Newsletter: Hot Property: The dog days of summer
We may be in that sultry time of year distinguished by hot temperatures, but that doesn’t mean we’ve succumbed to lethargy here at Hot Property. You want real estate transactions? We’ve got them — including those involving actors, athletes and singers. So chill out with Ice Cube, among others.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
He gets a bite
What can we say? The place was a hit.
“Vampire Diaries” star Paul Wesley found a buyer for his Studio City home three days after it came on the market. The two-story contemporary went for $2.3 million and closed in less than a month.
Understated from the street, the house opens to clean-looking modern spaces. In addition to the celebrity seller, the place boasts bamboo floors, walls of floor-to-ceiling glass and vaulted ceilings.
Outside the 3,240 square feet of interiors are grounds with multiple decks, a lawn and a stone fountain imported from Asia. Sleek handrails and fencing tie in perfectly with the horizontal lines of the windows.
Wesley sold his home in Studio City for over the asking price. (Lee Manning | Inset: Los Angeles Times)
Legend in the ’hood
Lakers legend and basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has put his home in a gated Marina del Rey enclave up for sale at slightly under $3 million.
The multilevel house, built in 2000 and since remodeled, has 3,200 square feet of interiors featuring marble floors, decorative columns, hand-carved mahogany doors and vaulted ceilings.
Why do we care? The retired 7-foot-2 center, 69, won three NCAA championships at UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden and six NBA titles across 20 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
Six times the NBA’s most valuable player, he holds the league career scoring record with 38,387 points.
Abdul-Jabbar put his home in Marina del Rey up for sale at about $3 million. (Realtor.com | Getty Images)
Out of this world
Brent Spiner, who played Lt. Cmdr. Data on the series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and in four films, is shopping his Malibu retreat for $10.995 million.
A vine-wrapped loggia, fountains and gardens enhance the Old World ambiance of the Spanish-style home. There’s also a free-form boulder-surrounded swimming pool with a beach entry, a spa and a waterfall feature.
The ocean-view house features 5,000 square feet of living space. Heavy ceiling beams, colorful tilework, arches and elaborate wrought iron are among interior details.
Spiner sat between “Star Trek” actors William Shatner, aka Capt. Kirk, and Michael Dorf, who played Klingon Worf, on the 50th anniversary panel recently at Comic-Con in San Diego.
Spiner of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame listed his Malibu estate for sale at $10.995 million. (Realtor.com | Paramount Pictures)
Birds of a feather
A Beverly Hills estate named for its second owner, mining engineer and philanthropist Harvey Mudd, has changed hands for $14.7 million. Oscar-winning actor Martin Landau and his wife, Emmy-winning actress Barbara Bain, are also among former owners.
Talk about gracious living. The traditional English-style mansion, designed by noted architect Elmer Grey and built in 1922, sits on an acre of manicured grounds reached by a gated and winding drive. The home has nearly 11,000 square feet of living space with seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms and two powder rooms.
History buffs should check out “The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills” by Jeffrey Hyland. The mansion’s original 12 acres included French Norman-style stables, kennels and a dovecote. No, not a type of jacket, but a bird shelter with nest holes. There is still an aviary on the grounds.
The Harvey Mudd estate, designed by Grey in 1922, sold in Beverly Hills for $14.7 million. (Sotheby's International Realty)
North of the border
Latin singing star Ana Bárbara has bought a house in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles for $1.87 million.
The recently renovated two-story has potential as a pied–à–terre with a tidy yard, deck space and all new interiors. Translation: low maintenance.
Bi-fold doors and sets of casement windows bring light into the blocky structure, which features a yoga room with white walls and ash floors. Some 2,600 square feet of interiors is plenty of space to display and store the Latin Grammy winner’s 11 studio albums and more than one dozen compilations.
Bárbara is not the only person of note to own the place. David Jaynes, a former All-American quarterback at Kansas, and Barbara Harris, the fifth wife of actor Cary Grant, are among former occupants.
Bárbara bought a home in the Beverly Crest area for $1.87 million. (Unlimited Style Real Estate Photography | Getty Images)
Goodbye to Motown
True confession: We have a soft spot for Detroit and environs.
In news out of the Motor City, veteran NFL tailback Reggie Bush has sold his house in Birmingham, Mich., for $1.9 million.
The multi-level Prairie Modern-style home, updated since it was built in 1998, features open-plan living areas, black marble floors and walls of windows. A floating wood-and-glass staircase connects the floors, including a lower-level lounge with a game/media room and a wet bar.
Put this 8,000-square-foot place in Los Angeles and you’d have to move the decimal point in the sales price one spot to the right.
The 31-year-old Bush was a standout at USC. He has 5,493 yards rushing in 10 NFL seasons. Recently he spent two years with the Detroit Lions and then played with the San Francisco 49ers last year before being sidelined with a knee injury.
From the clip file
Twenty years ago, rapper-actor Ice Cube bought a San Fernando Valley home with a tennis court, a guest house and a putting green for just under $2.4 million. Since then, the "Boyz n the Hood" star has bought houses in Encino and Long Beach. The latest purchase we know of was this year in Marina del Rey, where he bought actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme’s canal-front contemporary for $7.25 million.
Also making the column two decades ago were Emmy-winning movie and TV producer Michael Manheim ("Roe vs. Wade," 1989) and his wife, screenwriter Janus Cercone ("Leap of Faith," 1992). The couple had listed their Malibu beachfront home at just under $1.4 million. The pair is now trying to sell a spec mansion they built on the site of Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s former Pacific Palisades home. Current list price: $29.5 million.
What we’re reading
— This idea has come around and around so many times over the years that it’s making us dizzy. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good concept. Granny flats in backyards are being touted as a way to help ease the housing shortage, according to a report by Times staffers Liam Dillon and Andrew Khouri. While individual cities’ red tape has consistently stood in the way, some help is coming from the state level. Multiple bills with the endorsement of Gov. Jerry Brown are moving through the Legislature to make it easier for homeowners to build small units on their properties.
— The whimsical San Francisco area home dubbed the Flintstone House has yet to find a buyer, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. So some price-chopping has ensued. The multi-colored rounded-shape abode was originally priced at $4.2 million in September. A cool million has been shaved off the price since then.
— We love to see fresh approaches to “listicles,” those ever-popular online lists. Estately, the real estate blog, had some fun recently using public information. At question was which Canadian province would be the best one in which to weather a zombie apocalypse. They studied warm bodies per square mile, gun ownership, physical fitness levels and the popularity of cremation over burial. You’ll have to click in for the answer. Usefulness score: 0. Humor value: 10.
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