Entertainer’s Estate for Sale - Page 2

Susan Inaba and her husband, Kenji, both health care professionals, have owned the A. Quincy Jones home for two years, since purchasing it at auction in the summer of 2023.

"Our son was learning to drive," she says. "There was this road and we saw that it was a private road, so we just saw the outside, Googled it, and there you go."

Working ‘round the clock to transform it into a real home, Susan and her contractor addressed the deferred maintenance, replacing all the sliding doors, for instance, and restoring original features such as the cabinets and tile, all while maintaining the modern aesthetic.

"I found that there was only one bedroom on the original plans, which makes sense since the Hixons didn't actually live here," she says.

"Where we have our master bedroom was a private lounge, and then where we have our third bedroom, our guest bedroom, that was the maid's lounge."

So, when the Hixons hosted large parties at that whole wing of the house, Inaba says, "the kitchen with the two-way swinging doors, everything on the other side of that door was the service area, sitting area, with a bath for the staff."

Pleasantly designed around an open-air atrium and courtyards, a large-scale lava rock fountain spills into a koi pond visible from indoors and outdoors. Prominent landscape architect Ruth Shellhorn designed the home's modernist gardens, adding lushness with tropicals, such as the Giant Birds of Paradise, which thrives in the Southern California climate.

"I did a lot of the research on the house," says Inaba. "All of the design and build documentation, every piece is available at the UCLA archives. So I went through every single piece of paper, and I have to say it was a really fun, really rewarding thing to do."

"I love houses, but have never really connected with a house like this house," she adds. "This a piece of history…plus everything is very peaceful."