Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda List Celeb-Pedigreed Mansion
By Mark David
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Mike Shinoda, co-founder of top-selling alt-rock band Linkin Park, has his celeb-pedigreed mansion in a guard-gated enclave in L.A.’s Beverly Hills Post Office area, a swank neighborhood the mountains between Beverly Hills and Sherman Oaks, Calif., on the market with a rock star price of $9.5 million. The two-time Grammy winner, also an accomplished artist and designer who’s created much of the artwork for Linkin Park’s album covers and merchandise, has owned the comprehensively updated, early 1990s Mediterranean villa since 2008 when he acquired it for $7.4 million from actor and polemical political provocateur Tom Arnold, who purchased the property in 1998 from choreographer and pop singer Paula Abdul. Listed with Robby Sutton and Rayni Williams of the Williams & Williams Estates Group at Hilton & Hyland , the family-sized manse offers seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms in a smidgen more than 7,700 square feet.
A horseshoe driveway arches tightly around a wee grove of palm trees and a secured courtyard entry provides a private, tranquil transition to the grand, double-height rotunda foyer where an elegantly curved stone staircase is festooned with an intricately scrolled wrought iron railing. Painted chocolate brown with floor-to-ceiling curtains over its many huge windows, the step down formal living room has notably high ceilings and a delicate, antique marble fireplace, while the formal dining room’s beige stone floor tiles are offset with decadent, gold brocade wallpaper. Arranged around a huge island with an exotic wood countertop, the high-end kitchen is both casual and accommodating of a gourmet chef with up-to-date culinary equipment and a roomy breakfast area that opens to the backyard.
Guest and family bedrooms are ample and en suite — at least two have French doors to slender balconies — and the spacious master suite is luxuriously complete with an over-sized sitting area with fireplace and a large private terrace. The huge closet/dressing room is a fashionista’s fantasy with a curved wall of mirrored wardrobes and floor-to-ceiling shoe shelves behind glass doors, while the marble-floored bathroom features custom vanities, a deep soaking tub and a separate shower.
The three-quarter acre spread’s landscaped grounds include: a serene, tropically planted courtyard with koi pond; a dining loggia with built-in grill just outside the breakfast room; and a pancake flat backyard with a verdant patch of lawn and a swimming pool and spa completely lined in white mosaic tiles.
Community amenities include tennis and paddle tennis courts, racquetball and basketball courts, a dance studio and a children’s playground. Some of the other high-profile homeowners in the exclusive, celeb-favored enclave include fashion model Kendall Jenner, pop diva Christina Aguilera and “Wheel of Fortune” letter turning icon Vanna White. DJ Khaled bought his lavish mansion for $10 million from British pop star Robby Williams — it had previously been owned by country star Clint Black and actor Lisa Hartman Black — and Charlie Sheen lost a small fortune on the recent sale of his infamous mansion that he picked up in 2006 for $7.2 million and sold earlier this year for $6.6 million.
Last fall, Shinoda substantially upsized his residential circumstances with a nearly $8 million , off-market purchase of a brand-spanking new modern farmhouse tucked away in the affluent foothills above Encino. He also continues to own an unassuming residence hidden down a little-known cul-de-sac in the mountains above Sherman Oaks he snapped up just over eleven years ago for not quite $900,000.
