Sale of Bob Hope's LA estate to proceed without historic designation

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Bob Hope's Toluca Lake estate will not be designated a historic cultural monument, a city decision that lets the late comedian's family sell the property with no restrictions.

Some neighbors had looked for the city of Los Angeles to designate the 5-acre property and 15,000 square foot house historic to prevent overdevelopment on the estate. They were worried that a developer would purchase the property, tear down the house and replace it with an excessive number of smaller homes.

But the Hope family said adding the designation will make it more difficult to sell the home, and the proceeds of the sale are designated for the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation to benefit veterans.

The City Council could only muster eight votes for the historic designation, while 10 were required for it to pass.

The Hopes' daughter Linda is gratified the sale can now move on and the proceeds be put to a charitable cause.

"They wanted that living legacy," Linda Hope said. "Let's let the money go to the foundation and let's let people benefit from the sale of this house."

The selling price is expected to top $20 million.