After more than three years on and off the market, a particularly lavish and historic Los Angeles-area estate has sold—in an all-cash, off-market deal—for $17.5 million, marking the first time the so-called “largest single-family residence in Pasadena,” per dated listings, has changed hands in more than a decade.
While that sale price still represents one of the biggest sums ever paid for a Pasadena residence, it’s also a massive 64% discount off the property’s initial $48 million ask, and barely half of the $32 million the place last asked.
Records show the buyer is a member of the Arakelian dynasty, a low-profile but enormously wealthy L.A.-based family who made their fortune through the ownership of Athens Enterprises, one of the largest and most successfully waste management companies in Southern California.
Founded in the 1950s by Armenian immigrant Jack Arakelian and initially operated with a single trash truck, the garbage-collecting juggernaut now has lucrative contracts with dozens of Southern California cities and annual revenues well into the hundreds of millions. The company remains owned and operated by the third and fourth generation members of the Arakelian clan, who have long been based in Pasadena and L.A.’s greater San Gabriel Valley.
The giant home was built in the early 20th century for art collecting heiress Virginia Steele Scott and designed by noted architect Myron Hunt before it was later further expanded by equally noted architect Gordon Kaufmann. Sited on 2.4-acres in what is perhaps Pasadena’s poshest neighborhood pocket, the gated and high-hedged traditional pile lies on a quiet cul-de-sac that’s but a short walk from the prestigious Langham Huntington hotel.
By the time the house came to be owned by televangelist Gene Scott in the 1980s, it had morphed into a bloated mega-compound, complete with a huge main house and a separate, 20,000-square-foot art gallery, complete with its own conference room. Although we can’t vouch for the veracity of the story, urban legend has it that Ronald Reagan considered purchasing the property to use as his “western White House” but ultimately declined because Nancy Reagan felt the place was just too darned big.
Following Scott’s 2005 death, the house was inherited by his much younger wife, Pastor Melissa Scott. It was Pastor Scott who ultimately sold the property in 2011 for $7.3 million to real estate investor John Vidalakis, who himself spent the next seven years giving the entire place a multimillion-dollar remodel.
Today, the property offers a 12,000-square-foot Colonial Revival-style main mansion and the separate aforementioned art gallery, which has now become an “entertainment center” complete with its own Tiki bar, wine cellar, multiple conference rooms, several lounge areas, a catering kitchen and a movie theater capable of seating up to 50 guests. Also on the premises are elevators and a “secret” underground passageway that connects the entertainment space to the main house, which is awash in black-and-white marble and lustrous hardwood. Altogether, there are seven bedrooms and a whopping 21 bathrooms in 32,000 square feet of living space.
The estate grounds are equally lavish, with abundant lawns and Japanese-style gardens, plus the requisite pool/spa combo and fire-pit lounging area. Also on tap are al fresco entertaining patios and a bocce court.
To be honest, we’re not entirely sure which Arakelian family member acquired this property. But we do know that the clan—whose key members are the founder’s grandsons Ron Jr. and Michael Arakelian and great-grandsons Ron III and Adam Arakelian—has a very well-documented affinity for ultra-high-end real estate. In addition to the gigantic Pasadena digs, various family members also own two of the largest homes in Newport Beach’s exclusive Newport Coast neighborhood.
Located within the Pelican Hill guard-gated community, Ron Arakelian Jr.’s Mediterranean-style compound (above) is actually two separate but linked mansions, one of them acquired by the trash king in 2003 and the other in 2017 from Manny Khoshbin. Together, the two mansions sport more than 27,000 square feet of combined living space.
Also in the Pelican Hill enclave—and just a short walk from Ron Jr.’s palace—lies his younger brother Michael Arakelian’s tennis court estate (above), which is a bit smaller but no less unabashedly lavish.
