Some celebrity homes change hands every few years. Ken Corday’s Toluca Lake estate has done the opposite: it has stayed off the market for more than four decades. The longtime executive producer and composer of the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” has now listed the property for $16,995,000, just under $17 million, in what is the first public offering of the home in its history.
The listing, which came to market on October 12, 2026, currently stands as the most expensive active listing in Toluca Lake, one of Los Angeles’s most storied celebrity enclaves. The seller is a trust tied to Corday and his former wife, Sherry Corday, and the listing is held by Craig Strong of Compass.
A First Offering After More Than 40 Years
The most unusual fact about this listing is how long it took to happen. Corday bought the land in 1980 for $445,000, a figure that underlines just how dramatically values in this corner of the San Fernando Valley have moved since. Rather than buying an existing house, he held the site for years before commissioning a custom home, which was completed in 2005.
That kind of long, single ownership has become rare among high-end Los Angeles listings, where many headline properties trade repeatedly. A comparable example of patience at the top of the market is the Notch Beverly Hills mansion relisted at the price its owner originally paid, though Corday’s hold is measured in decades rather than years. For Toluca Lake, a first-ever offering of a property assembled and built by the same owner gives the listing a provenance that resale homes cannot match.
An English Country Manor in Los Angeles
The house itself is a custom-built English country manor designed by architect Kevin A. Clark. Completed in 2005, it measures 10,760 sq ft with seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, arranged across a 0.8-acre lot screened by tall privacy hedging.
The interiors follow the architecture’s traditional brief. High beamed ceilings and wood-panelled walls run through the principal rooms, and the house has numerous fireplaces, a feature that suits the manor-house style even in the Los Angeles climate. The design is deliberately classical rather than contemporary: where many recent celebrity listings favour glass walls and open-plan minimalism, the Corday estate was built as a period-style country house, transplanted to a gated Valley neighbourhood a short drive from the major studios.
Privacy is the other half of the design. The 0.8-acre lot is screened by tall hedging, so the house sits behind greenery rather than behind walls visible from the street. In a neighbourhood where many residents built their careers in front of cameras, that kind of screening is a practical feature as much as an aesthetic one, and a 13-bathroom guest capacity suggests a house designed for entertaining at scale as well as for seclusion. The numerous fireplaces, beamed ceilings and panelled walls all serve the same idea: a Los Angeles address with the interior atmosphere of an English country house, built to a single owner’s specification rather than to a developer’s template.
The Man Behind the House
Ken Corday’s career is inseparable from one of American television’s longest-running programmes. “Days of Our Lives” was created by his parents, Ted and Betty Corday, in 1965, and Corday has served as the show’s executive producer and composer, overseeing the serial across its move from broadcast television to streaming on Peacock. Few producers in television have remained attached to a single programme for as long, and the Toluca Lake estate reflects that same pattern of continuity: one production, one neighbourhood, one home, held for decades.
The trust structure of the sale is also typical of long-held celebrity properties, where ownership is placed in a trust tied to the family rather than held in an individual’s name. The listing names the trust connected to Corday and his former wife Sherry Corday as the seller.
Toluca Lake: Old Hollywood’s Quiet Enclave
Toluca Lake has been a celebrity address since the studio era. Bob Hope lived in the neighbourhood for decades, and Bette Davis, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were all residents at various points. Unlike flashier districts, the area has kept a low profile: large lots, mature trees, a small village centre and a private lake at its heart, with gates and hedges doing the work of keeping the public out.
The neighbourhood’s top end was marked in 2023 when Bob Hope’s former estate sold for $26 million, one of the priciest sales in the area’s history. Against that benchmark, the Corday asking price of just under $17 million sits below the neighbourhood record while still leading everything currently on the market, a positioning that reflects both the size of the house and the rarity of a first-time offering.
The current listing also arrives in a season when several high-profile Los Angeles properties have struggled to find buyers at their first asking price, including the Kylie Jenner Holmby Hills mansion withdrawn from the market after repeated price cuts. Whether Toluca Lake’s quieter, more traditional market behaves differently is the question this listing will answer.
What the Listing Signals
At $16,995,000, the Corday estate is a test of demand for traditional architecture at the top of the Valley market. The house offers scale, privacy and a single-owner history, but it also asks a buyer to embrace a classical style at a moment when new-build contemporary homes dominate the luxury headlines. With no previous sale to anchor expectations, the final price will be set entirely by what the market decides a one-of-one, 40-year-held estate is worth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Ken Corday’s Toluca Lake house listed for?
The estate is listed for $16,995,000, just under $17 million. It came to market on October 12, 2026, and is currently the most expensive active listing in Toluca Lake.
Has the Corday estate ever been sold before?
No. This is the first time the home has been offered for sale. Corday bought the land in 1980 for $445,000 and had the house custom-built, with completion in 2005.
How big is the house and the lot?
The manor measures 10,760 sq ft with seven bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, on a 0.8-acre lot screened by tall privacy hedging. It was designed by architect Kevin A. Clark.
Who is the listing agent for the property?
The listing is held by Craig Strong of Compass. The seller is a trust tied to Ken Corday and his former wife, Sherry Corday.
Who is Ken Corday?
Ken Corday is the longtime executive producer and composer of the soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” which was created by his parents, Ted and Betty Corday, in 1965. The show now streams on Peacock.
What is the most expensive sale in Toluca Lake’s history?
One of the area’s priciest sales was Bob Hope’s former estate, which sold for $26 million in 2023. Toluca Lake has also been home to Bette Davis, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
