Power couple’s new place
Grammy-winning singer, composer and producer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and his wife, Tracey, have purchased a Mediterranean- style home in a gated community in the Beverly Hills area for nearly $5.2 million.
The couple, who recently sold a home on the Westside, bought a house with five bedrooms and six bathrooms in slightly more than 8,000 square feet. The house is on almost an acre and has a pool, spa and play area, as well as city and canyon views.
The home was built in the 1990s and was professionally decorated. It has breakfast, dining, family and living rooms. There is an office and a covered patio.
The producer, in his mid-40s, has written songs for such stars as Madonna and Whitney Houston while creating more than 100 R&B; and pop hits. He and his wife also co-produced the critically acclaimed movie “Soul Food” (1997) and the Showtime series of the same name.
In April, “Babyface” Edmonds performed Stevie Wonder’s song “For Once in My Life” with Nick Lachey on ABC’s “The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour,” costarring Lachey and his wife, Jessica Simpson.
Tracey Edmonds, president and chief executive of Edmonds Entertainment, is co-producing the Universal Pictures movie “32 and Single,” and she is executive producer of BET’s reality series “College Hill.”
A peaceful, easy feeling in the Hills
Jennifer Coolidge, who appears in the upcoming movie “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” has been refurbishing a Hollywood Hills home she bought recently for close to its $799,000 asking price.
“Structurally, I had to do some things to it so no matter how strong an earthquake may be, the house will still stand,” she said. She’s also adding a koi pond to her property.
Coolidge describes the four-bedroom house, built in the ‘30s for the late writer-humorist Frank Scully, as being Spanish style on the outside and nautical Streamline Moderne on the inside. The house has city views but a peaceful feeling, she said. “I love the Hollywood Hills, because they are so quiet.”
“Lemony Snicket,” which finished filming in April and is due out in December, costars Jim Carrey, Johnny Depp, Emma Thompson, Joan Cusack, Meryl Streep and Jude Law.
Coolidge played the manicurist girlfriend of sorority girl-turned-Harvard Law student Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) in “Legally Blonde” (2001) and “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde” (2003).
Barry Sloane of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, represented both sides of the transaction. Coolidge had been renting in Hancock Park.
New to L.A. but ready to host
Lara Shriftman, co-president of a New York-based publicity, special events and marketing company and coauthor of the upcoming “Fete Accompli! The Ultimate Guide to Creative Entertaining,” has purchased actress Kelly Rutherford’s Hollywood Hills home for close to its $1.9-million asking price.
It’s Shriftman’s first home purchase in the L.A. area, where she had rented an apartment for five years.
The traditional-style house, built in 1938, has three bedrooms and four bathrooms in about 2,500 square feet. There is a formal entry with a sweeping staircase, a step-down living room, and a sun room. The master suite has city views and two walk-in closets. The home also has a pool and a rose garden.
Shriftman, whose book is due to be published by a Random House division in September, lives in New York City half of the time. She and business partner, Elizabeth Harrison, sold their company, Harrison Shriftman, in November, but they stayed on as co-presidents. The firm, which represents such clients as Mercedes-Benz and Juicy Couture, also has offices in Miami and occupies the late literary and talent agent Swifty Lazar’s former Sunset Strip offices.
Rutherford appeared in such TV series as “Melrose Place” and “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.”
Jonah Wilson of Prudential, John Aaroe, in Beverly Hills represented Shriftman in her home purchase. Aileen Comora of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, had the listing.
Ginger’s retreat; Bing’s estate
The former homes of Ginger Rogers and Bing Crosby in Rancho Mirage have been sold.
The Rogers home had been her longtime winter retreat. The Oscar-winning actress, who danced with Fred Astaire in 10 films and appeared in a total of 73 movies over four decades, spent her summers then in Southern Oregon. She purchased the desert house in 1972 and owned it until she died at 83 in 1995.
When she died, the house, built in 1963 in the gated community of Thunderbird Country Club, was sold to a neighbor. Rogers’ touches in decor remain, from the pale-pink crystal chandelier in the entry to the expensive though dated, bubble-looking tile in the bathrooms. Some tiles in the house are finished with pink grout, and the exterior of the house is still pink, though a more muted shade than it was when Rogers lived there. Pink was Rogers’ favorite color.
The house, which has four bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms in slightly more than 5,000 square feet plus a large pool, was purchased for $850,000 by a remodeling team intending to renovate and resell it. Architect David Cofrances was hired as a consultant.
Cofrances is also one of the sellers of the nearby Crosby home, which he and his partner, artist Peter Burega, refurbished, creating a new kitchen and a new master suite, before selling it for just under $1.4 million.
Crosby, who died at 73 in 1977 after making 58 films and selling more than 300 million records, and his first wife, Dixie Lee, had the home built in 1952, the same year she died three days before her 41st birthday. The estate includes a main house, a guesthouse and an artist’s studio in a total of about 4,200 square feet. The pool and cabanas have views of the valley, mountains and golf course.
The property is in Thunderbird Heights, an enclave across a major highway from the Thunderbird Country Club, which the actor-singer helped establish. A tunnel for golf carts was built under the highway for Thunderbird Heights residents.
Don Hoch and Roger Horswill of Re/Max Real Estate Consultants, Rancho Mirage, represented the sellers of the Crosby house, and they represented the buyers of the Rogers home. Robin Black, of the same firm, had the listing on the Rogers home.
