

The stately 4,000-square-foot home Cook has listed is walled and gated, and features handcrafted details throughout. There is a sweeping staircase in the center hall entry, living room with fireplace and wet bar, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen and redwood garden room. The master suite also has a fireplace, plus a terrace with pool and garden views. There’s a maid’s room with private bath and two additional bedrooms, one with a sitting room. The home has a lower-level bonus room suitable for a gym, home theater or game room. There are two one-bedroom guest residences above the detached three-car garage.

David Kean of the John Aaroe Group, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

Ann Brenoff can be reached at abrenoff@yahoo.com