Sale: That’s what’s new, pussycat
Sorry, Tom, but it is unusual to own a house for more than 25 years and never live in it. Yet that’s what finger-snapping singer Tom Jones did with a Bel-Air house he just sold for close to its $4.25-million asking price.
The 66-year-old Welsh-born Grammy winner -- who can still pack a venue with screaming women -- purchased the midcentury-style house in 1981 as a place for his parents and sister to stay when visiting from Great Britain.
The pop star moved to the U.S. in 1974, when he bought himself a different Bel-Air home that once belonged to Dean Martin and is now owned by Nicolas Cage.
Since his parents died, his sister bought a nearby villa, and Jones, a regular on the Las Vegas circuit who was dubbed a knight last year, stays in a Beverly Hills-area home he bought for $2.7 million in 1998. At the time, he also owned two large houses in the United Kingdom.
The Bel-Air house he sold was built in 1962. It has a step-down living room, two master-bedroom suites, 7 1/2 bathrooms and two other bedrooms in 4,500-plus square feet. The house is on a 2.5-acre promontory with canyon, city and mountain views. The grounds include a black-bottom swimming pool and a gated motor court with parking for 10 cars.
The home, sold to the Spanish design team Miguel Rueda and Mario Ruiz, is described in the Multiple Listing Service as a “hard-to-find setting” and a “celebrity hideaway.”
“They’re finishing a $3-plus-million home in the hills of Sherman Oaks before tackling this one,” said Patrick Norman, one of the selling agents.
Cecelia Kennelly-Waeschle of Sotheby’s International Realty, Malibu and Beverly Hills, and Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Beverly Hills, had the listing; Cindy Reid and Norman, both of Rodeo Realty in Bel-Air, represented the buyers. Kennelly-Waeschle also represented Jones when he bought the property.
Where to sip Napoleon brandy
Falcon Lair, the 1924 Benedict Canyon home of early screen star Rudolph Valentino, will soon undergo a two-year refurbishing and restoration.
The 4,700-square-foot, Spanish-style house, on 4 acres, was sold a few weeks ago to an Orange County family for close to its $5.9-million asking price.
Former owners of the home have included wine critic Robert Balzer and tobacco heiress Doris Duke.
Architects Gus Duffy and Richard Gemigniani are collaborating on the renovation, which will include restoration of Napoleon Bonaparte’s original war room. Duke, who collected art and antiques as part of her $1.2-billion estate, had the room installed when she owned the home.
When the project is completed, the main house is expected to have five bedrooms, living and dining rooms, and an informal entertaining area with a kitchen. An adjacent building will have guest suites, a concert hall, a kitchen for caterers’ use and terrace dining for 250.
There also will be a cabana with an infinity pool, a tennis court with a viewing pavilion, a media room, multi-car garage, security station and walkways across the grounds overlooking Beverly Hills.
Jeff Hyland and Rick Hilton of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, represented both sides in the sale.
More room for the buffalo to roam
Frank Ryan, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and TV personality, has purchased a mountaintop home on 9 acres in Malibu next door to his Bony Pony Ranch, which is used by underprivileged youngsters.
“The kids will have all 17 acres of the ranch to themselves,” he said. A quarter-mile driveway leads to the house, which sits on a knoll.
The ranch is the headquarters for the Bony Pony Ranch Foundation and had served as Ryan’s weekend residence. That changed with his purchase of the newly built house for less than $3 million, including the land.
The home has five bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms in 5,100 square feet. It also has a fireplace, balcony and views of the ocean, Bony Ridge and the Channel Islands.
The ranch has buffalo, longhorn steers, horses, mini-donkeys, alpacas, pygmy goats, potbellied pigs, an ostrich named Ozzie and a bobcat named Scout. There is, however, no bony pony in residence.
Ryan bought the ranch from country singer Dwight Yoakam in 2000 for close to its $825,000 asking price.
The plastic surgeon has appeared on TV shows including “Extra,” “Entertainment Tonight” and VH-1’s “Really Rich Real Estate.”
Harlow slept here; Hayworth too
Two stars of Hollywood’s golden years -- Rita Hayworth and Jean Harlow -- once lived in a Beverly Hills home now listed at nearly $4.3 million.
Hayworth owned the home in the ‘50s; Harlow, in the mid-’30s.
The Spanish Colonial-style house was built in 1928 and has five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in 4,400 square feet. There is a Juliet-style balcony overlooking the living room and the original wet bar. There is also a two-story guesthouse, a deck, a pool and a spa.
Clifford Rowe, Andrea Tzadik and Darrell Wallace, all of Prudential California, John Aaroe division, have the listing.
To see previous columns on celebrity realty transactions, go to latimes.com/hotproperty.
