"Scarface" mansion listed for $35 million

The 10-acre El Fureidis estate in California is perhaps best known in recent years as a location for the 1983 film “Scarface,” and the wedding scene of Michele Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. The estate has at times received credit for playing host to many memorable tenants and visitors, including Thomas Mann, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Charles Chaplin, and John F. Kennedy. The estate is one of only three residences in Montecito designed by Goodhue, and is a true piece of art history.

El Fureidis (Little Paradise or Pleasure Gardens) is a 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) historic estate built in 1906 on 10 acres in Montecito, California. Originally called the James Waldron Gillespie Estate or Gillespie Palace after its original owner, the Roman, Persian, Arabic and Spanish-styled architecture is one of only five houses designed by the American architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.

Constructed of steel-reinforced concrete and retaining the original layout footprint, Goodhue built El Fureidis to last. The main house recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation with a careful eye for detail, preserving the historic elements of the estate, while equipping the estate for modern living in a new era. Many of the original fixtures and appointments remain, and are coupled with fully modernized and deluxe appointments in the bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry facilities, such as radiant floor heating, a steam shower, and top-end appliances. The renovation includes a second floor configured with three guest suites. 

The property is bordered by a seasonal creek and offers significant gardens and landscaping, originally Persian in design, and reflective of Gillespie’s fondness for palm trees.  At one time, the gardens boasted more than 100 different varieties of palm and other trees, and today the expansive 10-acre grounds still harbor several century-old tree specimens, including a massive Chilean wine palm, Montecito’s largest Moreton Bay fig tree, magnificent king palms, a grove of coast redwoods, citrus and walnut orchards, and many others.

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