The 5‑story Italian‑style house on Whitley Heights snapped up for $2.5 million on July 31, 2026, a tidy $205,000 over the $2.295 million asking price that had been listed just weeks earlier—buyers signed contracts by mid‑July and the deal closed in the same month.
The property, once owned by James Roncal and Stuart Marks, who paid $1.05 million in 2016, has undergone a meticulous renovation that blends original Spanish Revival details with mid‑century modernity. The owners kept the building’s distinctive Batchelder tiles in the master bedroom, updated the kitchen with walnut cabinetry and black quartz, and preserved three historic fireplaces, leaving one untouched as a nod to the past.
Local lore whispers that the villa was commissioned by silent‑film icon Rudolph Valentino for his paramour Pola Negri, though no documentary evidence confirms the connection. The story has long added a romantic aura to the hillside estate, a charm that new buyers saw as a unique selling point.
Whitley Heights, the neighborhood that drew Chaplin, Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson in the early 1900s, remains one of the city’s most architecturally intact historic districts. Its National Register status and city preservation overlay ensure that such properties retain their character, a factor that repeatedly drives up market value.
Greg Shenon of Equity Union, who represented the buyers, said the clients were "immediately drawn to the home’s exceptional restoration, architectural integrity, and the rarity of finding a property that so successfully blends historic character with modern liveability." The new owners plan to move in early August and continue the villa’s legacy of classic Hollywood glamour.