A Magic Act to Gain More Space
Los Angeles Laker MAGIC JOHNSON’S Bel-Air home is on the market, and he’s buying another, sources say, in the posh Beverly Hills Post Office development known as Beverly Park.
The house he is buying is still under construction but will have six bedrooms in 13,000 square feet. The property, which is behind gates, also will have tennis and basketball courts.
It is being built by Alan Khedari and Columbia Residential Development, but neither Khedari nor the real estate agent representing Johnson would comment. Johnson has agreed to pay about $7 million for the house, other sources say.
The house Johnson has put up for sale is in Moraga Estates, a gated community off Moraga Drive. The Tudor-style home, at the end of a cul-de-sac, has four bedrooms, four baths, maid’s quarters and a bonus room in 7,663 square feet. It also has a racquetball court, swimming pool and spa.
“While he was training in Hawaii (before the Lakers’ exhibition tournament this weekend at the Forum), he decided that it was time for a change of residence,” said Barbara Robinson, who has the $4.5-million listing with Alvarez, Hyland & Young. She is also representing Johnson in his purchase.
Other industry sources figure that Johnson decided to move up in housing because he is earning more now than he did when he bought the Moraga house when it was new, in 1984.
The former Beverly Hills home of PRINCESS SHAMS, sister of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the late Shah of Iran, is for sale at $6.4 million.
The one-story, nearly 8,000-square-foot house was designed by architect Hal Leavitt in the ‘60s with glass walls looking out to a swimming pool, trees and the Los Angeles Basin.
“It’s beautiful, but it needs work, and it will probably be a tear-down, because it sits on a 1.5-acre knoll with a panoramic view and a 300-foot-long private driveway,” said Bruce Nelson of Asher Dann & Associates, who has the listing.
The princess hasn’t lived there for a few years while it has been tied up in litigation after the Iranian government put millions of dollars in liens against it. That was resolved, said Nelson, and the property was sold “free and clear” about three months ago to a young couple from Texas, who were going to rehab it but changed their plans.
The house was in the news in 1979, when a mob of at least 500 Iranian students who opposed the Shah shattered several windows and set a dozen small fires on the grounds before being driven back by police and sheriff’s deputies.
The Montecito estate of the late actor RONALD COLMAN has been sold for close to its $5.5-million asking price, said listing broker Paul O’Keeffe.
Colman built his home there in the late 1930s, when he also owned half of the adjoining San Ysidro Ranch. The olive-tree lined driveway and front gate constructed by Colman are still there, but his house was expanded during the past year to include a second floor and a total of about 6,000 square feet.
The buyer, represented by Kathy Ross of Pitts & Bachmann, is a businessman involved in broadcasting in the Midwest.
DAVID KELLEY, executive producer of the hit NBC series “L.A. Law” and co-creator and creative consultant of the new ABC series “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” just completed renovating and landscaping his $1.8-million, Hollywood Hills home with the help of actress MELISSA LOVE.
Love, who was a regular on Alan Thicke’s late-night TV show “Thicke of the Night” and had a recurring role on the TV series “Trapper John, M.D.,” recently started a second career as a home designer, forming Alco West Designs in Pacific Palisades.
Besides creating a new entrance hall, kitchen and den for Kelley, Love also stocked the bachelor’s pad with dishes, linens and groceries, including fruits and beans for his glass kitchen bins. She also designed and built a 30-foot long by 7-foot tall vertical herb and flower garden as a backdrop to his outdoor pool.
A 3-acre Encino estate owned at different times by such celebs as PHIL HARRIS, GEORGE GOBEL and ADOLPHE MENJOU is being developed into four spec homes, each with a tennis court.
Barry Bierman, who is preserving the original pool house built in the ‘30s and many mature oaks, pines, eucalyptus and palms, is developing the property.
Two of the houses are being marketed at $2,375,000 each. One of these is a Santa Barbara Spanish-style home, listed with Sonny Fox at Douglas Properties, and the other is a Country French estate, listed with Maurice Kozak of Rich Gold Residential.
A third house, with Mediterranean architecture, is for sale through the developer at $2.75 million. The fourth house was sold.
