Life will be a bit less loca

Ricky (“Livin’ La Vida Loca”) Martin was touring the world and dividing his time among three houses in two countries when he got an unexpected offer.

It was to simplify by selling his Beverly Hills-area home for close to $18 million.

The Mediterranean-style villa, on a 2 1/2 -acre knoll behind iron gates, wasn’t even on the market, but the Latin pop star rarely used it. Martin, 34, has homes in Florida and Puerto Rico and has been on tour much of the time since buying the estate two years ago.

The villa isn’t lacking amenities among its six bedrooms and 12 bathrooms in 11,000 square feet. It has a gym, a detached guesthouse, a pool, a tennis court and views from downtown L.A. to the ocean.

And although the home was newly built when Martin purchased it, the land it sits on has a history. The villa was built on the site of a 9,000-square-foot midcentury house first owned by Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, who bought it for her only child, race-car driver Lance Reventlow. He was killed in a 1972 plane crash at age 36.

From 1976 to 1987, the home was owned by actor Michael Caine and his wife, Shakira. The Caines had an indoor-outdoor swimming pool installed; part of the pool was in the living room. When the couple sold the home, the new owner removed the indoor part of the pool. The seven-bedroom, 9 1/2 -bathroom house was razed after a builder bought the property in 2000 and constructed the house that Martin purchased in August 2004.

Last year, the former member of the all-boy pop group Menudo played venues in South and Central America. This year, he performed 20 sold-out concerts in 18 U.S. cities. Then he made stops in Europe, including the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, where he sang songs from his latest album, “Life.”

Barry Peele of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, represented both sides of the transaction.

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Geffen offers a package deal

David Geffen has put nearly 3 acres of prime beachfront property in the pricey Kahala area of Oahu on the market at $13.5 million for each of three lots or $40 million for the package.

The media mogul had planned to build an estate on the lots but changed his mind, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which also reported that nobody has ever put together three Kahala beach parcels to sell until now.

Each of the three lots on Oahu was purchased separately during the last three years. Two were bought for $9 million each, according to public record, and the third was estimated to have been acquired for $4 million.

Geffen previously owned a beachfront house next door to the lots, and that may be how he knew about them.

Patricia Choi of Choi International, Honolulu, has the listing.

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Player ready to throw in his hand

Andy Bellin, author of the book “Poker Nation,” should know when to hold them and when to fold them. So maybe it’s no gamble for him to sell his 5,000-square-foot Sunset Strip-area home, which he just listed at nearly $5 million.

Actor James Cagney once owned the house, built as a hunting lodge in 1933. Actress Cheryl Ladd later bought it. Then, three years ago, along came Bellin.

He restored the walled and gated four-bedroom Spanish villa with its circular driveway, rolling lawns and pool. He refurbished the speakeasy-style bar, which has a hidden, step-down entrance, and the sun room, an enclosed patio.

The 35-year-old Bellin put his own stamp on the inlaid-wood floors, adorning them with images of aces and eights.

He is writing screenplays now but is moving back to New York to be closer to his book publisher.

Michael Eisenberg of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

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Waking up in the Hollywood Hills

Melissa Sagemiller and Alex Nesic, who will costar in Showtime’s second season of “Sleeper Cell,” have purchased a contemporary-style home for about $1.1 million.

Located in the Hollywood Hills and built in 1961, it has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in nearly 2,000 square feet. The house, in Beachwood Canyon, also has loft-like living spaces, an eat-in kitchen, a breakfast deck and a master-bedroom suite with a fireplace.

Sagemiller, 32, will star opposite Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner in the movie “The Guardian,” and Nesic, 30, will appear with Faye Dunaway in the film “Say It in Russian.”

Marc J. Robinson of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, represented the buyers. Bonita Entten Bryant of Sotheby’s International Realty, Los Feliz, had the listing.

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Oil magnate heir puts down roots

Armie Hammer, the 19-year-old great-grandson of industrialist Armand Hammer, has become a first-time home buyer with his purchase of an $850,000 Westside condo.

Hammer, an actor and magician, is the son of Michael and Dru Hammer. Michael Hammer is the only grandson of the late Occidental Petroleum chairman and is the only son of the industrialist’s only child, Julian, who was born in Moscow in 1929. Armand died at age 92 in 1990.

The condo, in a complex built as apartments in the 1920s and later converted to condos, has two bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in about 1,800 square feet. The unit also has beamed ceilings.

Dru Hammer designed the interiors of her son’s condo, completed by Jim Sorkin Construction.

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