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He’d like to thank the realty market

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Times Staff Writer

Nicolas Cage already had won a best actor Oscar when he bought his Bel-Air home in 1998 for close to its asking price of $7 million. He has now put it on the market at $35 million.

Why so much?

First, appreciation. Home values in Cage’s ZIP Code have increased by nearly 90% since his purchase, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Next, improvements. The estate was built in 1940 but has been updated and restored regularly through the years.

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Then, there’s style. The Tudor has a circular driveway and a fountain. It’s hard to argue with classic good looks. The property is a local landmark just off Sunset Boulevard, yet much of it is hidden by a brick wall. Behind the wall, there are lush gardens.

And size -- it does matter. On slightly more than an acre, the home has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 11,000-plus square feet, including a two-bedroom, two-bath guesthouse.

There are toys: a game room, an Olympic-size pool, a theater, a professional projection room, a custom wine cellar.

And architectural eye candy: a two-story entrance, a suspended staircase, high ceilings.

The house also has a history of celebrity owners. Tom Jones called it home for more than 20 years; Dean Martin lived there before that. During his tenure, Cage has also owned homes in Venice and Malibu plus considerable land along the coast.

Cage, 42, recently starred as Port Authority officer John McLoughlin in Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center.” The actor earned his Oscar playing the alcoholic screenwriter in “Leaving Las Vegas” (1995).

James Chalke of Nelson Shelton & Associates has the listing, the MLS reported.

Channel surfing on Malibu beach

TV Guide heiress Wallis Annenberg has joined the ranks of this year’s double-digit million-dollar home buyers with her purchase of a beach retreat in the high $20-million range.

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The home, in Malibu, was built more than 25 years ago but was recently refurbished. The five-bedroom, 6,900-square-foot house, behind gates, has a master-bedroom suite with a sitting room, a den, an office, a loft and ocean views.

Annenberg is the daughter of Walter H. Annenberg, the philanthropist, art collector and communications mogul who died in 2002. He founded TV Guide in 1953 and later was ambassador to Britain. She is a prominent philanthropist in her own right.

Simpson condo changing hands

The Brentwood condo where Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death in 1994 is in escrow after being on the market for 38 days. The asking price was slightly under $1.7 million.

“It was an incredible buy based on square footage and selling prices of comparable units in the area,” said Cecelia Waeschle of Sotheby’s International Realty, Malibu. She tracks home sales on the Westside.

The 3,700-square-foot unit was for sale for two years after Simpson and Goldman were slain outside, near the front door. Then the condo sold for $590,000, $200,000 less than the asking price. The address was changed, and the property, built in 1991, was remodeled.

The contemporary town home was described in the Multiple Listing Service as “stylish and elegant” with four bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, high ceilings and open spaces.

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A nearby condo with only two bedrooms is listed at the same price, Waeschle said.

Soldiering on

in the Hills

Some people apparently are still living in last year’s real estate market. You remember, the one with multiple offers and bidding wars? Sean Donnellan, actor-writer-director-comic, has purchased a Hollywood Hills home for more than its $965,000 asking price, beating several other offers.

Donnellan, who launched his entertainment career as the late-’90s host of the Food Network’s show “How to Boil Water,” bought the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home from Angel Roberts, former wardrobe stylist for “That ‘70s Show,” and Robert VanNewKirk, an actor and former set designer.

The home, built in 2004 and designed by Barbara Bestor, has an open floor plan, an eat-in kitchen, a home office and a tiered yard with a fire pit.

Donnellan is the voice of Soldier Ant No. 1 in “The Ant Bully” (2006) and appears in “Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express,” which is in postproduction.

Rick Llanos, Coldwell Banker-Hancock Park, represented the buyer. James Foreman, Sotheby’s International Realty-Sunset, had the listing.

‘Chucky’s’

dad lived here

David Kirschner, who created “Chucky” -- the animatronic doll turned cult star -- and produced the “Chucky” and “Curious George” films, and his wife, Liz, have listed their Hancock Park home at about $6 million.

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The producer of the upcoming movie “Miss Potter” -- as in Beatrix, author of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” -- and his wife want to move closer to their married daughter in Calabasas.

The Kirschners’ Hancock Park home has five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in nearly 9,000 square feet, including one-bedroom guest quarters over a three-car garage. The three-story English manor-style estate was built in 1925 but has been updated and has such features as stainless appliances in the kitchen.

The home also has a music room, a library, a sun room, a butler’s pantry, a breakfast room, a gym, a home theater and a master-bedroom suite with a soaring ceiling and a sitting room.

Lisa Hutchins of Coldwell Banker-Hancock Park has the listing.

ruth.ryon@latimes.com

To see previous columns on celebrity realty transactions, go to latimes.com/hotproperty.

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