Buy a $14.5 Million LA Mansion, Get a $400K Helicopter for Free

Since we all know that “free of charge” or even “poor” don’t mean the same thing for billionaires as they do for common folk, we should start this off by saying that no, of course the helicopter isn’t free of charge. There is no such thing as free helicopters anything in life, so chalk this up to another gimmick in luxury real estate that’s meant to attract potential buyers.

The helicopter is included in the price of the purchase and comes with a very big catch: you have to make a full-price offer on the house to get it. In other words, here is a mansion that is listed at $14.5 million and comes with its very own $400,000 helicopter on the front lawn. Which, by the way, is big enough to allow you to land an entire fleet of them.

This piece of real estate in question belongs to businessman David Glickman, CEO and founder of Ultra Mobile and Mint Mobile. He bought the land off Topanga Canyon Blvd, in Los Angeles’ Topanga State Park, sometime in 2004 and built the current house on it. It is listed with Keller Williams Calabasas as of December 2019.

First off, the cherry on top of the cake: the $400,000 helicopter is a Robinson Raven R44 Raven II that actually belongs to one of Glickman’s friends. For whatever reason, he has chosen to part with it, so he’s offering it to the potential new owner of the house, as long as they pay the asking price.

“The owner has held a number of events at the property where guests flew in by helicopter,” agent Diana Armstrong-Bruns says of how the idea to include the bird in the listing came to be. “As the home has the perfect place to land one, and doesn’t have the restrictions you get in, say, Malibu, he thought it might add interest to include one in the sale.”

At $14.5 million, that is definitely not a cheap house, but it comes with everything you’d expect from a luxury abode, besides the personal flying vehicle, spa, pool, tennis court and exquisite design. Plus, the agent explains “as a whole [it] is spectacular. For being such a big house, it feels very homey.”

For this kind of money, it’d better feel very homey.

The Tuscan-style residence is surrounded by greenery and ensures maximum privacy from prying eyes and the noise (and pollution) of the city. It has eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, and comes with its very own fruit orchard, tennis court and massive swimming pool with hot tub and outdoor fireplace.

The interior is decadent and, indeed, surprisingly homey. Past the front door, you enter into a room with a full-bar, which must be another hot selling point for anyone looking to buy it so they can throw parties and have friends fly over in their personal choppers. There’s a floor-to-ceiling fireplace in the living room, an entertainment room, and all bedrooms come with ensuites. The only exception is the master bedroom, which features massive, well-lit, his and hers master bathrooms.

Upstairs is a library and living quarters, and a room with at least two pool tables where you can practice your shots in your idling moments. A dining patio, the outdoor pool and separate quarters for an estate manager (bedroom, living room and separate entrance) are part of the package.

This Topanga estate is also, to a certain extent, self-sufficient. The listing agent notes there’s a solar array that powers the entire estate, while irrigation water from a well ensures that the perfectly manicured lawns stay the same during California’s infamous dry spells. For the same purpose, the current groundskeeper is willing to stay on for another six months to train a new groundskeeper, at Glickman’s expense. Free of charge, as it were.

A free helicopter and 6 months’ worth of groundskeeping work and training, how’s that for a business proposition no respectable billionaire can turn down?