Hot Property Newsletter: ‘Sting like a bee’
This week’s rarefied lineup includes properties associated with a boxing great, a fitness guru, a onetime Guess Who member and an HGTV landscape designer. We also pan over to a screenwriter who is editing an investment house out of his real estate picture.
Our Home of the Week is a $35-million Tuscan-style villa built on a scenic slice of Thousand Oaks. An olive orchard and rock-surrounded water features enhance the Old World ambiance. In the movie theater, glass floors peek into a subterranean garage with two car lifts.
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– Neal J. Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale
Where a prizefighter floated
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” is one of boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s most famous quotes. Lesser known is: “At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”
One place that “nice guy” called home was an Italian Renaissance-style mansion in Hancock Park now on the market for $17 million.
The boxer bought the house with his third wife, Veronica, in 1979 around the time of his initial, short retirement and lived there until their divorce in 1986.
Built in 1916, the stately home sits on 1.5 acres. The 14,500-square-foot mansion features a grand entry hall, a formal dining room, a living room with bay windows, a den with a wet bar, seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
The landscaped grounds include a flagstone patio, lawn and fountains.
Ali, who died three years ago at 74, is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time. He was a native of Louisville, Ky., which just renamed its airport after him.
Will a buyer work out?
Fitness trainer, television personality and author Jillian Michaels has listed her house in Malibu at $8.795 million.
The three-story house, built in 1990, has a minimalist-modern vibe with a poured concrete and tile exterior accented by walls of glass.
The open-plan living spaces feature a floating steel-and-glass staircase, concrete pillars and high ceilings. The more than 4,300 square feet of interiors also holds three bedrooms, four updated bathrooms and an office. Two ocean-facing balconies create additional space on the third floor.
Michaels, 44, has appeared on the reality shows “The Biggest Loser” and “Losing It With Jillian,” as well as the talk show “The Doctors” as a co-host. She has written or co-written more than a dozen books, the most recent of which, “The 6 Keys,” was released last year.
Guess who’s relisting
Following a four-month hiatus off the market, Burton Cummings’ mountaintop estate in Studio City is back up for sale at $4.95 million. The singer, songwriter and past member of the Guess Who bought the two-acre property in 2012 for $1.75 million.
The Tudor Revival mansion, built in 1976, is set behind wrought-iron gates and reached by way of a winding cobblestone driveway. The 5,000-square-foot renovated house features high ceilings, exposed beams and rustic wood floors. There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms, including a master suite with a clawfoot tub.
A kidney-shaped swimming pool sits up behind the house.
Cummings, 71, joined the Guess Who in 1965 as a keyboardist and lead singer. During his decade with the Canadian rock band, their hit songs included “American Woman,” “No Time” and “These Eyes.” He has released a dozen albums as a solo artist and continues to perform.
His green thumb oasis
A Midcentury Modern house in Hollywood Hills West owned and remodeled by HGTV designer Jamie Durie is for sale at $2.875 million.
Set in the Laurel Canyon area, the main house and detached studio wed vintage details with high-end upgrades. A sleek updated kitchen, a living room with a stone fireplace, three bedrooms and two bathrooms are within the 2,676 square feet of living space.
An oversized wood-surrounded soaking tub in the master suite looks out on a bamboo garden. Floor-to-ceiling glass brings in views of the canyon, the lush backyard and the swimming pool.
The Australian-born Durie, a landscaper and horticulturalist, was the host and executive producer of the series “The Outdoor Room With Jamie Durie” (2010-13).
Writing house out of his script
English director-screenwriter James Dearden, whose writing credits include the 1987 thriller “Fatal Attraction,” and his wife, actress Annabel Brooks, have listed a home in Beverly Crest at $4.999 million. The gated contemporary, which has been leased out in recent years, sits on a half-acre hedged lot with a swimming pool.
The 5,286 square feet of indoor space includes an open-plan living area, a dining room, a bright-red media room with built-ins, five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
Dearden, 69, also wrote and directed “Pascali’s Island” (1988), “A Kiss Before Dying” (1991) and “Surviving Christmas With the Relatives” (2018). Brooks, 61, appeared in “The Witches” (1990), “Princess Caraboo” (1994) and “Last Run” (2001).
His favorite room
When actor and family man Jaime Camil talks about the living room of his Studio City home, he describes it as a chaotic space “where we all love to be.” The “Jane the Virgin” regular enlisted an interior designer to help furnish the room, adhering to a mostly muted palette, with some beloved pieces and a focus on comfort.
From the archives
Ten years ago, perpetually touring performer Beck lowered the price on his Malibu house to $2.345 million. The beach home, described in the Multiple Listing Service as “a very hip mid-century ranch,” had three bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as a separate two-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse.
Twenty years ago, tennis legend John McEnroe’s longtime Malibu Colony home came on the market at $5.45 million. The Cape Cod-inspired three-story had a pub room, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms within its 3,700 square feet of living space.
What we’re reading
Cumnock, Australia? Check. Sambuca, Italy? Check. Gangi, Sicily? Check. The Washington Post looks at towns around the world that are offering newcomers almost-free homes.
A former Muhammad Ali property in Michigan will be turned into a summer school for Muslim youth, reports the Daily Sabah. The farm, on the edge of the Joseph River in Berrien Springs, features a four-bedroom house, seven additional buildings including a gym with a boxing ring, a basketball court and a swimming pool.
