Hot Property: Closing the books on 2017
Talk about ending the year on a high note: A redesigned estate in Bel-Air, once owned by filmmaker Michael Bay, just sold for $41 million.
But the biggest deal that we reported on in 2017 was an $88-million purchase by music power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The pair picked up an 82,050-square-foot mansion in August complete with a 15-car garage, four swimming pools and a helipad.
Coming in a close second was the sale of entertainment magnate David Geffen’s Malibu compound, which went in the spring for $85 million. The nearly 23,000-square-foot beachfront home has a theater, a gym and a swimming pool with spa.
Once you’re done reading about these transactions, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week. That’s also a great place to leave us a tip about a celebrity home deal.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
A price buster on the block
The Bel-Air mansion that blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay sold three years ago for $11.45 million has sold again for nearly four times that amount: $41 million.
The contemporary underwent an extensive renovation and was expanded to 15,000 square feet — about double its original size.
Features of the five-bedroom, nine-bathroom house include a wine room, a home theater and a “wellness center” with massage and steam rooms, a sauna and a gym.
An infinity-edge swimming pool on the nearly one-acre lot takes in views of the Los Angeles Basin, Mt. Baldy and Santa Monica Bay.
Bay, 52, has served as producer or executive producer for multiple “Transformers” films and the TV series “Jack Ryan,” “The Last Ship” and “Black Sales.”
She ponies up in Playa Vista
Jeanie Buss, controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise, has bought a home in Playa Vista for about $2.447 million.
The Mediterranean-style home, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms in about 3,200 square feet, sits on a corner lot and has front and side courtyards.
Buss, 56, is the daughter of late businessman and Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Since taking control of the Lakers in March, she has named basketball great Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations and replaced longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak with sports agent Rob Pelinka.
Former pad of rocker icon
A buyer might as well jump at the chance to grab this Cape Cod-inspired home in Beverly Hills. Listed for sale at $2.999 million, the single-story spot was once owned by rock icon Eddie Van Halen.
Set on nearly half an acre in a gated community, the renovated home has three bedrooms and four bathrooms within nearly 3,000 square feet of living space.
Records show Van Halen sold the property in 2008 for $1.5 million.
The 62-year-old musician formed the band Van Halen with his brother Alex in 1974, and their hits include “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Cutting loose in Hollywood Hills
Actress Ellen Pompeo of “Grey’s Anatomy” has sold an income property in Hollywood Hills for $2.075 million — some $80,000 more than the asking price.
The split-level residence on a leafy hillside lot has about 1,900 square feet of open-plan living space, including a step-down living room, a media room, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The central courtyard contains a rock fire pit and built-in barbecue. Flagstone surrounds the swimming pool and spa in the backyard.
Pompeo, 48, is known for her long-running role as Dr. Meredith Grey on the medical drama show.
They are in buy-sell mode
Actor Cheyenne Jackson and his husband, actor-turned-entrepreneur Jason Landau, have sold their home in Hollywood Hills West for $2.035 million and bought another in the area for $3.55 million.
The house they sold was built in 1952 and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and about 1,770 square feet of living space. Expansive decking, with a retractable canopy and a fire pit, creates additional living space outside.
Their new spot sits on more than an acre of grounds with eucalyptus trees, a small vineyard and sweeping canyon views.
At the heart of the gated property is a 1955 ranch-style house with vaulted and beamed ceilings, hardwood floors and a brick fireplace in the living room. There are four bedrooms and four bathrooms in about 2,500 square feet of space.
Jackson, 42, was a character on “Glee” in 2010 and 2011 and on the sitcom “30 Rock” from 2009 to 2012. More recently, he has appeared on the show “American Horror Story.”
Where lyricist lived
The onetime Beverly Hills home of lyricist and film producer Arthur Freed is for sale at $2.35 million.
Freed, who died in 1973 at 78, got his start in vaudeville, performing and writing material for the Marx Brothers.
As a songwriter and producer of film musicals for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he worked on such films as “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) and “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952); he wrote the lyrics for the latter movie’s eponymous song. His films “An American in Paris” (1951) and “Gigi” (1958) both won Oscars for best picture.
The Spanish-style house was built in 1928 and has a gated front courtyard. A vaulted-ceiling living room, a den with a speakeasy-style bar, an updated kitchen, a dining room and three bedrooms lie within 2,655 square feet of interiors. Vintage tilework and arched doors and windows are among classic details.
From the archives
Ten years ago, hair and fashion maven Jose Eber was packing up his scissors for a move. He listed his four-bedroom Hollywood Hills house at $4.295 million. City and hillside panoramas were visible from six balconies and almost every room.
Twenty years ago, actor Jerry Van Dyke and his wife, Shirley, sold their Toluca Lake home for close to its $2.3-million asking price. The home had been owned by Bing Crosby in the 1930s and 1940s and by Andy Griffith from the 1970s to the 1990s.
What we’re reading
The 113-year-old Maine home that helped inspire Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” is for sale at $255,000, reports SecondShelters.com. In the woods behind the four-bedroom home, where he was living in 1979, was an informal pet cemetery for dogs and cats hit by passing trucks.
Gangster Al Capone’s attorney’s Wisconsin lake house is for sale in Phelps at $1.99 million. Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1998, according to details at Estately.com, the six-acre estate was “the home and hideout of Homer ‘Homeless’ Galpin, a Chicago politician with questionable relationships, including serving as Al Capone’s attorney.”
