Hot Property Newsletter: Into the stratosphere
Think you can visualize what $1 billion will buy in prime residential real estate? Well, let your imagination run wild. A 157-acre property above Beverly Hills doesn’t actually have a mansion built on it yet. Yep, that $1-billion price tag is just for the site.
While we’re talking big figures, check out what $85 million will get you in Westlake Village. The 33-acre estate does everything in a big way, with multiple structures combining for more than 50,000 square feet of living space. For a journey inside our Home of the Week, check out the video tour from Fox 11.
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 and Lauren Beale
That’s billion, not million
A sweeping 157-acre Westside property is hitting the market with L.A.’s first-ever 10-figure asking price: $1 billion.
Called the Mountain, the undeveloped acreage sits at the highest point in the 90210 ZIP Code. Views stretch from downtown Los Angeles to Catalina Island, and the closest neighbor is half a mile away.
The property comes with a history that includes celebrities, moguls and even royals.
The mountaintop was once owned by a sister of the late shah of Iran, the Princess Shams Pahlavi, who had planned to build a lavish palace there.
It was later acquired by talk show host-turned-TV-producer Merv Griffin, who also failed to develop the site. He sold in 1997 to Mark Hughes, the late founder of Herbalife. Hughes died in 2000 before any construction began.
Their work here is done
Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi sold their Montecito estate in an off-market deal for $34 million.
The couple bought the 16.88-acre spread in 2013 for $26.5 million and spent about four years restoring, updating and expanding the property.
At the heart of the gated and forested estate is an Italian villa built in the 1930s. Accompanying the 10,500-square-foot main house is an indoor-outdoor pool house that was built by DeGeneres and De Rossi during their ownership. A sunken tennis court, a badminton court, a lap swimming pool and a plunge pool complete the setting.
DeGeneres, 60, has won multiple Emmys for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which premiered in 2003.
De Rossi, 45, has television credits that include the legal drama “Ally McBeal” and the sitcom “Arrested Development.” She currently appears on the series “Scandal.”
Actor opts out
Dennis Quaid has put his Pacific Palisades home on the market at $6.495 million. The actor bought the place five years ago for $5.1 million.
The gated Spanish-style home sits on more than a third of an acre with a 10-car motor court, a swimming pool and a grove of fruit trees.
The home, which dates to 1929, features 6,114 square feet of living space containing a media room, an office, six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
Quaid, 64, starred this year and last in the series “Fortitude.” His film work includes “Pandorum” (2009), “Vantage Point” (2008) and “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004).
Pulling up stakes
“Happy Death Day” director Christopher Landon has sold his home in Hollywood Hills for $3.1 million.
The 1928 Mission Revival-style house sits on a third of an acre with a tiled spa and an outdoor fireplace.
The 3,264 square feet of living space has pitched wooden ceilings, Saltillo tile and dark hardwood floors. Counting the master suite, there are four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Landon, 43, has writing credits for four “Paranormal Activity” films and the 2007 film “Disturbia.”
Old Hollywood haunt
A Hancock Park home once owned by film stars Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge has sold for its asking price of $7.399 million.
The two-story Italian Revival estate was built in 1923, the same year the couple made the silent comedy “Our Hospitality.”
The 6,502 square feet of living space include a formal dining room, center-island kitchen, a wine room and a guesthouse for a total of five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
The nearly half-acre grounds contain a pergola, swimming pool and spa.
Keaton was a silent film-era icon who made the transition to sound and television. He starred in “Sherlock Jr.” (1924), “The General” (1926) and “Spite Marriage” (1929).
Talmadge starred the 1921 films “The Haunted House” and “The Passion Flower.”
Drummer beats a retreat
Good Charlotte drummer Dean Butterworth has sold his Woodland Hills home for $944,000.
The 1991 multiple-story house combines classic details with contemporary design elements. The more than 2,100 square feet of light-walled interiors include a 25-foot-tall entry with a staircase, a living room with a fireplace, a dining area, a family room with a wet bar, a newer kitchen, a bonus room, three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Butterworth, 51, has worked with English alt-rock and indie-rock singer Morrissey and blues great John Lee Hooker. He started with Good Charlotte in 2005 and is also associated with the groups the Madden Brothers, Sugar Ray and Common Sense.
My favorite room
Comedian Iliza Shlesinger’s favorite place to hang in her three-bedroom Hollywood Hills home is her office, which celebrates the achievements in her life. A colorful conglomeration of awards and fan art embellishes the walls and desk, as well as anti-mermaid memorabilia, portraits of her dog and an oil painting of Shlesinger as her alter-ego, Party Goblin.
From the archives
Ten years ago, actress Nicole Kidman and her husband, country music star Keith Urban, bought a contemporary-style house in a gated Beverly Hills community for close to its asking price of $4.795 million. The home had five bedrooms within about 4,100 square feet.
Twenty years ago, Oscar-winning actor George Kennedy bought a home in the Santa Rosa Valley, between Thousand Oaks and Camarillo. The 5,500-square-foot home, with a four-bedroom main house and a two-bedroom guest cottage on two acres, went for about $1 million.
What we’re reading
Love far-out styles? Check out the Eye of the Storm Modernist house on Sullivan’s Island, S.C., spotted by WowHaus. Resembling an alien star ship, the 4,047-square-foot curving home was designed to be storm-proof and is listed at $4.995 million.
Justin Timberlake has dropped the price on his New York City penthouse to $6.75 million, having first listed it in March for $7.995 million. Realtor.com says the reason the immaculate place hasn’t sold is the building itself, Soho Mews. Built in 2007, the structure has a bland exterior compared with the neighboring revitalized cast-iron buildings.
