Greek shipowner Vasilis Bacolitsas has been doing a little wheeling and dealing outside his traditional sale-and-purchase markets.
The director of Sea Pioneer Shipping is reported to have spent $17.5m on a house in the exclusive Brentwood area of Los Angeles.
According to Dirt and Greek City Times, the property, described as a “stately traditional mansion”, was originally put on the market a year ago for nearly $24m.
Bacolitsas bought the house with his wife, Sophia Nikolaidou, at a “discounted but still pricey level”, the reports said.
Built in 1986, the three-level home underwent an extensive renovation in early 2022.
The sellers were said to be Chicago-based hedge fund manager James Gordon and his wife Andrea, who acquired the property in 2020 from Bill and Giuliana Rancic.
The house has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and more than 9,300 square feet of modern living space.
There is a mix of stone and blonde hardwood floors, high ceilings, French oak and brass finishes, and black steel-framed windows and doors throughout.
Dirt said: “Especially notable is an elegant entry foyer that flows to a wet bar-equipped living room sporting a massive wood-burning fireplace, and an adjacent formal dining room that seats 10 and has a built-in sideboard, each lined with walls of glass spilling out to an expansive terrace bordered by a manicured lawn hosting a resort-style swimming pool.”
Sea Pioneer has been contacted for comment.
The Bacolitsas’ neighbours will include actress Reese Witherspoon, who spent $16m on a house there in 2020.
Sea Pioneer owners four panamax bulkers and four handysize tankers. Three more dry cargo vessels are on order in Japan.
A year ago, Greek shipowner Leon Patitsas also paid $17.5m for a property in Florida.
The chief executive and founder of tanker owner Atlas Maritime acquired a waterfront house on Hibiscus Island in Miami Beach.
