‘Trading’ Places a la Hollywood
Oscar- and Emmy-winning producer DAVID WOLPER and his wife, GLORIA, have “traded” homes with Tony- and Grammy-winning lyricist/composer JERRY HERMAN, who composed “Hello, Dolly!” “La Cage aux Folles” and “Mame.”
The Wolpers sold their 18,000-square-foot Bel-Air home to Herman in exchange for his 3,500-square-foot, Sunset Strip-area home and about $2 million in cash, sources say.
Herman’s two-bedroom house had been on the market at just under $2 million, slightly more than he paid for it a year ago. The Wolpers’ last asking price was $4.9 million. The Wolpers originally listed their home of 15 years in January, 1992, at $7,775,000.
Wolper, executive producer of the 1993 movie “Flood: Who Will Save Our Children?” and the TV miniseries “Queen,” produced the miniseries “The Thorn Birds” and “Roots” as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
In April, Wolper, 65, became chairman of his production company and shifted the title of president to his son, Mark. At the time, the elder Wolper announced that he would continue to be actively involved in the L.A.-based firm but would “take it a little easier.” The elder Wolpers have a 30-acre home in the Napa Valley, where they plan to spend most of their time.
Herman, 60, “switched homes” with the Wolpers, as he put it, because he plans to spend more time in Los Angeles, making it his permanent residence. “Mr. and Mrs. Wolper wanted a smaller home there, and I wanted a larger place,” he said by phone from New York.
“I have a wonderful penthouse in New York City, overlooking Central Park, but I really want my home to be out there in California, because I love it there; I love the climate, and I have so many friends out there.”
The Bel-Air home, which overlooks the Bel-Air Golf Course, has four bedrooms, two maid’s quarters, a two-story projection room, artist’s studio, office suite and memorabilia gallery.
Kay Pick of Mike Silverman Estates, a Jon Douglas Co., represented the Wolpers, and Joe Kyle of Mimi Styne & Associates represented Jerry Herman.
LA LANTERNE, a 13,000-square-foot Bel-Air home designed to resemble a Versailles chateau, has been sold for $12.5 million, sources say.
The house, completed on 1.6 acres about 10 years ago for multimillionaire oilman Howard B. Keck Sr. and his wife, Libby, was purchased by W. Jerry Sanders III, founder and chairman of Silicon Valley-based Advanced Micro Devices, and his wife, Tawny.
La Lanterne, which took four years to plan and an additional four years to build, was put on the market at $19 million as part of a divorce settlement. Its last asking price was $14.4 million.
Also known as “The House of Light,” the limestone-faced mansion has 10 imported fireplaces, a conservatory, art gallery, projection room, wine cellar and eight bedrooms, including the master suite, which occupies the entire second floor.
The buyers have listed their smaller--10,000-square-foot-plus--Bel-Air villa, with a tennis court and screening room, at $5.3 million with Barbara Duskin of Jon Douglas Co.’s Beverly Hills office. Duskin also represented the couple in their purchase, and Deirdre Daniels, of the same office, had the listing.
Director/producer TONY BILL and his wife, producer HELEN BARTLETT, have purchased a townhome in Venice for about $1 million, sources say.
The newly built townhome is in a 10-unit project called Ocean Front Walk, which is on the sand and has ocean views from the living and dining rooms, master bedrooms and kitchens.
Bill and Bartlett added such custom touches to their unit as two libraries and an indoor lap pool. Bill directed “A Home of Our Own,” starring Kathy Bates, and “Untamed Heart,” which was co-produced by Bartlett and co-stars Christian Slater and Marissa Tomei.
A Whittier home that was designed and built in 1951 for architect Albert C. Martin Jr. with a retractable skylight roof, glass walls and heated floors has been listed at $1.9 million.
Martin, whose father collaborated with John Parkinson and John C. Austin in the 1926 design of Los Angeles City Hall, lived in the home with his family for 25 years, said Jojo Hazelrigg, owner/broker of Greentree Properties in Whittier, which has the listing.
Hazelrigg bought the home with her husband, Wayne, in 1989. “But despite the amazement we enjoy each time we flip a switch and retract the roof to uncover a sunlit day or a starry night, we’ve accepted the fact that it’s a property for a large family,” she said.
The 5,000-square-foot home, which has five bedrooms and guest/maid’s quarters in a multilevel series of rooms, is on nearly 2.4 acres in the equestrian-zoned development known as Friendly Hills. The home also has a barn, pool house and tennis court.
