Inside Rock Hudson’s Old $55.5 Million Estate

Rock Hudson once was one of the most famous actors in the world. And the star of films like “Pillow Talk” and the TV series “McMillian and Wife” lived like it in a glorious mansion in Beverly Hills.

His old home has been listed for sale for a whopping $55.525 million. The estate, which has 24,370 square feet of interior space, also used to be owned by the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen until his death in 2018. 

The home has been remodeled but still holds much of its old Hollywood charm from when Hudson owned the property. Come take a look inside.

Originally, Universal Pictures bought the 1920s Spanish-style hacienda for Hudson as part of his last five-year extension contract with Universal. He owned it from 1962 until his death in 1985.

Before the purchase, Hudson was renting the home located at 9402 Beverly Crest Drive. It belonged to “Ben-Hur” actor Sam Jaffe, who had put it up for sale in 1961 for $167,000. Adjusted for inflation, that’s still just $1.52 million today.

Sixty years later, It’s selling for 37 times that inflation-adjusted price, and over 330 times what it sold for in 1961. 

Rock Hudson was one of the most popular movie stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, where he frequently played the heartthrob character. He never won an Academy Award, but he was nominated for his role in the 1956 George Stevens “Giant.”

That was Hudson’s only Oscar nomination in his career. But his hilltop estate was 3.2 acres. So he had plenty of room to live like a giant the rest of his life.

This was no ordinary pad, and it had several structures.

There’s a five-bedroom main house, a “cinema building”, a two-bedroom guest house, a two-bedroom staff quarters and a huge one-bedroom recording studio. 

Hudson was a massively popular star during his time. His career spanned the mid-1940s until his death in 1985.

During the 1950s, he starred in over 30 films and brought in roughly $3.5 billion in inflation-adjusted box office tickets, more than Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and John Wayne during that era.