Newsletter: Hot Property: Light up the sky
It has taken a bit of time, but we’re finally seeing the fireworks we expected from our luxury real estate scene.
Much like a firecracker, it was a slow burn to start the year for the high-end market. Now the fuse has been lit, and it looks like things will be going off with a bang as we continue to blaze through the summer months.
So sit back, grab a cool drink and we’ll take you through the illuminating properties that caught our eye in recent weeks.
L.A.’s first $100-million sale
The sale of the Playboy Mansion will be closing in the coming days, a transaction that will usher in a new era in the luxury market. Daren Metropoulos, the son of billionaire investor C. Dean Metropoulos, is in escrow to buy the mansion for $105 million, or about half of the $200 million that Hugh Hefner’s longtime home was shopped for.
As part of the deal, Hefner will be allowed to remain in residence at the Gothic Tudor-style mansion for the remainder of his life. Metropoulos, who bought a neighboring property from Hefner in 2009 for $18 million, intends to eventually combine the two estates.
The not-yet-completed sale would eclipse the current county record set two years ago when Fleur de Lys in Holmby Hills sold for $88.3 million. It’s also $45 million more than last year’s top sale: Jimmy Iovine buying Marcy Carsey’s beachfront estate for $60 million.
The Playboy Mansion, home of Hugh Hefner, is in contract to sell for $105 million. (Jim Bartsch | Inset: Getty Images)
Tiny house fetches big price
Filmmaker Louis Leterrier walked away with big bucks for his tiny house in Venice. The “Transporter” director sold his 784-square-foot bungalow for a whopping $4.95 million, or $6,314 per square foot.
That may seem like a lot for so little until you consider what the house is sitting on: a double-lot of about 7,000 square feet. In other words, this quaint red-painted home is likely destined for the wrecking ball.
Leterrier sold the 784-square-foot bungalow on a double lot in Venice for $4.95 million. (Halton Pardee & Partners | Los Angeles Times)
Flipping out of Hidden Hills
Love ’em or hate ’em, stars of the reality series “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” definitely know their way around real estate. Proving the point is Kourtney Kardashian’s baby daddy, Scott Disick, who stands to make a small mint off his home in Hidden Hills.
Disick has flipped his Traditional-style home onto the market for $8.8 million — nearly $3 million more than what he paid for the property seven months ago.
The white-sided two-story features a glass-enclosed wine closet, a marble-topped kitchen and an over-the-top master bedroom befitting an on-again, off-again member of the Kardashian clan.
Disick is asking $8.8 million for the Hidden Hills home he bought roughly six months ago. (Riley Jamison Photography | Getty Images)
Moving on up in the Valley
Former 98 Degrees frontman Nick Lachey has made a serious upgrade. After selling his Encino home earlier this month, the singer and his wife, Vanessa, have shelled out $4.15 million for a four-acre estate formerly owned by late singer Jenni Rivera.
The French Normandy-style home, also in Encino, has plenty of room to move with seven bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms in nearly 10,000 square feet of space. Patios, fountains and lawns surround a resort-style swimming pool.
Lachey and his wife, actress Vanessa Minnillo, bought the Encino home of Rivera for $4.15 million. (Realtor.com | Los Angeles Times)
Doctor in the house
Eriq La Salle, best known for his role as Dr. Peter Benton in the long-running medical drama “E.R.,” has found some new scenery on the Westside. He recently paid $3.03 million for an estate on an acre of grounds in Bel-Air.
La Salle’s new digs sit above Stone Canyon Reservoir with views for days. The 2,400-square-foot ranch house has been renovated with open living spaces and a new kitchen, among other things.
La Salle bought the house with a view in Bel-Air for $3.03 million. (Blacksail Media | Warner Bros. Entertainment)
A pawn in the Vegas game
“Pawn Stars” personality Corey Harrison, whose nickname is “Big Hoss,” is fielding offers on his home in Las Vegas. Harrison is asking $2.39 million for the gated compound, which has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms in nearly 7,100 square feet of space.
Of its selling points, we would be remiss not to point out the basement. The finished lower level, something of a rarity in Las Vegas, is decked out in true “man cave” fashion with a billiards table, a full bar, flat-screen TVs and plenty of seating.
A fire pit, a built-in barbecue and a swimming pool with a water slide seal the deal out back.
Harrison is asking $2.39 million for his home in Las Vegas. (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties | History)
His new home field
The Calabasas area has added another professional football player, but it’s not a member of the L.A. Rams. Defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers, recently picked up a house in a gated community for $2.7 million.
The 7,500-square-foot house goes the distance with a circular foyer, a remodeled kitchen and an oversized master suite. A trellis-topped patio, an outdoor kitchen and swimming pool bring the party outdoors.
Dorsey paid $2.7 million for the Mediterranean-style house in a gated Calabasas community. (Realtor.com | Getty Images)
From the archives
Sly Stallone, a Hot Property fixture over the years, made his first appearance in the L.A. Times’ column 30 years ago this week. Ruth Ryon chronicled the actor’s search for a property on the Westside of Los Angeles with enough room to build a polo field.
A five-acre parcel in Pacific Palisades near President Reagan’s former home and a large chunk of land in the “exclusive new community” known as Beverly Parks Estates were the two spots Stallone was eyeing at the time of publication.
He would later enter escrow on a large hilltop property in Malibu’s Serra Retreat — a deal that would eventually fall through.
What we’re reading
— A wall isn’t the only thing Mark Zuckerberg is building in Hawaii. The Facebook chief executive, whose net worth is around $49.4 billion, has submitted plans to build a home on his estate on the North Shore of Kauai, according to Duane Shimogawa of Pacific Business News. Zuckerberg made waves earlier this week when news circulated that he was building a 6-foot-high wall around his oceanfront property. Since 2014, he has acquired hundreds of acres on Kauai’s North Shore, spending upward of $200 million.
— As fashion designer Betsey Johnson awaits completion of her new home in Malibu, she has found temporary accommodations to match her quirky bohemian style. Johnson has reportedly paid $2 million for a 1,400-square-foot mobile home in Malibu’s Paradise Cove trailer park, according to the Wall Street Journal. Luxury manufactured homes in the community, one of two in Malibu, have fetched a premium in recent years. In May, a triple-wide mobile home in Paradise Cove sold for a record $5.3 million.
— Michael Jordan isn’t the only NBA legend selling a home with a basketball court. In Highland Park, Ill., nearby Jordan’s manse, Bulls teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen has put his home with a custom hardwood gym on the market, according to the Chicago Tribune. Pippen is asking $3.1 million for the 10,500-square-foot mansion, which also has a water slide and a whirlpool.
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