Matt Can Help You Get a Mortgage

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is trying to sell his 10-bedroom New Jersey mansion for more than $20 million.

The sprawling, 35,000-square-foot house includes a great room with 35-foot ceilings, a dining room with gold-leaf ceiling, a gym and a "Versace room," which features a Gianni Versace-designed bed and a 16-foot-high fireplace in the shape of a lion's mouth. The house, built in 1996 by apparel executive Arnold Simon, includes a movie theater built by Mr. Simon and modeled after the Loews Pitkin, an old Brooklyn, N.Y., picture palace, complete with popcorn and candy counters, a brightly lit marquee and a wax figure selling tickets. The four-acre property, with indoor and outdoor pools, a waterfall and a koi pond, is about 25 miles north of Manhattan in Saddle River, a Bergen County suburb that was home to Richard Nixon in his later years.

Mr. Simmons and his wife, fashion designer and former model Kimora Lee Simmons, bought the estate in 2001 from Mr. Simon, whose apparel company at the time held the license to Mr. Simmons's Baby Phat clothing line. Mr. Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records, isn't listing the property publicly and hasn't set a precise asking price. Broker Lisa Maysonet of Prudential Douglas Elliman said the couple want "$20 million-plus" for the property. The couple declined to comment, though a representative said they plan to buy a house closer to, but not in, New York City.

Separately, Mr. Simmons has reached a deal to sell his 7,000-square-foot penthouse in lower Manhattan, said Ms. Maysonet, who represents that listing as well. The apartment -- on Liberty Street, adjacent to Ground Zero -- has been in contract once before, in 2001, when Mr. Simmons agreed to sell it to rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs for a reported $5 million. That deal fell through, however, after the building was damaged on Sept. 11. The apartment went back on the market a year ago at $12 million, but the asking price has fallen multiple times since then, most recently to $6.9 million. Ms. Maysonet wouldn't disclose the sale price or prospective buyer.