Hot Property: Reese Witherspoon lists Ojai ranch for sale
Reese Witherspoon is banking on her own brand. The Oscar-winning actress listed her Libbey Ranch in Ojai for sale this week at $10 million and lent her name to the marketing materials.
Designed by architect Wallace Neff, Witherspoon’s ranch was originally built in 1923 as stables for glassware titan Edward Libbey. Details include original hardware, turrets, wrought-iron railings, original stonework, original plank floors, arched windows and alcoves and colorful Spanish tiles.
The two-story main house features beamed ceilings, an oversized fireplace in the two-story living room, a library loft with a fireplace, four bedrooms and 31/2 bathrooms. Three guest cottages, a carriage house, a swimming pool, a barn, stables, pasture land and mature oaks complete the 7 acres of grounds. There are nine bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two half-baths.
Witherspoon, 36, appeared in “Legally Blonde” (2001), “Sweet Home Alabama” (2002) and “Walk the Line” (2003), for which she won her best actress Oscar. More recently she starred in “Water for Elephants” (2011) and “How Do You Know” (2010). She will star in the upcoming movies “Mud” and “Devil’s Knot.”
The film star married talent agent Jim Toth at the estate last year and is expecting a baby. They use the ranch as a second home.
It’s not the only property to which Witherspoon is legally bound. She owns homes in Los Angeles and Tennessee.
Witherspoon bought the ranch in 2008 for $5.8 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
Billy Rose of the Agency in Beverly Hills and Nancy Kogevinas of Prudential in Montecito are the listing agents.
Rocker sells two condos in the wind
Pop legend Elton John and his civil partner, David Furnish, have sold their two Sierra Towers condos in West Hollywood for $4.65 million.
The smaller unit features one bedroom, 11/2 bathrooms and 1,151 square feet of living space. The larger has a den convertible to a bedroom, another bedroom and 11/2 bathrooms in 1,831 square feet.
The condos, which have city and ocean views, can be combined. The building has 24-hour security, a doorman, an outdoor pool and a gym.
John, 65, has won multiple Grammy Awards. He shares an Oscar for the “Lion King” song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and won a Grammy for singing it. Among the singer-songwriter-composer’s hits are “Candle in the Wind,” “Your Song” and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.”
Furnish, 49, directed “Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras” (1997). He was an announcer and executive producer of the television series “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ...” (2008-11).
Andrew Clark and Barry Peele of Sotheby’s in Beverly Hills were the listing agents. Gregory Yeardye and Paul Czako of Gussman Czako Estates represented the buyer.
Expanding his playing field
311 frontman Nick Hexum kept busy this summer selling one Los Angeles-area home and buying a larger one.
The 42-year-old vocalist and guitarist sold a house in the Hollywood Hills West area for $1.5 million. Built in 1990, it has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 3,608 square feet of living space. It was built in 1990 and sits on a quarter of an acre.
He bought the property in 1996 for $647,000.
The singer-songwriter bought a contemporary Mediterranean in Topanga for $1.975 million.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom house, built in 2004, has nearly 5,000 square feet of living space and sits on 10 acres. The two-story, with mountain views, features a den, a breakfast area, a family room and a three-car garage.
Hexum has played with 311 since its inception in 1988.
Melissa Oliver and Paul Ferra of Coldwell Banker in Topanga were the listing agents. Joan Duffy of Wish Sotheby’s International Realty represented Hexum in his sale and purchase.
R&B singer drops the contemporary
Joining the ranks of 2012 home sellers is R&B and soul singer Freda Payne, who sold a contemporary in L.A.’s “Bird Streets” area this year for $2.25 million. That should buy more than a few bands of gold.
Set on a corner lot, the city-view house has a courtyard entrance with a pool leading to double doors. Features include high ceilings, a step-down living room with a gas- and wood-burning fireplace, an updated kitchen and a den with a wet bar. There are three bedrooms, three bathrooms and 2,692 square feet of living space.
Payne, who turned 70 on Wednesday, gained recognition in 1970 for the hit single “Band of Gold” and has continued to sing and record throughout the decades. Last year she toured Britain as part of the “Soulicious” tour.
Melissa Zee of Rodeo Realty’s Sunset Strip office was the listing agent.
A walk-in film vault and a tiki bar
The former retreat of silent and talking movie star Lewis Stone, cast with film giant Greta Garbo in a series of films, is on the market in the Valley Glen area at $1.75 million.
Constructed in 1930 as the main house at his 500-acre ranch in the San Fernando Valley, the 6,500-square-foot residence features a walk-in film vault, six fireplaces, cast-iron chandeliers, six bedrooms and 31/2 bathrooms. The half-acre-plus lot includes a tiki bar, a saltwater swimming pool, a brick courtyard and fruit trees.
Stone, who died at 73 in 1953, is often associated with his recurring role as a judge in the “Andy Hardy” movies in the late ‘30s and ‘40s. Among his films with Garbo were “Grand Hotel” (1932) and “Queen Christina” (1933).
Rebekah Schwartz of Hilton & Hyland and Fred Schwartz of Rhodes Realty are the listing agents.
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