New Wife, Life for Rocker Rod
Rock star ROD STEWART put his longtime Holmby Hills home on the market at $14.5 million last week, just before his planned wedding over this weekend to New Zealand model RACHEL HUNTER.
“Basically, that’s why he wants to move,” said his publicist, Annie Challis. “He’s starting a new life.”
Stewart--known for such hit songs as “Maggie May,” “Tonight’s the Night” and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”--expects to release a new album in February, and he has scheduled an 18-month European tour to begin in April. His bride plans to go along on the tour and to do some modeling assignments while overseas, Challis added.
Eventually, the newlyweds will buy another house here, said listing broker Asher Dann, “but they’ll see what happens with the sale of this one before they buy something else.”
Hunter, 21, had been living in New York, and Stewart, 45, had been living in Essex, England, although he has owned the mansion in Holmby Hills for 15 years, even during his first marriage to actress/model Alana Stewart.
The two-story, Mediterranean-style mansion has a master suite with two fireplaces, three family bedrooms, three maid’s rooms, a ballroom with ceilings about 50 feet high, a minstrel gallery and two family rooms in an estimated 15,000 square feet.
“There are beautiful vistas from most of the rooms, patios and balconies,” Dann said. The 2.2-acre property also has a swimming pool, paddle tennis court, motor court and private driveway, off the same street where actors Gregory Peck and Barbra Streisand have homes.
Stewart’s home was built in 1926 for a couple who moved from the East Coast to retire and escape the harsh winters. It was designed by architect George Washington Smith, who was responsible for many of the large houses in Santa Barbara.
ANTHONY KIEDIS, songwriter and lead singer with the funk/punk/rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, has purchased a Hollywood Hills home for $650,000.
The home has a private, serene setting said to be inspiring some songs for an upcoming album.
Formed seven years ago, the group started getting some recognition this past year with three nominations for music video awards following a world tour.
Kiedis’ new 2,600-square-foot home has three bedrooms, an atrium entry with vaulted ceilings and city and canyon views. He was represented by Deirdre J. Hollenbeck of James R. Gary & Co., Woodland Hills.
The late EUGENE KLEIN’S El Rancho Del Rayo, a 33-acre estate in Rancho Santa Fe, has been listed at $21 million, including a number of outdoor sculptures valued at several million dollars. One of the sculptures was created by the late Henry Moore.
Klein, who died of a heart attack at age 69 last March, was a well-known collector of modern art. He was also owner of the San Diego Chargers for 18 years and was a three-time winner of the Eclipse Award, given to America’s leading thoroughbred owner.
Built for Klein and his wife, Joyce, 10 years ago, the home has three bedrooms, two staff quarters, 13 baths, six fireplaces and seven wet bars. The main house is about 15,000 square feet in size, including a 7,000-bottle wine cellar. The cellar is fully stocked, but the asking price does not include the wine.
The property also has a swimming pool, tennis court, 2,000 lemon trees, a half-mile-long driveway and a front door dating back to 16th Century Spain.
Architect Ted Grenzbach, who has designed homes for Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore as well as many other celebrities, designed the house in a style termed “early-California adobe.”
El Rancho Del Rayo means “Ranch of the Lightning Bolt” and was so named for the San Diego Chargers, according to George Thomas, who shares the listing with Andy Nelson of Willis M. Allen Co., Rancho Santa Fe.
JUDY POLONE, who recently resigned as a Hearst Entertainment executive to form her own company to develop TV programming as a joint venture with Hearst, has purchased a home off Mulholland Drive for about $1 million.
Polone, executive producer of the TV movies “Her Secret Life” and supervising producer of the TV movie “Sparks: The Price of Passion,” moved from a smaller home in West Hollywood, which was just sold, two weeks after it was listed at $395,000.
Her new home, a remodeled post-and-beam contemporary, has three bedrooms and maid’s quarters in 3,300 square feet.
The house had belonged to realtor Barry Sloane. He represented himself in the sale, and Edward Fitz represented Polone. Both are with Dalton, Brown & Long.
