Entrepreneur Kirk Fernandez Drops $21 Million on the Pacific Palisades Riviera
By James McClain
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – An eye-catching mansion within the inordinately wealthy Riviera enclave of recently sold for $21 million, an amount that ranks as the priciest Palisades home sale of 2019 so far. Built by Westside real estate developer Mark Matkins of Gunderson Matkins in collaboration with O+L Building Projects , the equestrian-friendly property was years in the making and initially hit the open market in summer 2018, when the nearly 14,000 sq. ft. spec-built mansion was saddled with a $26.75 million asking price, according to Mansion Global .
The lucky new owner is low-profile — but clearly exceedingly wealthy — local entrepreneur Kirk Fernandez. While far from a household name, Fernandez is Chairman and CEO of Fernandez Holdings, which has amassed a business and property empire worth nearly $1 billion, all without the benefit of outside investors, according to his website . The Wyoming native founded Solutionz Conferencing, a L.A.-based conferencing firm that has grown to become a market leader, and he also holds substantial ownership stakes in a variety of other manufacturing, distribution and real estate investment firms.
Sited on a narrow dead-end street, the nearly one-acre flat lot provides ocean and canyon views from nearly every window in the sprawling mansion. Constructed in a style described as “California contemporary mixed with a midcentury vibe,” per Matkins, the structure is hewn from a blend of concrete, wood and glass.
A gated walkway leads past an enormous water feature to the all-glass entryway. The mesmerizing interiors include soaring ceilings, lustrous walnut floors and luxury home staging by Meredith Baer , L.A.’s go-to decorator for clients looking to visually spruce up a listing with the perfect furnishings.
Some of the home’s almost countless amenities include a sculptural floating staircase, an enviable library with walls of glass and towering bookshelves that definitely require a stepladder, an airport hanger-sized family room with more disappearing walls of glass, staff quarters, four guest bedroom suites and a massive master suite with a whopping 1,750 square feet of living space, dual bathrooms, dual closets, and a private elevator that transports the homeowners to their “seasonal wardrobe” deep underground.
The property also includes a guesthouse with an additional two bedrooms, a seven-car garage, a “wellness center” with massage room and sauna/spa facilities, a 1,000-bottle wine cellar, two kitchens — one for the chef, the other for the butler — and a gargantuan home theater with space for a bonafide gathering.
Outdoors, the property sports a sizable backyard with drought-resistant olive and eucalyptus trees, a 50-foot swimming pool, lush native plantings and a bocce ball court. Perhaps best of all — especially for equestrians — the property has space for stables and is directly accessible from the famed Will Rogers State Park, which sports a lovely polo field. And although the property is but a convenient quick skip to bustling Sunset Boulevard, it remains desirably quiet and private.
Gunderson Matkins, though fairly new on the L.A. development scene, are not new to the Palisades . Last year, they sold a slightly smaller but similarly-styled Riviera house for nearly $13.5 million to Ashley Lebowitz, a stepdaughter of hyper-rich Kohl’s department store heir Allen Kohl. (Incidentally, that house is already back on the market with a nearly $14 million ask.)
Before moving to his new Palisades manor, Fernandez shacked up in a luxury high-rise condominium along the pricey Wilshire Corridor. His unit in the coveted Californian building, which he bought way back in 2006 for $3.3 million, was briefly available on the open market this summer with a $4.7 million pricetag. The property has since been delisted, although it does not appear to have transferred.
Hugh Evans and Randy Forbes of Compass jointly held the Palisades listing; Richard Stearns , also of , repped Fernandez.
