She’ll close up shop in Venice
Maria Bello, who costars with Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris in “A History of Violence,” has had a whirlwind year on screen and at home.
Since she moved from Beverly Hills to Venice a year ago in June, she’s worked on a number of upcoming films. Now Bello, preparing for filming of Oliver Stone’s still-untitled 9/11 project, has listed her Venice home at nearly $2.9 million.
The actress, 38, is selling because she wants a house with a yard. The two-story home she put on the market was built in 1905 as a small grocery store. Realtors call it “Tribeca by the Beach” because it is reminiscent of the large residential lofts in the New York City neighborhood.
Exposed brick walls, 12-foot-high pressed-tin ceilings and floors made of concrete and cork are some of the artsy features of Bello’s building, which retains an unpretentious storefront appearance from the street even though it has been a house since the 1970s. Bello did some renovating but mainly added custom lighting to the three-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot residence.
The structure is built to the lot line with a private patio between the house and the garage. Above the two-car garage are 640-square-foot guest quarters with wood floors, a full kitchen and a bathroom.
The main house has an open kitchen and a Wolfe commercial range. The master bedroom has a wood-burning fireplace. The rooftop deck has ocean views and is plumbed for a spa. There are four bathrooms.
Bello was in her previous home in Beverly Hills for five years. She sold that house when she moved to Venice. The Beverly Hills home had been listed at $2.7 million.
Among her upcoming films are “The Dark,” “The Sisters” and “Flicka.” The Oliver Stone project is due out next year.
Tony Yollin of Re/Max All Cities, Venice, has the listing.
Selling in WeHo; we got you, babe
Chastity Bono, daughter of pop duo Sonny Bono and Cher, has listed her West Hollywood home at $915,000.
The gay-rights advocate calls the home “the little villa.” The house, built in the 1920s, has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in slightly more than 1,100 square feet.
The open floor plan has wood floors, French doors and a patio. The country kitchen has a high-pitched ceiling and a large picture window looking out at the landscaped backyard and detached studio.
Bono bought a larger house in the same area with a pool.
“I’ve lived in West Hollywood for eight years, and I love the neighborhood,” she said. The Spanish-style, totally refurbished home is walled and gated. It has a courtyard entry, two bedrooms, a den and a guesthouse.
There were multiple offers on the property, which sold for slightly more than its $1,695,000 asking price.
Bono, 36, first appeared on TV as a small child with her parents. She is now team captain on the VH1 show “Celebrity Fit Club,” a celebrity fitness show that monitors weight loss. She also co-wrote the books “Family Outing” and “The End of Innocence: A Memoir.”
Nancy Sill of Prudential, John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, has the listing and represented Bono in her purchase.
Pair dives into Sweet Water
Actor Johnny Sekka and his wife, Cecilia, have sold their home in West Hollywood for slightly more than its $990,000 asking price. Escrow closed last week.
The couple already have moved full time to their 2.5-acre Sweet Water Alpaca Ranch, which they have owned since 1989, in Agua Dulce. They keep horses and a growing herd of alpacas there.
The Sekkas sold a California bungalow, built in 1919. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,400 square feet. The home, on a tree-lined street, has a pool, a guesthouse and a private patio.
“It is with mixed emotions that I have sold the house, as my wife and I have many happy memories from there,” the actor said. “I bought the house after coming to America from London in 1975, and this is where we brought up our son.”
Johnny Sekka, 66, was born in Dakar, Senegal. He appeared in the ‘90s TV series “Babylon 5: The Gathering,” and has dozens of other credits, mostly on television and including the 1979 miniseries “Roots: The Next Generations,” in which he played Ebou Manga, a college student from Gambia who provided author Alex Haley with a big breakthrough in tracing his roots.
Kristina Long and Cynthia Land, both with Sotheby’s International Realty, Sunset, represented the Sekkas in selling their home.
King of ‘Animal World’ lived here
Documentary producer John Burrud, who got his first taste of filmmaking at 14 when he accompanied his father, Bill, on a walking safari in Africa shooting for his dad’s TV series, “Animal World,” has put his Sunset Beach oceanfront home on the market at $3.8 million. Sunset Beach is between Seal Beach and Huntington Beach in Orange County.
The home, with views from Newport Beach to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, belonged to Bill Burrud before his son inherited it in 1990. The home, which has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 2,800 square feet, was built in 1939.
Burrud, 45, plans to move to Colorado but will remain head of Burrud Productions.
Mike Colonna of Star Investments, Sunset Beach, has the listing.
Pasadena home’s double whammy
A historic Pasadena home, built as two identical houses next to each other in 1910 and combined into one 13,000-square-foot residence in 1918, has been sold for close to its $4.6-million asking price. The house has 11 bedrooms, 20 bathrooms, two kitchens, two butler’s pantries, two basements, two sunrooms and a sleeping porch.
The house, which stayed in the same family for 95 years, was designed by Frederick L. Roehrig in the 19th century English Arts and Crafts style. Known as “the mirror estate,” it is in the Oak Knoll area.
John and Marion Fairbanks of Coldwell Banker, Pasadena, represented the sellers; Ann Chen of the same firm represented the buyers.
To see previous columns on celebrity realty transactions visit latimes.com/hotproperty.
