By Keeley Gould

Former home of Danny Thomas. Photo Aaron Kirman International Estates Division of John Aaroe Group

Once the children have grown up and left the nest, it’s the perfect opportunity to explore your next passage and home. Where to next? A completely renovated and updated home? What about something with historic significance? Perhaps, your next home might be where celebrities once lived and entertained?

Not ready to move on? You may love the house you have called home for years and wish to stay put. Perhaps, redecorating is on your horizon.

Want to scale back? Downsizing might be the way to go. Here are ideas. . .

A happy home is filled with laughter

Looking for a home that will bring you nonstop joy and endless pride? If you’re a person who believes “a happy home is filled with laughter” stop your search because the home formerly owned by comedian Danny Thomas is for sale.

Danny Thomas had a long standing career as a nightclub comedian turned television and movie star. For thirteen years he brought laughter to the millions of viewers by starring in Make Room for Daddy later known as The Danny Thomas Show. Thomas starred as Danny Williams who was a successful nightclub singer who was trying to balance his career with his family, much like his real life.

Thomas produced comical hits as well like The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Real McCoys all while continuing to perform stand up over this vast 60 year career.

Thomas brought laughter to millions of people over his career that exceeded half a century, but he also brought joy to people in his personal life as well.

As much success as Thomas did with his career, he struggled in the beginning so as a Roman Catholic he vowed to St. Jude Thaddeus who is the patron saint of hopeless causes that if he was showed the way to become successful, Thomas would build a shrine in his name and thus St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was born.

Thanks to Thomas’s promise and philanthropist ways, children all from all over the world can come to St. Judes and receive free medical care because Thomas believed that, “No child should die in the dawn of life.”

In the late 1960’s Thomas bought two and a half acres of land on a private promontory in Beverly Hills’ Trousdale Estates where he and his family would later create a happy home filled with laughter and love.

Danny Thomas Home. Photo Aaron Kirman International Estates Division of John Aaroe Group

Kitchen in Danny Thomas home

Laughter will echo throughout the 18,000 square foot mansion with a Moorish design that has eight bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a ballroom, media room, and 360 views of surrounding Los Angeles. This property is listed by the International Estates Division of John Aaroe Group.

The home opens to an unbelievably grand entryway that features Italian marble and a gold leaf ceiling. And if that isn’t enough to knock your socks off just go look out the nearest window.

The chef’s kitchen has the capacity to cook for hundreds, so go ahead and invite one hundred of your closest friends over and get to entertaining! Danny Thomas’s fun loving nature comes with the house so you and your guests are guaranteed a good time.

Patio of Danny Thomas home

The yard features an extensive patio that leads down to a gorgeous swimming pool with a waterfall spa, so while lounging around you can take in the views of the cityscape and canyons that will literally take your breath away.

Once Thomas passed away in 1991 and his wife following nine years later, the children sold the home and the current owner has decided to sell, but not before renovating the inside.

The current owner completely renovated the home by bringing in French architect Jacques Garcia who did not make a joke out of his job and take it lightly. Garcia, who is well renowned throughout Europe, played on the Moorish theme by adding chandeliers and handwoven carpets that will be included in the sale.

Thomas left a legacy behind with his beloved shows and the lifesaving research that St. Judes Research Hospital does every day. His home is a part of that legacy as well. Hopefully the Danny Thomas Mansion brings laughter and love to a new family one day, and with 18,000 square feet there will be no need to Make Room for Daddy.

The mansion is reportedly listed at $135 million.

For more ideas and properties like this one shared by TopTenRealEstateDeals.com, see the full article in Healthy Aging Magazine.

Photos courtesy of listing agent Aaron Kirman, president of the International Estates Division of John Aaroe Group