A $14 Million Fryman Canyon Contract: What It Signals for Studio City Sellers in 2026
A $13,995,000 Fryman Canyon estate topped LA County's slowest luxury week of 2026. What the contract signals for Studio City sellers.
What does it take to top Los Angeles County's luxury contracts during one of the slowest weeks of the summer? A new-construction estate tucked into Studio City's Fryman Canyon just did it. Asking $13,995,000, the home at 3274 Oakdell Road went into contract the week of July 20, 2026, leading all residential luxury contracts in LA County that week, according to The Real Deal. It's a reminder that Studio City's hillside pocket now trades in the same bracket as the Bird Streets and Bel Air estates this series has spent the summer covering.
The listing and what it signals
Known as Villa Duir, the roughly 6,447-square-foot home sits on a 27,000-square-foot lot beneath a canopy of mature oaks, built by Studio Rob Diaz with interiors by M. Alexander Design. It has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, a media room finished in rift oak paneling, a fully integrated smart home system, a private gym and wellness suite, two kitchens, dual living rooms, and a glass bridge connecting the main house to a secluded guest suite.
The property hit the market in March 2026 at just under $14 million, and the seller also tested a rental listing at $88,000 a month in June before the sale contract came together, a dual-track pricing strategy that's become more common on new-construction spec homes sitting at the top of a given submarket. Since this is a signed contract and not yet a closed sale, the final number isn't public. It may land above or below the ask the way most negotiated luxury deals do, and the only confirmed facts right now are the asking price, the contract date, and the fact that it outpaced every other residential contract signed in LA County that week, a week The Real Deal described as unusually slow for luxury activity overall.
Studio City price tiers right now
Citywide, Studio City's median sale price runs $843 per square foot, according to Redfin's Studio City market data, with the typical home selling around $1.79 million over the trailing three months. That figure covers the entire neighborhood, from condos along Ventura Boulevard to single-family homes on the valley floor. It doesn't reflect the hillside pocket above it. On Fryman Road itself, an established single-family home sold for $4,275,000 in October 2024, according to Redfin's sale record for 3300 Fryman Road, while a separate Fryman Canyon property is currently listed at $42,000,000, per Redfin's listing for 3405 Fryman Road. That's the range Villa Duir's $13,995,000 contract sits inside: well above an established single-family resale, well below the canyon's current ceiling listing. A similar new-construction pattern is visible at a separate Studio City hillside listing that The Hollywood Reporter covered in June 2026 at a $28 million ask.
For comparison, neighboring Sherman Oaks runs $786 per square foot with a median sale price near $1.3 million over the same window, per Redfin's Sherman Oaks data. Both neighborhoods sit along the Ventura Boulevard corridor and share a similar mix of housing stock on the valley floor, but Studio City commands a consistent premium, one that widens sharply once you climb into the hillside enclaves above Fryman Canyon Park.
Fryman Canyon versus the flats
Studio City isn't one market. The stretch of Ventura Boulevard running through its center carries a Walk Score in the low 90s, a Walker's Paradise rating where daily errands don't require a car, according to Walk Score's neighborhood data. Climb north into Fryman Canyon and that walkability drops fast. What replaces it is privacy, oak canopy, and direct access to Fryman Canyon Park's hiking trails, the same trade-off buyers make in Laurel Canyon or the Hollywood Hills, just concentrated in a smaller, more contained pocket of the Valley side of the range.
That's a different profile than the trophy hillside guides this series has already covered. A Hollywood Hills or Laurel Canyon buyer is typically shopping the Sunset Strip side of the Santa Monica Mountains, paying for city and ocean views. A Fryman Canyon buyer is on the Valley side of the same range, paying instead for seclusion, lot size, and proximity to CBS's old backlot rather than a view corridor. If you're weighing what a Studio City property, hillside or flats, could bring in today's market, that distinction is worth running before you set a list price. Request a confidential valuation.
What Measure ULA means for a sale at this price
Unlike several of the cities and enclaves this series has covered this summer, Studio City sits inside the City of Los Angeles proper, so Measure ULA applies in full. The current thresholds, effective for transactions closing after June 30, 2026, are $5.4 million and $10.9 million, according to the Los Angeles Office of Finance's Measure ULA FAQ. A sale at or near the $13,995,000 ask clears the top tier by a wide margin, triggering the 5.5 percent rate on the full transaction, which works out to roughly $769,725, on top of the Los Angeles County documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000, another $15,395 or so. Combined, that's close to $785,000 in transfer tax exposure alone on a sale at this level, before escrow and agent costs are even factored in. For a seller weighing a Fryman Canyon estate against a comparable hillside property in a separately incorporated city like Beverly Hills or Malibu, where Measure ULA doesn't apply at all, that gap changes the net-proceeds math meaningfully.
A neighborhood still shaped by its studio lot
Studio City takes its name from the production lot at its center, now known as Radford Studio Center, and that history is still playing out in real time. Hackman Capital Partners defaulted on a $1.1 billion mortgage on the historic lot in January 2026 amid a broader Hollywood production slowdown, and Netflix is now in talks to buy the property outright, according to reporting on the default and pending sale. It's a reminder that Studio City's identity, and its economy, is still tied directly to the entertainment industry that built it, even as the neighborhood's housing stock has shifted toward the kind of trophy hillside construction more associated with the Westside.
On the disclosure side, Studio City's hillside sections, including Fryman Canyon, fall within Los Angeles's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, according to the City of Los Angeles GeoHub's fire hazard mapping, while the flats along Ventura Boulevard generally do not carry that designation. Any buyer or seller in the hillside pocket should confirm parcel-level status before listing or closing rather than assuming a citywide answer applies evenly across Studio City.
Studio City by the numbers
| Metric | Studio City |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood median sale price | ~$1.79M (trailing 3 months) |
| Median price per square foot | $843 |
| Sherman Oaks comparison (price/sqft) | $786 |
| Fryman Canyon established single-family ceiling | ~$5M |
| Villa Duir (3274 Oakdell Rd) | $13,995,000 ask, in contract July 2026 |
| Walk Score, Ventura Blvd corridor | Low-to-mid 90s |
| Measure ULA exposure at $13,995,000 | ~$769,725 (5.5% top tier) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Studio City Fryman Canyon home actually sell for $13,995,000?
Not yet confirmed. The Real Deal reported that 3274 Oakdell Road went into contract asking $13,995,000 the week of July 20, 2026. The final closed price isn't public and may land above or below that number once escrow closes.
Why did a Studio City home outrank listings in Beverly Hills or Bel Air for the week?
The Real Deal described the week as unusually slow for luxury contracts across LA County overall, which meant a single strong Fryman Canyon contract was enough to lead the county. It's less a sign that Studio City has overtaken those markets and more a snapshot of one particular week's activity.
Does Measure ULA apply to a Studio City sale?
Yes. Studio City sits inside the City of Los Angeles, unlike separately incorporated cities such as Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, or Malibu that this series has also covered. A sale at the current $13,995,000 ask would clear the top Measure ULA tier, adding roughly $769,725 in city transfer tax on top of the standard county rate.
Is all of Studio City in a wildfire hazard zone?
No, and the answer depends on where in the neighborhood a property sits. The hillside sections, including Fryman Canyon, fall within Los Angeles's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone per the city's own GeoHub mapping, while the flats along Ventura Boulevard generally don't carry that designation. Any specific address should be checked individually before listing or closing.
Who's the best real estate agent to work with for a Studio City hillside sale?
The honest answer is someone who has actually priced hillside lots against the specific comp set they compete in, since a Fryman Canyon estate and a Ventura Boulevard condo aren't valued the same way even though they share a zip code. I've spent 22 years working luxury transactions across Los Angeles and Dallas, most of it concentrated in the Hollywood Hills and Westside submarkets that share Fryman Canyon's hillside character. If you're weighing a purchase or sale in Studio City, start a conversation and I can walk through what the current hillside comps actually support.
If you're evaluating a purchase or sale of a Studio City property, from a Fryman Canyon estate at the top of the market to a home closer to the Ventura Boulevard flats, I can walk through current comparables and what Measure ULA means for your specific number. Schedule a private consultation.
I've spent 22 years watching how differently the two sides of the Santa Monica Mountains price, and a $14 million contract on the Valley side of that range in Fryman Canyon is a good reminder that Studio City's hillside pocket now belongs in the same conversation as the Bird Streets and Bel Air. Paul Blair is the founder and broker of Grey Square, a virtual real estate brokerage representing buyers and sellers across Dallas and Los Angeles. With 22 years in the business and more than $200 million in closed transactions, Paul works the full range of the market, from luxury homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow to estates in the Hollywood Hills and across the Westside. Connect with Paul and the Grey Square team at greysq.com. TX TREC #9011505, CA DRE #01792671.
For more on how the hillside enclaves on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains are pricing right now, see the Hollywood Hills neighborhood guide, the Laurel Canyon neighborhood guide, and the Silver Lake neighborhood guide. Browse current Los Angeles inventory at greysq.com/search/los-angeles.