Hot Property: Britney Spears lists her home for $7.9 million

GOOGLING “Britney Spears” just now yielded 98,600,000 hits; googling “ President Bush,” 44,600,000. Makes you wonder what’s wrong with this planet, doesn’t it?

Nevertheless, here’s one more contribution to Google: Britney Spears -- pop princess or pop pariah -- has listed her Beverly Hills Post Office home for $7.9 million.

The house is in a gated community and has six bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms in about 7,500 square feet. There’s a wet bar, a library, a den, high ceilings and stone and mosaic tile floors. The master bedroom has a fireplace and a loggia. Then there’s the pool, spa and arbor.

It is being offered for sale partly furnished and decorated.

This is the house that Spears was wrenched from in January as part of a well-executed LAPD plan to skirt the paparazzi and have the singer involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward at UCLA Medical Center.

Neighbors are unlikely to forget that winter night with helicopters buzzing overhead and more than 100 paparazzi, who chase Spears for a living, hovering at the gates.

Spears, whose every move has been dutifully recorded by paparazzi, the courts, her fans and her detesters, was last seen looking for a new place to live in the Hidden Hills and Calabasas areas. Definitely gated.

The midriff-baring 26-year-old singer is planning a tour -- or so says her mother. Maybe her new neighbors won’t have the same headaches that her old neighbors had.

Tomer Fridman of Ewing & Associates, Sotheby’s International Realty in Calabasas, has the listing, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

A ‘Confidential’ topic in works

Talk-show host Leeza Gibbons and her estranged husband, actor and architect Stephen Meadows,have listed their house in the Hollywood Hills at $7,395,000.

The house was listed in December 2006 at just under $8 million but didn’t sell. It is set behind gates and up a long driveway on more than an acre that includes landscaped gardens.

The 11,137-square-foot Mediterranean was built in 1926 and was once owned by Joan Crawford.

Gibbons and Meadows completely remodeled and renovated the home, which has carved moldings, hardwood floors and lots of stone and wrought iron. The main house has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms in three stories. A detached guesthouse, built in 2000, is suitable for use as a studio or office.

Gibbons, 51, a former Southern beauty queen who still looks the part, is a former reporter and anchor for “Entertainment Tonight.” She hosted the daytime talk show “Leeza” from 1994 to 2000 and now hosts the nationally syndicated radio show “Hollywood Confidential.”

Meadows has appeared in numerous guest roles on TV. The couple separated a few years ago.

Drew Mandile and Brooke Knapp of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, have the listing.

Going traditional in Toluca Lake

David Barrett, a producer and director who has worked on episodes of “Cold Case,” “Smallville” and “Bionic Woman,” has bought a house in Toluca Lake for $1.2 million.

The two-story traditional has four bedrooms and four bathrooms in 2,530 square feet. The newly remodeled corner property has a small saltwater pool and a detached pool house with a bathroom, kitchenette and separate street access.

Barrett was also a co-executive producer of CBS’ “Moonlight,” a show about a vampire who works as a private investigator and falls in love with a mortal woman.

Can’t wait to see how Barrett decorates the place come Halloween.

The seller was Randy Landsberger, owner of the Sports Center and Toluca Lake Tennis Club.

Craig Strong and Whit Prouty of Keller Williams Realty, Studio City, represented the buyer and seller.

The Yahoo yodel of a happy seller

National Public Radio has a feature in which listeners share an evocative sound. In this vein, I’d like to nominate the Yahoo yodel -- and introduce you to the man behind it.

Jonathan Elias, a highly regarded composer in advertising -- and in film and television as well -- has sold his 5,865-square-foot Santa Monica home for $4,395,000.

The house, in the desirable north-of-Montana area of the city, is a Mediterranean villa designed by architect Richard Landry.

It has a two-story entrance with sky-lighted ceilings, dual grand staircases and Italian limestone floors. The dining room overlooks the pool and an outdoor loggia with a fireplace.

The home has beamed ceilings, balconies and many custom features. There are five bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms.

In addition to the yodel-for-Yahoo ads, he also composed the Columbia Pictures’ sound logo and the “moon-landing” theme used by MTV.

Elias has produced albums for Yes, Duran Duran and Grace Jones. His company, Elias Arts, with offices in Los Angeles and New York, is a premier agency for commercial branding and has provided music for such clients as Ford, GM, Nissan, Mercedes, IBM, Apple and Nike.

David Offer of Prudential California Realty, Brentwood, represented the buyer.

Chef gets cooking in Windsor Square

There should be some incredibly mouth-watering aromas wafting from one Windsor Square kitchen by now.

Mark Peel, executive chef and owner of Campanile, has moved in.

Peel, who opened Spago in 1982 as head chef under Wolfgang Puck, has bought a classic Mediterranean in the L.A. neighborhood for $3.1 million, according to the MLS.

The house, built in 1920, has been extensively remodeled. There are five bedrooms, four bathrooms and a sunroom overlooking a lush backyard.

The two-story home with 3,966 square feet has a large formal dining room and -- nice for Peel -- a recently remodeled kitchen, which we are told was redone yet again to the master chef’s specifications.

Peel’s wife, comedian Daphne Brogdon, is host of the TV Guide Channel’s weekly series “The Fashion Team.” She is creator of CoolMom.com. And we’re going to assume she leaves the cooking to her hubbo.

Peel, co-founder of La Brea Bakery, is also the author of several cookbooks.

The seller, Dawn Parouse, was the executive producer of the Fox TV series “Prison Break.”

Daily Variety reported that she took an executive job in June at Media Rights Capital, an independent film, TV and digital studio.

Jeff Larsen of Prudential California Realty, Santa Monica, represented Peel and Brogdon.

David Findley of Sotheby’s International Realty in Brentwood was the listing agent.

ann.brenoff@latimes.com