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David Matlin is no stranger to chart-busting real estate transactions. Back in 2020, the cofounder of distressed investor MatlinPatterson Global Advisers and his wife Lisa set a record for the priciest home ever sold in New York’s Soho neighborhood with the $35 million trade of their three-story, 8,000-square-foot penthouse atop the Broome Street building (incidentally, the same building where actor Heath Ledger was found dead in 2008).

Now the couple has done it again, picking up an all-new Spanish-style estate in L.A.’s Little Holmby neighborhood. They paid $16.8 million; though that’s a substantial $2.2 million discount off the original listing price, it still appears to be the biggest sale ever recorded in the affluent, if somewhat low-key neighborhood pocket tucked between bustling Westwood and billionaires-only Holmby Hills — topping the recent $13 million transfer of a renovated and expanded 1942 Sumner Spaulding-designed house on the same street.

Records show the seller of the Little Holmby house was Lincoln Property Co.‘s David Binswanger, who acquired the property back in 2017 for $5.5 million. He subsequently razed the existing structure and commissioned A. Ron Builders and the architect firm Shepphird Associates to craft a new custom home in its place over the next three years before ultimately deciding to move out of state.

“This is definitely not like other spec homes, as this was built originally for an owner user,” says listing agent Josh Altman of Douglas Elliman. “It’s one of the most well-finished homes that I have seen in a long time; It is super-unique, not your modern box or typical Mediterranean-style home. Every square inch of this property is designer-done and with top-notch, quality finishes.”

Tucked away on a gated parcel of just over a half an acre, and protected by a security system, the white stucco and terracotta-roof abode features six bedrooms and seven baths spread across 9,500 square feet of open-plan living space punctuated throughout with Euroline steel windows and doors, centuries-old hand-hewn ceiling beams, hand-troweled walls, white oak hardwood floors and hand-painted tile.

Pocketed glass doors spanning the entire main floor lend themselves to the ideal indoor-outdoor lifestyle, while glitzy amenities range from an elevator and Crestron smart-home technology, to a gym, movie theater, sauna and wine cellar. Other highlights include a gourmet kitchen outfitted with an expensive French Lacanche range, dual marble-topped islands, a breakfast nook and doors spilling out to a spacious loggia; and a sumptuous master retreat offers a showroom-style closet, along with a lavish spa-inspired bath equipped with dual vanities, a soaking tub and oversized steam shower.

Elsewhere in the house is an ensuite guest bedroom sporting a kitchenette and its own entrance, and rounding it all out is a resort-style backyard featuring a fireside al fresco dining and lounge area, and a large pool and spa. There’s also an attached five-car garage, plus 500 square feet of unfinished basement space that could be converted into an art studio or used for storage, per the listing.

Josh Altman held the listing with Matt Altman of The Altman Brothers Team at Douglas Elliman and Danelle Lavin of Compass; the buyer was repped by Susan Smith of Hilton & Hyland.

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