Remember When Katy Perry Tried to Buy a Former L.A. Convent? Here's One for Sale by the Interior Designer She Fought in Court

Paging Katy Perry: There's another convent-turned-multimillion-dollar manse in up for grabs, but there may be some bad blood involved. The Paramour Estate in Silver Lake has hit L.A.'s luxury real estate market today for a cool $40 million, and it's owned by restaurateur and interior designer Dana Hollister — who fought the well-paid pop star in court a few years back over a different nunnery in Los Feliz.

The 22,000-square-foot Paramour Estate is listed with Sally Forster Jones of Compass. Oil heiress and socialite Daisy Canfield and her husband, silent film actor Antonio Moreno, commissioned architect Robert Farquhar (who was part of the team that designed the Pentagon) to dream up the decadent mansion, which was completed in 1923.

Hollister bought the historic hilltop landmark (previously known as the Canfield-Moreno Estate) in 1998 for just $2.25 million and renovated it to its current glory. Of the restoration process, she tells Forbes, "the opulent gilded mirrors, crystal chandeliers, allegorical artwork, chinoiserie, taxidermy, and silk upholstered settees…set a feeling of environmental submersion or time travel."

"I removed a lot of Formica, linoleum, and red wall-to-wall carpeting to reveal the wood countertops and the walnut, travertine, and pink marble floors," she adds, resulting in the discovery of secret Prohibition-era alcohol cabinets.

In addition to its past life as a convent, the 4.3-acre Paramour — which boasts picturesque views of Downtown — has also housed a girls boarding school and serves as a boutique hotel and film location. Its main house features six suites, and the property also has three guest homes. Often used as a wedding venue, the property can also be rented starting at $900 per night for a guest room to upwards of $1,900 per night for the two-story Gate House.

Hollister famously feuded with Perry over the 1927-built former convent on Waverly Drive designed by Bernard Maybeck. The singer hoped to purchase that property for $14.5 million, sparking a legal battle between the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (who currently own the high-end home) and Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez. Here's where it got complicated: Nuns Rita Callanan and Catherine Holzman (who collapsed and died in court) opposed selling to Perry and "maintained they had the authority to sell the property to Hollister," but a judge blocked that deal.

Hollister was ordered by a jury to pay $15 million in damages to Perry in 2017 for interfering in the sale of the Waverly residence, but the two agreed on a reduced settlement of $6.5 million. Per a statement in 2019 issued by the Archdiocese of L.A., "The formal legal option on the Waverly [Drive] property has expired… That said, the archdiocese and Ms. Perry continue to be in communication concerning her continued interest in the property."

Scroll through the gallery above for more photos of the stunning property, and learn more about Paramour Estate here.

Update 3/30/2021: This story was updated with additional photos and details provided by Compass Real Estate.

The Paramour Estate, 1923 Micheltorena St., L.A., 90039