The late American entertainer Bing Crosby’s sprawling French Chateau-style estate sold last week for $25 million — $15 million less than its asking price.
Crosby, best known for his crooning holiday hit “White Christmas,” bought the property in Hillsborough, California in the early 1960s, as a gift for his wife Kathryn. The sprawling 5.38-acre property south of San Francisco offered the star and his family of five a reprieve from Hollywood. The estate remained in the family for six decades, but it only stayed on the market for less than four months.
Despite the discounted sale, first reported by Mansion Global, the transaction ranks among the Silicon Valley enclave’s priciest sales ever.
The residence, built in 1929, spans an impressive 14,000 square feet. Ornate fireplaces and intricate woodwork line the interiors, which include 11 bedrooms, an impressive library and a smoking room with a built-in bar. The estate also offers a separate wing for staff housing.
The Crosby family undertook extensive renovations on the house, according to Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty.
Kathryn commissioned hand-painted dining room walls by a prominent San Francisco artist, and the couple installed antiques from the collection of news baron and “Citizen Kane” inspiration William Randolph Hearst. Those additionaly include a hand-carved wooden staircase banister and Georgian paneling from a 17th-century English manor home.
Hearst was a close friend of Crosby’s, the Wall Street Journal reported, and an avid collector of European antiques.