Southern California has an abundance of celebrities who intersect with the region’s real estate markets. Top “buzzworthy” stories in 2022, as reflected in TRD’s coverage, include a political campaign, a Malibu mansion, a sports scandal, a residential brokerage startup and a Hollywood personality who relocated to a yak ranch.
This story was set in motion in February, when Jeff Hyland, co-founder of upscale residential brokerage Hilton & Hyland, died of cancer. That proved the first domino in a series of events that ended with the creation of a new luxe agency.
Hyland’s death left Rick Hilton, scion of the hotel family and father of pop personality Paris Hilton, as the remaining leader. But his star agent, Drew Fenton, formed a new agency called Carolwood that launched in November. The startup recruited numerous agents from Hilton & Hyland, as well as other upscale agencies in the market.
Later, Lori Hyland, Jeff’s widow, bought out Rick Hilton to become sole owner of the agency.
