The new housewife on the block
As far as we know, Eva
Longoria isn’t moving from Wisteria Lane on the hit ABC show “Desperate Housewives.” But the actress, who plays former model Gabrielle Solis in the series, has purchased a newly built home in the Hollywood Hills that was listed at nearly $3.8 million.
The youngest housewife in the cast, at 31, is moving up from a three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot house, also in the Hollywood Hills, that she bought in early 2005 for about $1.2 million. That Mediterranean-style home, built in the 1920s, has a fireplace and a grand entry.
Her latest purchase is a three-story, contemporary Mediterranean with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms in 8,500-plus square feet.
The house has a master-bedroom suite with a fireplace and his-and-her bathrooms, a screening room, a game room, a gym and a wine cellar.
There is also a pool, spa and deck. And there are canyon and city views.
Before “Desperate Housewives,” Longoria appeared on the CBS daytime drama “The Young and the Restless,” the TV comedy special “Hot Tamales Live” and the ABC police series “L.A. Dragnet.”
She stars opposite Kiefer Sutherland in the film thriller “The Sentinel.”
Lohan’s condo is fully loaded
Lindsay Lohan, recently reprimanded by a production company executive for partying at night while filming “Georgia Rule” during the day, wants to live in a house, not a condo, she has decided. So, the 20-year-old star of “Herbie: Fully Loaded” and other films has put the three-bedroom corner unit she bought for about $1.9 million in a Sunset Strip-area tower a year ago on the market. She’s asking nearly $2.9 million.
Lohan never moved into the full-service high-rise and is selling her unit as is, although she had plans to remodel it. The 2,100-square-foot condo has 2 1/2 bathrooms, walls of glass, a balcony and city views. The 32-story tower, built in the ‘60s, also has a rooftop pool, a gym, a sauna, a concierge and valet parking.
The actress has been staying in hotels but plans to buy a house.
Max Shapiro and Richard Ehrlich share the listing at Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
Stefani takes over J.Lo’s former digs
There is no doubt about the grandeur of this home in a gated community of the Hollywood Hills. The 10,000-square-foot house on 2 acres sold for close to its $15.5-million asking price.
The buyers are Gwen Stefani, the band No Doubt’s 37-year-old lead singer, and her husband, Gavin Rossdale, the 40-year-old former frontman for the rock group Bush.
They bought the home from hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian, who had purchased it in 2004 from singer-actress Jennifer Lopez.
The contemporary house, built in 1998, has four bedrooms and nine bathrooms, a tennis court, an infinity pool, a 300-foot-long gated driveway, a screening room and a basketball court.
Nazarian, 31, is building a home nearby in the Hollywood Hills. He is chairman of SBE Entertainment and is a partner in Element Films, which produced the movie “Down in the Valley,” with Edward Norton. SBE owns restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and apartments.
No Doubt received two Grammy Awards for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Hey Baby” (2002) and “Underneath It All” (2003). Gwen Stefani, with the artist Eve, won a Grammy in 2001 for best rap collaboration with “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” Her brother, Eric, started the band with friend John Spence in 1987, then asked his sister to join as co-vocalist. She made her movie debut in “The Aviator” (2004), playing actress Jean Harlow.
A star attraction up in the hills
May we name drop? Here’s a Hollywood Hills house that was designed by renowned architect Paul Williams and was owned at one time by Marlon Brando and at another by David Carradine.
The traditional-style house, built in 1939, is listed at about $2.8 million and has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 4,400 square feet. The home also has a circular driveway with a fountain; an oval entrance with marble floors; all Viking appliances in the updated kitchen; a sunny breakfast area overlooking the pool, a bonus room with a wet bar, an office and a large yard with a fountain.
Todd Marks at Prudential California Realty, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
High-end sales brisker this year
So far this year, almost twice as many homes have sold on the Westside and in Malibu in the double-digit million-dollar range than for the same period in 2005, said Cecelia Kennelly Waeschle of Sotheby’s International Realty in Malibu.
Waeschle, who has tracked high-end sales for the areas since 1987, said 44 single-family homes have sold for more than $10 million through the end of August, compared with 25 houses for the same period last year.
There were 473 homes sold in the $3-million-to-$10-million range this year, compared with 494 last year.
So far, the most paid for a house this year was $34 million, according to Waeschle’s survey. Two homes, one in Malibu and the other in Beverly Hills, hit that mark.
Other double-digit sales this year include the former Beverly Hills home of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, which sold for about $23 million. And cheers for Kelsey Grammer, who sold a home in Beverly Park this year for $24 million.
