See inside this recently listed 101-year-old California home

5771 Valley Oak Dr, Los Angeles, Ccalifornia For sale: $9.995 million

When Lenny Fenton first saw Artemesia, he was in his 20s and the owner of a successful advertising firm that Microsoft would eventually buy.

Fenton was put off by the home's exterior, which was dark brown and sun-damaged. "Then I walked in the front door, looked left to the dining room and right to the salon and decided to buy the house right then," he said.

Blair Chang of The Agency

His only familiarity with the term craftsman was "the tools you buy at Sears," but the place reminded him of a Scandinavian ski lodge.

So began a quarter-century restoration of one of the country's largest craftsman homes, a 13,290-square-foot beauty in the Hollywood Hills with eight bedrooms, seven baths and a ballroom that easily fits 500 people.

Blair Chang of The Agency

Built by construction magnate Frederick Engstrum in 1913, the home had not had sufficient maintenance since 1939, Fenton said. He has spent millions of dollars installing new foundations, rebuilding the garage, re-creating a redwood terrace and returning the interior to its early splendor.

The name Artemesia goes way back, although it has sometimes been spelled Artemisia, which is the name of two ancient Greek queens and a genus of plants in the daisy family. Fenton pointed to a 1915 article in The Architect magazine that used the name, and said the property at one point had a sign out front with the name.

Blair Chang of The Agency

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See inside this recently listed 101-year-old California home