Hot Property: Turn, turn, turn
Finally. After years of house-hunting, Jay-Z and Beyoncé are Los Angeles homeowners with an $88-million purchase in Bel-Air. Of note are the quarter-million-dollar-a-month house payments they’ll be making.
Also moving forward last week was actress Amy Yasbeck, who sold the longtime Beverly Hills home she shared with her late husband, “Three’s Company” star John Ritter.
But it’s not all sales. A San Francisco Giants pitcher has thrown out the old asking price for his desert paradise in favor of a higher one.
Once you’re done checking out these star-studded transactions, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week. That’s also a fine place to leave us a tip about a celebrity home deal.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
Sticker shock
Although Jay-Z and Beyoncé may be worth more than a billion dollars combined, the couple used financing to buy their first Los Angeles-area home through a trust.
The rapper/hip-hop magnate and his superstar wife paid $88 million for a contemporary two-acre estate in Bel-Air, public records show, and are carrying a $52.8-million mortgage.
Plug the numbers into a mortgage rate calculator and that amounts to 30 years of monthly payments at $252,075, based on an interest rate of 4%.
What does that kind of housing allowance buy on the Westside?
In this case, a monolithic modern mansion with about 30,000 square feet of living space, four outdoor swimming pools and a full-size basketball court.
Combined, Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter have nearly four dozen Grammys. Their net worth is $1.16 billion, according to Forbes.
Turning a chapter
Actress Amy Yasbeck has sold her longtime home in Beverly Hills for $6.55 million.
The actress’ late husband, actor-comedian John Ritter, bought the property nearly three decades ago for $2.25 million, public records show.
Built in 1982, the French-inspired Traditional house sits behind walls and hedges on a half-acre lot.
The 6,409 square feet of living space include a grand foyer with a sweeping staircase that opens to the living and dining rooms. A curved built-in bookshelf lines one of the walls in the family room.
There’s a master suite with a sitting room and dual bathrooms for a total of five bedrooms and 5.75 bathrooms.
Yasbeck, 54, is known for her roles on the sitcom “Wings” (1994-97) and the films “The Mask” (1994) and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993). Ritter, who died in 2003 at 54, is remembered for his starring role on the 1970s and ’80s sitcom “Three’s Company.”
Throwing a curve ball
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain didn’t catch a buyer last year with his 11,084-square-foot home in Paradise Valley, Ariz., so he has thrown out his asking price of $5.85 million and upped it to $5.995 million.
He bought the estate three years ago for $5.5 million.
The two-acre gated estate — with mature greenery, rolling lawns, a koi pond and a running stream — doesn’t look like it belongs in a desert. Sculptures, a guest house media room, a putting green and a swimming pool complete the grounds.
The single-story main house features a mahogany-paneled office, a great room with beamed ceilings and an eight-car garage with a workshop.
Known by his work
Architect Dan Meis, who has designed modern stadiums and sports arenas, including Staples Center, has sold his home in Calabasas for $2.05 million.
Opening to oaks and mature trees, the glass-walled house was renovated by Meis during his ownership. He added new materials while maintaining the Modernist vibe of the 1970s post-and-beam house.
A step-down living room, a library/den, four bedrooms and three bathrooms sit within the 2,986 square feet of living space. An art studio has a separate entrance.
Meis bought the property two years ago for $1.875 million.
The 1970s post-and-beam, designed by Donald Rucker and recently renovated by Dan Meis, sits on more than an acre in Calabasas.
Zorro’s stomping grounds?
This Glendale house has several chapters of notable history. The 1907 Mission Revival-style residence, on the market at $2.22 million, was once home to Zorro creator Johnston McCulley.
And in addition to being used by silent movie director Mack Sennett as a film location, the place functioned as a restaurant from 1910 to 1921.
A courtyard, cathedral ceilings and cherry inlaid floors are among architectural details. A guesthouse, pergola, fruit trees and a spa complete the grounds.
There are five bedrooms, four bathrooms and 4,749 square feet of living space.
McCulley, who died in 1958 at 75, got his start as a police reporter and wrote novels and stories under several pseudonyms. The character of Zorro first appeared in 1919 in the magazine serial story “The Curse of Capistrano.”
His house was a castle
Glendale’s “Castle House,” built in 1929 for silent film actress Bertha Richter, is in escrow for sale at $1.449 million.
The actress, however, never lived in the European-styled property. The first occupant was actor-screenwriter John Gilbert of “His Hour” and “The Merry Widow” fame.
Two stone lions stand sentry outside the turreted home, which sits atop a knoll of more than half an acre in the Glenoaks Canyon area. Old World details include ornate fixtures, detailed molding and paneled ceilings.
The 4,611 square feet of living space includes a foyer with coffered skylights, a wet bar and dual master suites for a total of four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
From the archives
Ten years ago, actress Catherine Bell, known for her roles in “JAG” and “Army Wives,” and her husband, actor Adam Beason, put their Calabasas home on the market for $3.25 million. The couple had owned the one-story, nearly 6,000-square-foot villa for about two years.
Thirty years ago, the 540-acre San Ysidro Ranch, a Montecito retreat once co-owned by Hollywood star Ronald Colman, was bought by a San Francisco partnership that owned the 45-room Napa Valley resort, Auberge du Soleil. The ranch had been a celebrity hideaway for years and was where John F. Kennedy honeymooned.
What we’re reading
You can buy an entire village in Spain for as little as $80,000, reports Educate Inspire Change. About half of the 3,500 hamlets in Galicia, in northwest Spain, are abandoned. The new owners must rebuild and, when possible, hire local labor. Here’s a link to what’s available. Homesteading, anyone?
A collection of futuristic-looking prefab homes that were built in the late 1960s and ’70s are on display in Marseille, France. Utopie Plastic explores the fanciful holiday homes, which resemble space ships, reports CNN. Beam us over.
Here’s a duo out of Detroit. A mansion that Motown founder Berry Gordy called home in the 1960s has sold for $1.65 million. Came with its own performance stage. And a Tudor-style house in Detroit that was once owned by children’s entertainer and game show panelist Soupy Sales is listed at $499,900.
