Villa with the history built in

A merchant banker in international finance, whose parents emigrated from Europe, started collecting antiques some years ago. These weren’t standard antiques but such architectural elements as a floor of 400-year-old English bricks and numerous fireplace mantels, including one hand-carved in Scotland in 1603.

After filling two warehouses with antique elements, he and his wife spent several years and many millions having a house built around pieces from the Renaissance, Regency and Victorian periods. The end result: a newly built northern Italian-style home that looks, in part, as if it had been constructed centuries ago.

About this house: It is not only filled with collections of fine art, wine and books, but has antique architectural elements that will remain when the villa sells. The house, completed in 1999, is being sold because the owners want a smaller place. The wife likes horses, so the couple might buy a ranch, or they may purchase a home with a vineyard in the same neighborhood.

They’ve enjoyed the fruits of others’ vineyards in their wine-tasting room, which has storage for 18,000 bottles maintained at 55 degrees. The room also has a wet bar, a 12-foot ceiling, insulated walls and Renaissance antiques such as a set of double-entry doors and an iron chandelier.

Asking price: $15.9 million

Size: The home has eight bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms in 12,300 square feet. It sits on 8.5 acres in the gated community of Brentwood Country Estates.

Features: The home has many antique elements, including the chandeliers and a Tiffany dome, as well as a restaurant-quality kitchen, a theater projection system that retracts into the ceiling, an automated dumb waiter, a butler’s pantry and two dining rooms, one with seating for 20 people. The house has nearly a dozen fireplaces, a two-story library, European bathroom fixtures, a gym, an infinity pool plus spa, and views to Long Beach and Catalina across Santa Monica Bay.

Where: Brentwood

Listing agents: James Respondek of DBL Santa Monica, (310) 260-8282, and Barbara Robinson of DBL Beverly Hills, (310) 385-7225.

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photos (copies only; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail homeoftheweek@latimes.com.