Denzel Washington paid $6.5m for two Beverly Park lots to build family home

In 1996, Denzel Washington and his wife, Pauletta, purchased two Beverly Park lots from Disney chairman Michael Eisner and his wife, Jane, for close to the $6.5 million asking price, according to the Los Angeles Times. Washington, then 41, personally negotiated the deal with Eisner. The couple, who had four children, planned to build a house on the site overlooking Beverly Hills and hoped to complete it by the following spring. Their existing home in Toluca Lake had suffered damage in the Northridge earthquake. The purchase came as Washington was already an established Hollywood actor, having won the best supporting-actor Oscar for Glory and starred in films including Malcolm X, Philadelphia and Crimson Tide.Denzel Washington negotiated directly with Michael EisnerThe property deal had an unusual detail. Washington personally negotiated the purchase with Eisner, who was Disney's chairman at the time.