Pack your black bag and go
Seven years ago actor Noah Wyle of “ER” fame and his wife, Tracy, bought actress Bo Derek’s Santa Ynez ranch and some adjacent land for close to $2.5 million. No, this isn’t a seven-year-itch story. The Wyles like the ranch so much that they’re selling their in-town house so they can spend more time in the country.
They listed their Los Feliz home in early November at close to $4.4 million, and it’s already about to close escrow. The five-bedroom, 4 1/2 -bathroom home was built in 1934. The traditional-style house was designed by architect Paul Williams as a wedding gift for Rodney Pantages from his father, impresario and theater-chain owner Alexander Pantages. Architect Gus Duffy designed an addition, completed a couple of years ago. The Wyles have owned the house, behind gates, for about 2 1/2 years.
The home has a new media screening theater, a detached guesthouse-office and a landscaped yard with city views, a pool, a koi pond, a patio and a fire pit.
Their 45-acre ranch has a 5,000-square-foot main house, two caretaker apartments, a barn and a horse arena.
Until June 2005, the actor, now 35, was a series regular on “ER” since its 1994 debut, playing Dr. John Carter. Wyle is expected to return for several episodes. Last summer, he played surrealist artist Salvador Dali in Hollywood and Palm Springs theaters. He also has appeared in a number of films and starred in the TV movie “The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines,” airing this month on TNT.
The Wyles met in 1996 on the set of the movie “The Myth of Fingerprints.” He was in the cast. She is a makeup artist. They were married in 2000.
Jeff Chertow, manager of the Malibu Colony office of Pritchett-Rapf & Associates, Malibu, has the listing with Carole Gillie of Prudential California, John Aaroe division.
The Chandler home makes news
The former Windsor Square home of the late Dorothy (“Buff”) Chandler, of the Chandler newspaper family, has sold for about $8.6 million -- a sizable sum, considering that the average sales price for a home in the area over the last five months has been $2.85 million.
The Beaux Arts home, two blocks from L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s mansion and down the street from a house owned by actors Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, was totally renovated after it was purchased in 1997 from Chandler’s estate for $2.25 million. Chandler died in 1997 at age 96.
Tim Corrigan, who had purchased the home with Kathleen Scheinfeld, oversaw restoration of the six-bedroom, 9,000-plus-square-foot home, built in 1913. The home, on nearly an acre, also has a guesthouse and a pool.
Chandler was the widow of Norman Chandler and the mother of Otis Chandler. Both men were publishers of the L.A. Times when the newspaper was family-owned, and “Buff,” whose nickname stemmed from her family name of Buffum -- owners of the former department-store chain -- was the guiding force behind development of the Los Angeles Music Center in downtown L.A.
Cop on ‘Closer’ closes the deal
Corey Reynolds, who plays series regular Sgt. David Gabriel on TNT’s “The Closer,” has purchased a home in the Franklin Hills of Hollywood for close to its $949,000 asking price.
The four-bedroom, 1 3/4 -bathroom home was built in 1937 and has been remodeled. There are hardwood and travertine floors, stainless-steel kitchen appliances and tumbled-tile counters in the 1,800-plus-square-foot house.
Reynolds, 32, made his Broadway debut in 2002 in “Hairspray” in the role of Seaweed. He appeared with Tom Hanks in the 2004 movie “The Terminal.”
Clayton Landey of Prudential, John Aaroe division, Pacific Design Center, represented Reynolds in his purchase. Diane Lugo of Coldwell Banker Alliance Realty represented the seller.
What’s in store for producer
One of the latest entertainment-industry buyers in the still-to-be-finished conversion of the Broadway Hollywood from a department store into more than 100 condos with lofts is Rico Martinez, an executive producer, writer and director.
Martinez, who is developing a comedy for Showtime and has worked on a number of feature films and TV series, is buying a loft near the top of the 10-story tower. His unit will have two bathrooms in 1,900 square feet. Condos in the building like his, with a downtown view, range in price from $1.4 million to $2 million.
Martinez commutes from New York and is looking to move in around March, when the tower is expected to be ready for occupancy.
