Hollywood actress Pat Crowley’s Bel-Air home lists for nearly $16 million after more than 50 years; Howard Hughes once landed a plane nearby |

Image: Left/Wikipedia/Right/Hello Magazine

A piece of Hollywood history has come to market in Bel-Air for the first time in more than fifty years. The home of actress Pat Crowley, whose career stretched from Hollywood’s Golden Age into television’s glory days, sits at the eighth hole of the Bel-Air Country Club golf course and is listed for just under sixteen million dollars. It was the scene of dinner parties that mixed entertainment, sports and media royalty, and it offers ocean views, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. This article explains what the property offers, who lived and entertained there, and stories that built its reputation.

Inside 551 Perugia Way, nearly 6,000-square-foot Bel-Air home on the eighth hole of a golf course

The residence at 551 Perugia Way covers nearly 6,000 square feet and counts six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, according to The Real Deal. It stands on a unique parcel at the eighth hole of the Bel-Air Country Club golf course, with unobstructed views of the course and, beyond it, the ocean. Its orientation also keeps it out of the path of any stray golf balls flying into the backyard. It is listed for just under $16 million, or $2,671 per square foot, and Drew Fenton, co-founder and chief executive officer of Carolwood Estates, holds the listing. The sale marks the first time the house has been on the market in more than fifty years, a milestone that gives buyers a rare chance to acquire a property long associated with Hollywood entertaining.

Image: Left/Disney General Entertainment Con/Right/NBCUniversal

Pat Crowley’s Hollywood career, from a 1954 Golden Globes new star of the year title to television fame

Pat Crowley built a career that spanned Hollywood’s Golden Age and television’s glory days. She was named new star of the year at the 1954 Golden Globes and made a name for herself during Hollywood’s golden age with films such as Money from Home and Forever Female. She later went on to television, with roles including Joan Nash in Please Don’t Eat the Daisies in 1965. Crowley passed away at the age of 91. For readers curious about the person behind the address, those credits describe an actress whose working life crossed two eras of American entertainment, moving from the big screen to the small screen. The Perugia Way house, bought in the early 1970s, became the setting for the entertaining that later defined her household.

A family sanctuary since 1970s, how Pat Crowley and Ed Hookstratten bought the Bel-Air property

Crowley purchased the home in the early 1970s with her then-husband, Ed Hookstratten, a prominent sports and entertainment attorney, according to the report. Their son, Jon Hookstratten, who is executive vice president of administration and operations at Sony Pictures Entertainment, grew up in the house along with his sister, Ann Hookstratten. Jon told The Real Deal that houses nearby have changed hands multiple times, yet his mother loved this one and never wanted to part with it. “It was her sanctuary,” he said. After the purchase, the family enjoyed what Jon described as a high point of frequent dinner parties before his parents divorced. Those years, and the decision to keep the house for so long, give the listing a personal history beyond its architecture.

Howard Hughes, Katharine Hepburn and a landing plane; Hollywood lore behind the Perugia Way house

Long before Crowley and her husband moved their family in, the property was already part of Hollywood lore, the report explains. Film producer and aviator Howard Hughes once landed his plane outside the back of the house to meet Katharine Hepburn, who happened to be playing golf at the time. The story fits the setting, the house sits on a unique parcel at the eighth hole of the Bel-Air Country Club golf course, with unobstructed views of the course and beyond to the ocean. For buyers who value a home’s history as much as its square footage, the tale adds a layer of cinematic folklore to a property already distinguished by its location.

Dinner parties with Johnny Carson, Fred Astaire and Muhammad Ali, guests who contributed to its fame

Crowley and Ed Hookstratten’s purchase was followed by frequent dinner parties where famous faces from entertainment, sports and media collided. Guests included Johnny Carson, Helen Hayes, Fred Astaire, Tom Brokaw and Tom Snyder. Jon remembered the mix as unusual, fun and full of very nice people, he told The Real Deal. He added that his mother loved to entertain and would host dinners for ten people, describing the gatherings as a Los Angeles cross section. One guest stood out among all, he said, recalling how while he lived in the guest house as a college student, doing homework, his mother nudged him to meet the visitors after he first waved off the invitation. In the main house, he found Muhammad Ali, and he still keeps the photograph he took with the heavyweight champion at his desk.