Newsletter: Hot Property: Now you see it, now you don’t
Say what? We’re shaking our heads this week over some Southern California real estate offerings, which is OK because we needed the post-Thanksgiving exercise. In an “Is that Photoshopped?” moment, we stumbled across the listing for actor Bob Newhart’s old address — except we couldn’t recognize the place.
And one of our lingering fears was realized: We should have shunned newspapering for sports talk radio — apparently there’s better money there. Check out the $14-million home in Irvine one host just listed.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
The high price of dirt
The site of comedian Bob Newhart’s former Bel-Air home is for sale at $25.95 million. That’s it, just the more than one-acre lot. The 9,169-square-foot house, which he sold earlier this year for $14.5 million, is gone.
Designed by noted architect Wallace Neff and built in 1941, the French country-style house had five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and five fireplaces. The formal gardens, lagoon-style swimming pool, outdoor entertaining areas and a pavilion also were removed.
The razing of older homes to erect modern mansions is happening all over the Westside, where location and acreage often exact higher prices than a structure — no matter how storied. But $10 million more for tearing the house down? Wow.
A Bel-Air home owned for decades by Newhart has been razed and listed for sale as a vacant lot for $25.95 million. (Redfin | Inset: New Line Productions)
Irvine home hits the airwaves
Jim Rome, host of the syndicated sports radio show bearing his name, has put his home in Irvine on the market for $13.995 million.
The Italian villa-style mansion, built in 2007, sits on nearly an acre in Orange County’s Shady Canyon community.
Among noteworthy features: Rows of French doors reveal a panoramic golf course and mountain views, the formal living room is topped by a barrel ceiling and a wood-paneled lounge area holds a game room, a gym and a speakeasy-style bar. There’s also a six-car garage.
Rome is asking about $14 million for his home in Irvine’s Shady Canyon community. (Redfin.com | Associated Press)
Now that’s a pretty house
Sketch comic and actor Keegan-Michael Key, of Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele” fame, has sold his home in the historic Los Feliz neighborhood for $1.48 million.
The eye-catching rust-colored house sits up from the street and is entered through a gated courtyard. Sliding glass doors off the living room open to a balcony that spans the length of the second floor. The top-floor master suite has a glass-enclosed shower and a soaking tub.
Outdoors, there’s a swimming pool with a spa and a waterfall.
The house previously sold a decade ago for $1.255 million.
Keegan-Michael Key sold his home bordering Los Feliz and Griffith Park for $1.48 million. (Erik Grammer | Los Angeles Times)
That timeless appeal
Before “Mission Impossible” became a movie franchise, it was a 1960s and ’70s television show. Veteran television, theater and film actress Barbara Bain, who played sexy Cinnamon Carter on the hit series, just sold her home in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles for $1.675 million.
The Spanish-style house, built in the 1920s and since updated, has a contemporary feel with dark wood and polished concrete floors, white walls and coffered ceilings. Within more than 1,750 square feet of interior space are a living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, an eat-in kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Tropical landscaping, a swimming pool and spa and a detached guest house complete the grounds.
Bain, 85, won a trio of Emmy Awards for her role in the “Mission: Impossible” television series. This year, she appeared in the film “Silver Skies” and the medical TV drama “Code Black.”
Bain sold her home in the Mid-Wilshire area for $1.675 million. (Shooting LA | Los Angeles Times)
Expanding his footprint?
Richard Riordan, who served eight years as L.A.’s 39th mayor, has bought an estate in Ojai for $5.7 million.
The nearly 60-acre site includes a Spanish-inspired main house, a second home, a foreman’s cottage, a studio and orchards.
A wine vault has a tasting room, and a separate entrance opens to the patio. A two-stall barn and three horse corrals are among the equestrian features.
Riordan, 86, was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1993, succeeding Tom Bradley.
Riordan bought a roughly 60-acre retreat in Ojai for $5.7 million. (Redfin.com | Los Angeles Times)
Beach volleyball views
Former San Diego Chargers Coach Norv Turner sold his three-bedroom condominium in the Mission Beach area for $1.35 million.
Set on the top floor of a beachfront building, the condo has a kitchen with a breakfast bar, a family room and a dining room. Most impressive, however, are the views from the two beach-facing decks.
Turner, 64, coached the Chargers to a 56-40 record during his time with the team. He bought the property four years ago for $1.2 million.
From the archives
Ten years ago, singer Ashlee Simpson sold her Encino home for $5.7 million. Of note, the 2,200-square-foot master suite contained a 700-square-foot closet. She had bought the 9,000-square-foot place a year earlier for $4.5 million.
Twenty years ago, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, bought a 4,000-square-foot fixer-upper in Pacific Palisades for its asking price of $3.2 million.
Also 20 years ago, the Brentwood townhouse of Nicole Brown Simpson went into escrow for its asking price of $595,000. The townhouse had been on and off the market since before Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered on the walkway in June 1994.
Thirty years ago, actor and comedian Richard Pryor purchased a home in Bel-Air for slightly less than $3.5 million. The newly built Santa Fe-style house had a walk-in fur and jewelry vault. The property had rolling lawns, a sunken tennis court, a one-bedroom guest house and a swimming pool.
What we’re reading
— About 20,000 people and businesses own property on Palm Springs’ Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. Rosalie Murphy of the Desert Sun looks at what could happen when their lease agreements begin to expire.
— U.S. housing prices have fully recovered from their steep plunge during the housing bust and Great Recession, according to Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index. And while overall they are slightly above the peak set in July 2006, prices have not fully rebounded in all cities.
— Be careful when leaving property to heirs that you don’t trigger extra taxes. L.A. Times columnist Liz Weston looks at options to consider in her Money Talk column. When in doubt, consult an experienced estate planning attorney.
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