Hot Property Newsletter: This land is your land
Hope you studied up on your geography because this week’s collection goes from coast to coast. A filmmaker set his sights on a coastal Midcentury, a news anchor offered up his forest retreat, and in the rocky landscape of the California desert, a historic ghost town traded hands.
For a master class in modern luxury, check out our Home of the Week. This Bel-Air mansion, on the market for $38.5 million, opens to a voluminous 40-foot entry with a floating staircase. Take the Fox11 video tour for a deeper look at the home’s highlights, which include a great room with bar lounges, a home theater, a wine cellar and a 65-foot swimming pool.
Once you’re done reading about these deals, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week.
– Neal J. Leitereg, Lauren Beale and Jack Flemming
New sheriff in town
Cerro Gordo, a 19th century mining town 200 miles north of L.A., was bought by a group of investors for $1.4 million.
The Old West ghost town, whose name translates to “fat hill,” spans 300 dusty acres east of Lone Pine on the western slope of the Inyo Mountains. Twenty-two structures fill out the rocky landscape, including a hotel, saloon, museum, chapel, a few single-family homes and an eight-bed bunkhouse.
Offers for the place ranged up to $2 million, but the sellers liked the investment group’s pitch to maintain its historic nature while adding amenities to attract tourists.
Plans down the road include concerts, theater events and writing camps for authors and musicians.
A big, happy family
Here’s the story of a lovely family home, which just hit the market for $1.885 million.
The Brady Bunch house, a Traditional-style residence near the Colfax Meadows neighborhood, was used for outdoor representations of the beloved television family’s abode.
A rock-wall fireplace and wood-paneled walls are among classic details found in the living room, which features a built-in bar. Floral wallpaper and window coverings are another vintage touch. The home’s MusiCall intercom and whole-house radio also remain.
The Brady Bunch house is among the most photographed homes in America and attracts a steady stream of 30-50 fans each day, according to the listing agent. The property even has its own Yelp page.
That’s a wrap
Filmmaker Spike Jonze has purchased a Midcentury home in Malibu’s Point Dume area for $5.85 million, property records show.
Built in 1956, the post-and-beam house sits on an acre with abundant ocean views. Clerestory windows and tile floors fill the floor plan, which spans roughly 2,000 square feet.
A living room with a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace, a dining area, an updated kitchen and an office are among the common areas. There are three bedrooms — each with either ocean or tree-top views — and two bathrooms.
Jonze, 48, has directed “Being John Malkovich,” “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Her,” which won him an Oscar for original screenplay.
This just in
Longtime TV news host Tom Brokaw has listed his retreat in Pound Ridge, N.Y., for sale at $6.3 million.
Set at the edge of a five-acre lake, the European-inspired country house has a stucco and shingle facade. Interior treatments include Venetian plaster walls, exposed beams and wide-plank pine floors.
A great room with vaulted ceilings, a loft library, four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms are within the 4,068 square feet of living space. Doors off the great room, which features a stone fireplace, open to a screened porch that overlooks the water.
Brokaw, 78, anchored the “NBC Nightly News” from 1982 to 2004, becoming a fixture on American television. He also hosted “Today” and “Meet the Press,” and still serves from time to time as an NBC special correspondent.
Salsa singer’s new spot
After four years on the market, a lavish Mediterranean mansion in Florida’s Coral Gables has united with a big-name buyer: Marc Anthony.
The Latin singer-actor, through a corporate entity, paid $19 million for the palatial estate, which connects by waterway to Biscayne Bay.
Hilda Maria Bacardi, great-great-granddaughter of Bacardi founder Facundo Bacardí Massó, was the seller.
Dubbed Casa Costanera, the estate spans 1.3 acres in the affluent Cocoplum community. Arched doorways and designer finishes fill the interiors, which hold 12 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms in roughly 21,000 square feet.
Anthony, 49, has won two Grammys and five Latin Grammys during his musical career, which began in the ’80s. He has an East Coast-inspired Traditional home on the market for $3.25 million in Tarzana.
Receiver catches a buyer
The Newport Coast home of T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the former Pro Bowl wide receiver who played 10 seasons in the NFL, has sold for $4.085 million.
Tucked away in a guard-gated community, the Mediterranean-style house caters to Southern California’s fair-weather climate with French and pocketing doors that open to outdoor living and dining rooms.
The two-story home, built in 2006, opens to a two-story entry with modern marble-and-glass staircase.
A seventh-round draft pick of Cincinnati in 2001, he played for the Bengals, Seahawks, Ravens and Raiders.
Her favorite room
Moving into a house built in 2015 wasn’t ideal for actress Dichen Lachman, who prefers the “warmth and welcoming touch” of an old Victorian. But by incorporating some Old World touches, the star of Netflix’s “Altered Carbon” has warmed up to her modern Eagle Rock home.
She was attracted to the open floor plan because it represented women in the workplace. In old homes, the kitchen – and women – were always separate, but as relationship dynamics have changed, so has the architecture.
From the archives
Ten years ago, tennis star Pete Sampras sold his Beverly Hills home after dropping the price from $25 million to $23 million. The remodeled English Tudor-style house sat on more than an acre of landscaped grounds and, unsurprisingly, included a tennis court.
Twenty years ago, Larry King and his wife at the time, singer Shawn Southwick, grabbed an 8,500-square-foot home in Beverly Hills. It reportedly met King’s prerequisite of being within walking distance of Nate ‘n Al deli.
What we’re reading
The real estate market in Tel Aviv is booming, reported the New York Times. Thanks to new zoning rules, builders are renovating 50-year-old apartment buildings and turning commercial spaces into residential developments, and an influx of Jews from South Africa, Brazil and Argentina are moving in.
Call it a gimmick, but if it works, it works. Realtor.com wrote a piece about an agent in Texas who hired a T. Rex to come pose in a property’s listing photos. Shots include the dinosaur mowing the lawn, taking a shower and using the stove, and apparently, inquiries are pouring in from around the country.
ICYMI: For years, Yolanda’s Little Black Book has been one of the biggest mysteries in Los Angeles luxury real estate circles. Last week, we unmasked the man behind the anonymous blog.
Twitter: @jflem94
