Elizabeth Taylor's 1950s Beverly Hills Estate On Sale For $15.9 Million
Keith Flamer
The screen legend lived in this luxurious home with second husband, British actor Michael Wilding as her career took off.
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Forbes
Elizabeth Taylor lived in many homes. You would too if you were married eight times. The gated Beverly Hills estate she shared with second husband, British actor Michael Wilding, just hit the market for $15.9 million (its first listing in 21 years).

Taylor and Wilding purchased the 2-acre estate in 1954 as their private Los Angeles retreat, just as the screen legend’s career took off. The couple raised their two young sons, Michael and Christopher, here until their 1957 divorce. Taylor and Wilding reportedly decided to buy the property after trespassing (literally scaling the fence) to see it for themselves.

Imagine that—Taylor scaling fences. Not since the actress jumped fences as a tween with her horse “Pie” in 1944’s National Velvet movie can one envision such a spectacle (not counting the unaffiliated Elizabeth Taylor Fence Company, which actually exists). Thankfully, the next buyer can merely call listing agents Joyce Rey & Arlene Rutenberg of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury for a peek at the estate.

Built in 1953, the six-bedroom, seven-bath property offers sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles, the Pacific Ocean and the valley below. The secluded 52,919-square-foot estate basks in the backdrop of palm trees, zen landscaping, and the glow of a panoramic pool and spa. Academy Award-winning actress Ingrid Bergman, who starred with Wilding in Alfred Hitchcock's 1949 film Under Capricorn, once toured the home and considered buying it.

The current owners (who bought the home for $2 million) tapped architect Budd Holden (who designed estates for A-list celebrities like Barbra Streisand and Cher in the 1980s and 1990s) to update interiors with geometric bedrooms, a wood-framed living room, coffered ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, wood paneling, and a wood cabinet kitchen with stainless steel appliances.

The hillside home spans 7,761-square feet, featuring a large carpark, three-car garage, open patio, fountain courtyard, four fireplaces, art studio, atrium and guest room/maid quarters. There's also a large office.

MGM, Taylor’s studio (and later Wilding’s as well), reportedly loaned the couple money for the home to keep their big star happy. Taylor’s prolific career flourished into the 1950s, as she evolved from child actress to a respected adult actress.

In that decade, Taylor performed in Father of The Bride, A Place In The Sun, The Barefoot Contessa, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, and Raintree County, for which she received her first Academy Award nomination (she’d ultimately win two Oscars for acting and another for her humanitarian work). Her personal life was also a whirlwind, marrying four times in the 1950s.

Taylor was Hollywood royalty—with jewels, beauty, fame, box office, awards, charitable causes and legendary parties as her imperial bona fides. At this estate she entertained famous Hollywood friends.

Taylor practically invented “fashionably late,” often making dramatic hour-late entrances to her own grand parties at the home (emerging from behind a moving wall between her bedroom and living room as if it was a soundstage). This became the inspiration for Taylor’s famous joke—she planned to be late for her own funeral. True to her word, when she died in 2011, her instructions mandated her coffin arrive 15 minutes late, according to British newspaper The Telegraph. Who could blame an actress for being this dramatic?

Now just in the nick of time, Taylor’s former estate is there for another suitor (fence and all).