Mansion once owned by producer gets $10M

A rich — but perhaps not famous — buyer has acquired a luxurious Oahu home built by the late producer of the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" TV show, Al Masini.

An unidentified buyer paid $10 million for the home on Hawaii Loa Ridge in East Hono­lulu, according to local real estate firm Sachi Hawaii, led by Sachi Braden.

Braden’s firm, which represented the buyer and the seller with co-lister Graham Ting, said the buyer is from Asia but otherwise wished to remain unidentified.

The seller was Tai Lung Plastic Industrial Co., a Taiwanese plastics business that had owned the home for about 12 years.

Sachi Hawaii said the home represents a record sale price for Hawaii Loa Ridge and is the seventh residential property on Oahu to sell for at least $10 million in the last two years.

The brokerage firm was retained last year to sell the former Masini mansion, and listed the property for $12.5 million after several failed attempts using a variety of brokers over the last seven years.

Tai Lung bought the property for $9.4 million in 2001 and listed it for sale four times between 2006 and 2009 at $13 million. The property was also listed for $11.5 million in 2010 and $9.8 million in 2011.

Masini built the home in 1996 after he moved to Hawaii in the mid-1990s following retirement from a career in which he won nearly three dozen Emmy Awards for shows that included "Entertainment Tonight," "Star Search" and "Solid Gold." The producer died in 2010 at age 80.

Sachi Hawaii said Masini used his expertise creating hit shows in the home’s design, giving unparalleled attention to detail and making it perfect for the "rich and famous." Tai Lung also made some renovations to the property, according to the real estate firm.

Masini built the home on a 30,000-square-foot lot with 270-degree views from the mountains overlooking the sea, Kahala and Diamond Head. He gave it the name Hi‘i­lani, meaning "in the arms of heaven." The house at 1133 Ikena Circle has 9,416 square feet of interior living space with four bedrooms, five bathrooms and two partial bathrooms. There is also 5,700 square feet of palatial outdoor living space. Described as "modern Mediterranean meets 18th-century French architecture," other features of the home include a foyer framing a floor-to-ceiling view of Diamond Head, French hand-embroidered silk draperies mirroring those in the White House, museum-quality original artwork Masini collected, an indoor marble fountain, a pool with a waterfall and an 8-foot, 24-karat gold and Austrian crystal chandelier.