Monday's auction of O.J. Simpson's lavish estate marks the end of an affluent lifestyle for the onetime football great who lost his fortune and his reputation amid accusations of murder.
He must give up his sprawling 6,200-square-foot home on Rockingham Avenue with its five bedrooms and six baths, its guest house and tennis court, its waterfalls and Olympic-size swimming pool."It was his dream house," said Realtor Elaine Young, who sold him the Brentwood property in 1977. "He totally loved it. He had been looking for two years and he said he never needed to look at another house again after he saw it. This was it."
A big selling point, she said, was the guest house, which would later become notorious as the residence of Simpson's boarder, Kato Kaelin.
"O.J. was married to Marguerite when he bought the house," Young recalled. "She was a painter and the guest house had a north light. It was perfect for her studio."
The home was marked by tragedy early on when their small daughter drowned in the swimming pool.
After he and Marguerite divorced, Simpson brought his second bride, Nicole Brown, to live at the estate. She redecorated it in elegant style, and when his football career gave way to a budding movie career, Simpson added a screening room.
After he and Nicole divorced, she moved to a condominium about two miles away. It was there that she and Ron Goldman were found slashed to death on June 12, 1994. Police rushed to Simpson's estate where they said they found a blood trail and a mysterious bloody glove.
Although he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend, Simpson was sued in civil court and found liable for the killings under a different legal theory.