Petra Ecclestone: Inside the Fabulous Life of 22-Year-Old Heiress
July 29, 2011— -- Candy Spelling's 57,000-square-foot Hollywood mansion, once the most expensive home for sale in the U.S. sold in an all-cash deal for $85 million in July.
It wasn't the price tag but the buyer that raised eyebrows.
Los Angeles' largest family home, which sits on six manicured acres in Holmby Hills and has a pool, tennis court, gardens, a gift-wrapping room and a two-lane bowling alley, was not bought by a business titan or movie mogul, but a 22-year-old.
Meet Petra Ecclestone -- the daughter of Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone and former Armani model, Slavika.
PHOTOS: See Ecclestone's New Hollywood Home
Why did the heiress to her family's fortune drop a reported $85 million on the Spelling estate?
"Firstly, it was a great investment. I got a really good deal," Ecclestone told ABC News of the mansion, which was originally priced at $150 million and had been sitting on the market for two years.
Ecclestone already owns one of Britain's most expensive homes, a Georgian mansion in Chelsea, valued at an estimated $90 million. "Candyland," as the Hollywood property has come to be known after its former owner, will be her second pad.
"I wanted to move to L.A. I wanted to have an amazing home. Hopefully in the future I'll be raising a family," she said. "My family from London will be coming to visit, so I need loads of space. But it really was a great investment. ... I've got a house in London and I just kind of buy prime real estate that I know hopefully won't go down in value."
To Ecclestone, who considers herself a humanitarian for her charitable work with the Meniginitis Trust and organizations in her mom's native Croatia, sees nothing wrong with how she spends her funds.
