Former Bing Crosby estate in Toluca Lake for sale for $10 million

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A Toluca Lake home once owned by Bing Crosby is listed at $10 million. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The Southern Colonial-style house has six bedrooms, 51/2 bathrooms and five fireplaces in 7,132 square feet. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The family room has wood beamed ceilings, a marble fireplace, a wet bar and a drop-down movie screen. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The spacious formal dining room has a marble fireplace, a large picture window and crown molding, giving it a traditional look. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The wide upstairs hallway is open to the room staircase and foyer below. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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French doors open to a fountain and patio area. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The 2 acres of landscaped grounds include fruit trees. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The cabana off the swimming pool has 2 1/2 bathrooms, a sitting room, two changing rooms, a steam shower and a full kitchen. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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The tennis court has a gazebo and grandstands. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

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Manicured lawns and rose gardens surround the stately home. (Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography)

By Lauren Beale

Sept. 2, 2009 12 AM PT

Still referred to as the Bing Crosby Estate, a Toluca Lake home that has had a succession of Hollywood owners is listed at $10 million.

The singer and actor lived on the property from 1936 until early January 1943, when the 20-room house was gutted in a Christmas tree fire, according to L.A. Times news reports at the time. The damage to the structure and its contents was estimated at $200,000, and the family’s cocker spaniel, a complete collection of Crosby’s recordings, his golf trophies and his pipe collection were lost.

Crosby, who was golfing at the time of the fire, said he felt fortunate that his wife, Dixie Lee, and their four sons escaped injury.

His film stand-in Leo Lynn and his brother Larry Crosby helped sift through the ruins and found $2,000 in the pocket of one of Bing Crosby’s coats.

The rebuilt Southern Colonial that stands on the site today has six bedrooms, 5 1/2 bathrooms and five fireplaces in 7,132 square feet. There is a living room with marble fireplace, a billiards room and a den with a wet bar.

The 2 acres of gated grounds include rose gardens, fruit trees, a tennis court with grandstands, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a 2 1/2 -bathroom cabana with changing rooms, sitting area and a kitchen, and a two-bedroom, two-bathroom guesthouse with a kitchen.

Subsequent owners included actor Andy Griffith in the 1980s and actor Jerry Van Dyke and his wife, Shirley, who sold the home to its current owner in 1997 for $1.93 million, according to public records.

Crosby enjoyed immense success as a singer, a film star, on radio and on television. His recording of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” featured in the movie “Holiday Inn,” became a No. 1 hit in late 1942 and stayed there for 11 weeks.

He won a best actor Oscar for “Going My Way” (1944) and was paired with Bob Hope in the “Road to” movies from 1940 to 1962.

The listing agents are Shirley Duenckel and Jon Molin of Ramsey-Shilling Associates, Toluca Lake.

lauren.beale@latimes.com