Rod McKuen, the husky-voiced “King of Kitsch” whose music, verse and spoken-word recordings in the 1960s and ’70s won him an Oscar nomination and made him one of the best-selling poets in history, died this January. He was 81. Now, his longtime Beverly Hills estate is on the open market as a probate sale, priced at $15 million. Described in marketing materials as a “majestic French villa,”McKuen’s mansion was originally built in the late 1920s, and features almost 11,000 square feet, with seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
According to the listing details, the house has double-height foyer that leads to grandly scaled rooms with “beautifully crafted wood details,” which include a banquet-accommodating dining room, a paneled second-floor library with separate barroom, and a complete recording studio. The property also boasts an attached two-bedroom guesthouse, a parking-lot-sized motor court and a tree-shaded backyard with lushly planted gardens and swimming pool.
McKuen purchased the estate in early 1970 for $290,000.
