$25 mil divided by two

The party has been over for a while, but a big step was taken last week in the clean-up following the split between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt.

Escrow closed on the sale of their former Beverly Hills home. The buyer, described as “a Beverly Hills financier,” bought the home for close to its $24.95-million asking price. The house was originally listed last fall at $28 million.

Neither of the actors was living in the house when escrow closed. The couple, who will split the proceeds, went their separate ways before the home was even listed. Aniston filed for divorce in March 2005; the divorce was final in October.

The two purchased the estate in 2001, a year after they were married. They paid $13.5 million for the French Normandy house, designed by Wallace Neff for actor Fredric March in 1934.

Aniston, 37, and Pitt, 42, spent a couple of years restoring and updating the 11,000-plus-square-foot house on about an acre. The gated estate has five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a 35-millimeter projection room, a gourmet kitchen, a pub/bar/entertaining room, a gym, a library and an art studio. The home also has a tennis court and a pool.

Kurt Rappaport and Stephen Shapiro, both of Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills, represented Pitt in the sale. Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, represented Aniston. The buyer was represented by Susan Smith and Avrille Krof, also with Westside Estate Agency.

*

Mogul’s links to the Southland

Donald Trump is in Southern California more often now that his Trump National Golf Club has been open for about a month in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The New York real estate mogul, who added TV star to his resume two years ago with “The Apprentice” on NBC, will appear next weekend at a real estate expo in the Los Angeles Convention Center. He will be paid $1.5 million to speak for an hour about the club.

While in town, Trump, 59, will look in on the estates he is developing along his golf course. Four of the first five estates completed have been sold. The fifth is the model.

Two of the next five -- not yet built -- have sold for $10.5 million each, Trump said last week from his Manhattan offices. He expects construction to commence in a couple of months.

“I’m in no rush, because it is such an amazing property,” he said, referring to the sweeping views of the ocean and golf course. “I consider it the best residential piece in the country. So I’m different from other developers, because I hate to sell the sites.”

He bought the 300-acre property for $27 million in 2002 and then announced plans to develop the golf course and 75 estate homes.

Trump still intends to build one of the houses for himself, but for now, when he’s in L.A., he stays in one of several Beverly Hills-area hotels.

*

The Game’s afoot in Glendale now

Compton-born gangsta rapper Jayceon Taylor (a.k.a. the Game) says he is “about peace, not war” -- especially on the home front. And his home is now in Glendale, where he has purchased a residence for just under $2 million.

The split-level contemporary, built in the late ‘50s but recently remodeled, has three bedrooms and five bathrooms in nearly 5,000 square feet.

The kitchen overlooks a great room adjoining the living and dining rooms. The house also has a game room with direct access to a swimming pool and a garden. A terrace at the rear of the house has a barbecue, TV and sound system.

Soon after moving in, the Game installed gates and other security improvements.

The 25-year-old got his nickname from his grandmother, the story has it, because he was always “game” for anything -- basketball, riding bikes, running track, playing in the streets. More recently, he worked with Dr. Dre on his debut album, “The Documentary” (Aftermath/G Unit/Interscope).

*

Parking for a Spruce Goose?

Howard Hughes slept here in the ‘50s. The billionaire’s winter retreat, in Palm Springs, is on the market at $3.2 million, not including furnishings.

When he owned the house, Hughes had actress Mary Martin as a neighbor on one side and actor Alan Ladd on the other. The houses are in the Old Las Palmas area, where many movie stars lived in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Considering how reclusive Hughes was, it’s no surprise that his former home is walled and gated. The compound, built in 1949, is about 8,000 square feet on about three-quarters of an acre.

Among the buildings is a main house with a morning room, which is something like a breakfast room with French doors leading to the yard. The main house also has four bedrooms, a gym and a spiral staircase. And there is a two-suite guesthouse plus a pool pavilion with a fireplace, wet bar and kitchen.

Of course, there is the requisite pool.

Jim Schwietz of Windermere Real Estate, Palm Springs, has the listing.

*

To see previous columns visit latimes.com/hotproperty.