Newsletter: Hot Property: The next step up in the L.A. market
The $100-million listing? That is so last year. If we’ve learned anything this week, it’s that L.A.’s power agents are shooting for the moon in 2016, starting with the $200-million price tag slapped on one of the most recognizable mansions in America. So sit back and strap in as we take you through this week’s Hot Property show.
Trophy home for sale, playboy included
That the Playboy Mansion would someday come up for sale was not a huge surprise. But the manner in which the legendary Holmby Hills home of Hugh Hefner came to market this week certainly was.
As if the $200-million asking price weren’t enough, the Gothic Tudor-style house comes with this stipulation for the next owner: that the 89-year-old Hefner be allowed to remain in residence for the remainder of his life.
Still, ownership is not without its perks. The 20,000-square-foot, 29-room home is among a select number of L.A. properties with a zoo license. There’s also the free-form swimming pool and infamous grotto to explore.
At $200 million, the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills is among the priciest homes for sale in the U.S. (Jim Bartsch)
Last call for this comedian
We’ve seen plenty of fancy wet bars through the years, but the vintage pub at Adam Carolla’s Hollywood Hills home certainly ranks among the top.
The private dive bar, with a payphone, leather-wrapped counter and porthole windows, was among amenities at the comedian’s Spanish Revival-style house, which sold this week for about $4.8 million. Saltillo-tiled floors, wrought iron details and cathedral ceilings highlight the interior details of the stylish 1920s home.
Adam Carolla sold the Ashton & Denny-designed 1920s Spanish Revival for about $4.8 million. (Realtor.com)
A home court in Calabasas
Hall of Fame basketball player Mitch Richmond closed out of Calabasas this week with the $7.88-million sale of his Mediterranean home in a gated community.
Set on more than two acres in a gated community, the custom Mediterranean scores points with a full-sized gym, a home theater, a basketball court and a resort-style swimming pool with beach entry, grotto and water slide. A total of five fireplaces, six bedrooms and eight bathrooms are within nearly 13,000 square feet of interiors.
Mitch Richmond has sold his two-plus-acre estate in Calabasas for $7.88 million. (Realtor.com | Inset: Los Angeles Times)
Celebrity pedigree
A year after selling their laid-back home in Hollywood Hills, singer-songwriter John Legend and model wife Chrissy Teigen have taken a shine to a sleek contemporary-style house in Beverly Hills.
The couple recently paid $14.1 million for the remodeled three-story, which was once owned by pop star Rihanna. Designed for large- and small-scale entertaining, the 8,520 square feet of interiors feature walls of windows, a billiard room with a wet bar and multiple dining rooms.
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have bought a Beverly Hills home once owned by Rihanna for $14.1 million. (Mark Singer)
The download
Could an upgrade to his personal operating system be in the cards for Satya Nadella? The Microsoft chief executive has put his longtime home in Clyde Hill, Wash., on the market for $3.488 million.
Set on a hilltop with panoramic views, the contemporary-style house has formal living and dining rooms, an eat-in kitchen and a lofted office/library. Polished concrete floors, exposed steel beams and walls of windows lend an industrial note to the 4,050 square feet of interiors.
Satya Nadella has put his home in Clyde Hills, Wash., on the market for $3.488 million. (Redfin | Getty Images)
Who’s who of homeowners
“True Blood” show runner Brian Buckner has put his home in Encino on the market for $3.2 million.
No stranger to celebrity status, the updated traditional-style house counts television producer Laurie McCarthy and actors Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen among its previous owners.
Set on close to an acre, the mini-compound centers on a 3,801-square-foot main house with an open-plan kitchen and overall farmhouse vibe. A bocce ball court, a swimming pool and a two-story guest house complete the grounds.
Brian Buckner has put his mini-estate in Encino on the market for $3.2 million. (VirtuallyHereStudios.com)
From the archives
Three decades ago this week, Dodgers ambassador Tommy Lasorda, then manager of the team, shortened his in-season commute by inking a lease for a penthouse apartment at the Promenade Towers in downtown L.A. — a three-mile walk from Dodger Stadium.
More recently, Lasorda, who has long made his home in Fullerton, made his way back into Hot Property with the October sale of a town house in Placentia.
Tommy Lasorda sold the three-bedroom townhome in Placentia for $17,000 over the asking price. (Redfin | Los Angeles Times)
Twenty years ago this week, actress and comedian Roseanne Barr listed her two Brentwood homes for sale, “separately or as a compound.”
Although she had hinted that leaving L.A. for a more pastoral setting was in the cards, the Emmy winner would later decamp to a house on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
What we’re reading
— The Rams will be back in Los Angeles next season, and that potentially means big business for real estate agents who specialize in working with professional athletes, according to Times business reporter James Rufus Koren. Even before the team's relocation was announced, agents were networking with their sports clients in anticipation of the move that could have “100-plus people looking for homes” in the coming year.
— Buyers of high-end real estate may not be able to hide behind LLCs and blind trusts much longer. The New York Times details the Treasury Department’s plans to not only identify but also track buyers of multimillion-dollar homes, starting in Manhattan and Miami-Dade County.
— Our neighbors to the southeast could be seeing a record sale in the coming months. The Wall Street Journal reports that an opulent 12-acre gated estate in Paradise Valley, Ariz., has come on the market for $35 million. His-and-hers pool houses, a hair salon and a basketball court are among features of the 30,000-square-foot estate.
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