A home with significant ties to Santa Clarita Valley history — known as the Piru, Newhall or Cook Mansion, depending on whom you talk to — is now on the market, a Realtor confirmed Monday.
The Piru estate was developed from a 14,000-acre Spanish land grant that was purchased by a wealthy Christian book publisher in 1890. It burned down and was rebuilt in 1983 by the SCV’s well-known Newhall family, who owned it for decades.
The family, which also owned The Signal for 25 years starting in 1963, made the Victorian mansion not just their family home until 1992, but also a well-known venue for weddings and celebrations. The mansion is now replete with 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and two kitchens near Lake Piru.
Now the home, which is also permitted for holding functions that generates an impressive, but improvable revenue stream for the owners, is for sale at an asking price of $7.5 million, according to Eric Lavey of Sotheby’s International Realty — Beverly Hills Brokerage, which has the listing.
Discussing the property’s true value, Lavey said when the home was rebuilt more than 40 years ago, the budget was nearly double the asking price, making it hard to duplicate such a find.
“The current business happening there now is very impressive. They host about, give or take, 50 or so events a year,” he said, adding there’s “certainly some room for more.”
There’s room to park more than 150 cars, he said, but it’s also very special due to its significance.
“We think the buyer is going to be somebody who is not buying it just for the business — it’s a piece of real estate that you just don’t see every day,” he added.
Newhall family member David Newhall-Hill sold the property in July 2012 — when it was listed with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms — for $2.12 million to James Tashjian. Tashjian indicated to The Signal he planned to continue the property’s use as an event venue.
A number of TV shows, including “Murder, She Wrote,” “The Incredible Hulk” and many other productions, have filmed at the venue.
For information about the listing, contact Lavey at 310-724-7000.
