Newsletter: Hot Property: Pretty holiday patterns
We love seeing patterns in real estate transactions. A house that changes hands from one star to another and then again, for example, gives a home a true celebrity pedigree. The most common type we discover on our own is the sell one, buy one — what we call the twofer. There’s nothing like a little scratching beneath the public record surface to find out the whole story. Sit back and see what we unearthed this week.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
A “Who’s Who” of owners
Actress-model Kate Upton and pro baseball player Justin Verlander have picked up an estate in Beverly Crest for $5.25 million, continuing its tradition of well-known residents.
Among former owners are saxophonist Kenny G, who sold the house in 1998 to tennis great Pete Sampras for $2.5 million. Sampras would later sell the home to producer Jon Peters, whose credits include the superhero flicks “Man of Steel” and “Batman.” Actress Kate Jackson of “Charlie’s Angels” fame and television producer-director William Asher are also former owners.
The estate, built in 1976, centers on a remodeled traditional-style home with five bedrooms and six bathrooms. The living space of 5,706 square feet features vaulted and beamed ceilings, hardwood floors and a great room with a fireplace.
A sunken tennis court designed for Sampras sits below the main house. The estate also includes a swimming pool, lawns, mature trees and a guesthouse.
Upton and Verlander paid $5.25 million for the home in Beverly Crest. (Pouria Safabakhsh | Inset: Associated Press)
Spectacular spec house
Producer Jeff Franklin, who created the sitcom “Full House,” has sold his modern estate in Hollywood Hills West for $20.2 million.
Designed by local architect-to-the-stars Richard Landry and completed in 2014, the visually dramatic home sits on nearly half an acre. A sweeping circular staircase connects each of the home’s three levels, including a subterranean garage designed to double as a nightclub.
A great room, formal living and dining rooms, five bedrooms, an office, a sauna and a wine cellar are among the living spaces. An infinity-edge swimming pool with a spa completes the grounds.
Franklin, 61, bought the property in 1988 for $1.9 million. The house originally came to market two years ago for $38 million.
Franklin sold the spec house in Hollywood Hills West for $20.2 million. (Unlimited Style Real Estate Photography)
Meanwhile in San Francisco
Remember that twofer we described earlier?
While Franklin was waiting for his estate to sell, he picked up a familiar-looking house in San Francisco for $4 million. It’s the residence that was used to portray the home exteriors in the original “Full House” series and the “Fuller House” reboot.
Built in 1883, the Italianate Victorian has three bedrooms in nearly 3,000 square feet of space.
Franklin paid about $4 million for the San Francisco home made famous in the opening credits of “Full House.” (Associated Press)
And yet another twofer
We love it when the stars align.
Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers has put his home of two years in San Jose up for sale at $2.895 million.
Extensively remodeled during the quarterback’s ownership, the gated two-story home has custom wood doors that open to a foyer with a wall aquarium. Modern fixtures, a leather-wrapped bar and wood paneling lend a contemporary vibe to nearly 4,600 square feet of interior space.
While researching the listing, we discovered that the quarterback paid $3.21 million for a condominium in the Tribeca area of New York City earlier this year.
Kaepernick recently restructured his contract with the 49ers, a move that allows him to opt out of his current deal and become a free agent at the end of the season.
Kaepernick put his remodeled home in San Jose on the market for $2.895 million. (Redfin.com | Los Angeles Times)
Miami “Wife,” Hollywood house
Lea Black of “Real Housewives of Miami” and her husband, attorney Roy Black, have put their home in Hollywood Hills West up for sale at $2.895 million. How can we be expected to keep track of these “Housewives” if they won’t stay in their own cities?
Built in 1959 and since renovated, the midcentury home features marble floors, mirrored walls and contemporary fixtures. Walls of floor-to-ceiling windows bring in views from downtown to Santa Catalina Island.
The 3,536 square feet of interior space includes an open common area with living and dining rooms, a family room with a wet bar, a screening room with tiered seating and four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
In other recent “Housewives” moves, Kelly Dodd of “Real Housewives of Orange County” put her updated home in Corona del Mar on the market for $6.25 million earlier this year, and Stephanie Hollman of “Real Housewives of Dallas” sold her home in Venice last month for $5.61 million.
We should be mapping these; maybe we’d uncover a snowflake pattern.
Black and her husband put their home in Hollywood Hills West on the market for $2.895 million. (Shooting LA)
A ’30s classic revisited
A Bel-Air home built for prolific child actress Jane Withers is on the market at $6 million.
Set behind hedges on about half an acre, the traditional house has 6,761 square feet of interiors including a living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, a sun room, an office/den, five bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. A brick patio surrounds a swimming pool and spa.
Withers, 90, was in “Zoo in Budapest” (1933), “Ginger” (1935) and “The Farmer Takes a Wife” (1935). She also appeared with Shirley Temple in the 1934 film “Bright Eyes.”
The house last changed hands in 1999 for $1.2 million.
Withers’ former home in Bel-Air has come to market for $6 million. (Daniel Dahler | Associated Press)
From the archives
Ten years ago, actor Noah Wyle of “ER” fame and his wife, Tracy, listed their Los Feliz home for about $4.4 million. The pair were selling to move full-time to their 45-acre ranch in Santa Ynez.
Twenty years ago, singer-entertainer Tom Jones listed his Bel-Air home at $7.9 million. Jones bought his nine-bedroom house on an acre in Bel-Air in 1976 from singer-actor Dean Martin. (Spoiler alert: The Tudor would one day be home to Nicolas Cage.)
Thirty years ago, composer-arranger-producer Quincy Jones purchased a house in Bel-Air for close to $3 million. Among earlier musically inclined occupants were renter Julio Iglesias, and before him, Connie Francis.
What we’re reading
— Predictions about how a Trump presidency will affect the housing market abound, reports real estate columnist Ilyce Glink. Zillow expects the home ownership rate to rise in 2017 with more millennials taking the plunge. Realtor.com expects mortgage interest rates will hit 4.5% next year.
— Dezeen.com has selected its Top 10 modernist architectural marvels on the West Coast. L.A. County properties that made the list include the Pierre Koenig-designed Stahl House in Hollywood Hills and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.
— “Real Housewives” aren’t just making moves in the greater L.A. area. Stephanie Hollman of the Dallas cast has reportedly bought an 8,631-square-foot house in her hometown at auction, reports Candy Evans of Candy’s Dirt. The Mediterranean-inspired home was modeled after Miami’s Casa Casuarina and features an indoor saltwater reflecting pool, a wood-paneled den and an over-the-top kitchen. Price? $5.01 million.
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