Newsletter: Hot Property: That’s showbiz
Entertainment industry earnings pay for a lot of houses in Southern California. This week’s high-profile home buyers and sellers include big- and small-screen names, reality show stars and even a boxer.
Be sure to continue into the “What we’re reading” section. In case you missed it, a 30,000-square-foot, newly built Bel-Air megamansion that lacks vital permits may be destined for the wrecking ball.
Once you’re done checking out these star-studded transactions, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week. That’s also a perfect place to leave us a tip about a celebrity home deal.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
A splash on the Westside
Oscar winner Tom Hanks and his wife, actress-producer Rita Wilson, have cast off a pair of homes in Pacific Palisades for slightly more than $17.5 million, public records show.
Located in the Palisades Riviera area, the side-by-side homes had been listed for $9.25 million and $8.75 million.
One of the two properties is a Spanish-style villa that was once owned by late screenwriter and film director Frank Pierson. Built in 1933, the approximately 4,000-square-foot house features a step-down living room, a paneled dining room, a library/den, four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
The other house, built in English Traditional style in 1957, has 7,300 square feet of living space that includes a screening room, a pub/billiard room with a fireplace and seven bedrooms.
Hanks, 60, last year starred in the films “Inferno” and “Sully.” He won Oscars for his roles in “Philadelphia” (1993) and “Forrest Gump” (1994).
Wilson, 60, had recurring roles on the shows “Girls” and “The Good Wife.”
Ready for an executive move
James Robinson, chairman and chief executive of Morgan Creek Productions, has listed his estate on an acre in Bel-Air for sale at $23.95 million.
The Colonial Revival-style house, built in 1935, has a symmetrical front punctuated by a two-story portico.
Parquet and tile floors, crown molding and wainscoting are among the appointments. The family room centers on a speakeasy-style bar. There are five bedrooms, six bathrooms and four fireplaces.
The property last changed hands in 1993 for $2.5 million.
Morgan Creek Productions has released such box-office hits as “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (1991), “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992) and “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” (1994).
Scene change for ‘Real’ housewife
Yolanda Foster of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” has sold her Westwood condo for $4.995 million.
The 16th floor three-bedroom unit has been fancied up with crystal chandeliers, designer wallpaper and crown molding.
Within the nearly 4,000 square feet of living space is a living room with a fireplace, a center-island kitchen, a den, three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.
Foster, 53, left the reality series last year after appearing from 2012 to 2016.
She bought the unit two years ago for $4.59 million.
Former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” personality Yolanda Foster has sold her condominium at the Carlyle Residences in Westwood for the asking price.
Carter can and did
Actress Amy Smart and her husband, HGTV personality Carter Oosterhouse, have sold their home in Beverly Crest for $3.45 million.
Set behind wooden gates, the ranch-style house features vaulted and beamed ceilings, four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Lawns, mature trees and a swimming pool complete the grounds.
Smart, 41, will appear in the biographical film “American Brawler,” due out in September.
Oosterhouse, 40, is host of the HGTV series “Million Dollar Room” and “Carter Can.”
They bought the house in 2012 for $2.5 million.
He’s entering the ring
After only two years of ownership, former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev has put his home in Sherman Oaks into the real estate ring at $2.15 million.
He bought the two-story house, built in 1953 and recently remodeled, in 2015 for $1.675 million.
Set on a third-acre knoll, the 2,150-square-foot open-plan dwelling contains five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
A swimming pool, spa and covered cabana sit at the back of the house.
Russian boxer Sergey Kovalev is asking $2.15 million for his knoll-top home in Sherman Oaks.
Shamelessly charming in the Hills
Emmy-winning producer Michael Hissrich and his wife, writer-producer Lauren Schmidt-Hissrich, have listed their home in Hollywood Hills at $1.948 million.
The Spanish-style house, built in 1928, features graceful coved ceilings, interior arches and rustic wood floors. Original windows and French doors bring garden views inside.
Fronted by a gated terra cotta entry, the 2,727 square feet of living space includes a formal dining room, a living room with a limestone fireplace, four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Hissrich won a pair of Emmys for his work on “The West Wing” and is the co-executive producer for Showtime’s “Shameless.”
Schmidt-Hissrich is a co-executive producer of the Netflix/Marvel Universe series “The Defenders,” due this year.
Her favorite room
After a full day filming scenes for the E! reality show “WAGS,” Nicole Williams likes to retreat to her living room, curl up with her dogs and relax. The model/fashion designer and her fiance, former NFL pro Larry English, rent a 4,300-square-foot Hollywood Dell property.
Television personality Nicole Williams relishes the recessed living room with its cathedral ceiling and neutral color palette.
From the archives
Ten years ago, actor Christopher Lloyd of the “Back to the Future” films listed his residence in Montecito at close to $11.3 million. The out-of-this-world one-bedroom residence was constructed of site-made adobe bricks, hand-hewn wood beams and curved walls.
Twenty years ago, entertainer-game show creator-entrepreneur Merv Griffin sold his 157-acre Beverly Hills-area mountaintop for about $8.5 million to Mark Hughes, the Herbalife International founder. Hughes planned to build a home on the property and preserve most of the land as a natural habitat.
What we’re reading
ICYMI: Three years ago, Los Angeles city officials demanded that builders halt work on a colossal mansion in Bel-Air. The massive home on Strada Vecchia Road was bigger and taller than allowed, and entire areas were never approved, city prosecutors say. After more than a year of legal wrangling, developer Mohamed Hadid is expected to go to trial. The fate of the roughly 30,000-square-foot megamansion remains unclear.
The New York Times used 360-degree photography to give readers a peek into China’s ancient circular walled houses. The Tulou dwellings were built for large families to live in together. Today, the three-story houses, which are still in use, are designated as U.N. World Cultural Heritage sites.
While some people live on boats, couple Wayne Adams and Catherine King live on the ocean, reports CBS News. Their home, called Freedom Cove, is a multicolored floating refuge tucked in a rugged sound off the coast of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island.
