Model Takes to the Hills
Supermodel-actress ELLE MACPHERSON has leased a Hollywood Hills home for a year, sources say. Macpherson, who appears in three movies this year, is said to have moved to L.A. because of her increasing work in films.
She had been living in a condo that she owns in New York City, where she opened the restaurant Fashion Cafe in 1995 with models Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell.
Macpherson is in the cast of Barbra Streisand’s romantic comedy “The Mirror Has Two Faces,” due to be released in the fall, and she co-starred in “If Lucy Fell,” released in March. Macpherson also played Blanche Ingram in Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” which was released in April.
A 6-foot-tall model featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Elle magazines, Macpherson, 32, made her feature acting debut in the comedy “Sirens” (1994), filmed in her native Australia.
She leased what has been described as “a romantic mini villa,” with three bedrooms in about 3,000 square feet. Built in the 1950s, the home was recently refurbished and redecorated. Macpherson rented it fully furnished for a year at about $6,000 a month, sources say.
The house, in a gated area, has tropical landscaping and is surrounded by decks with city and Valley views. The home has a pool.
Elaine Young at Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Beverly Hills, represented Macpherson.
BUZZ ALDRIN, one of the first two men on the moon when he and Neil Armstrong landed there in 1969, and his wife, Lois, have put their condo overlooking Beverly Hills on the market at $225,000.
The Aldrins live in the exclusive community of Emerald Bay, just north of Laguna Beach, and they have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho. They bought the condo, in West Hollywood across the street from Beverly Hills, in 1989 as a pied-a-terre, but they haven’t used the unit as much as they had expected, a source said.
Now that the former astronaut is on the speaking circuit and is about to have his science-fiction novel “Encounter With Tiber” in bookstores, he and his wife expect to travel around the world even more, sources say. Aldrin, 66, also wrote “Return to Earth” (1973) and “Men From Earth” (1989).
The 1,100-square-foot one-bedroom condo is in a 15-story tower, built in the 1960s. The unit is listed with Nancy Elkins Hinds of the Prudential-Jon Douglas Co., Beverly Hills.
The former Malibu home of JULIE ANDREWS and BLAKE EDWARDS has been razed and a six-bedroom Tuscan villa has been built in its place. Now it’s on the market at $12.5 million.
Edward Sacks, an investor from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., bought the famous couple’s retreat of 20 years in 1992 for about $8.5 million. Sacks then had the five-bedroom house and guest cottage “torn down to the ground,” a source said.
The new 9,000-square-foot residence and guest house were designed and furnished by Beverly Hills designer Ron Wilson, who has designed 17 houses for Cher.
The home, completed about 18 months ago, is on five acres overlooking the Pacific with a sandy beach, reached by way of 30 steps. There is also a 2,000-square-foot guest house on the property. Both houses have unobstructed ocean views. The property also has a tennis court, pool and glass and walled sculpture studio, all there when Andrews and Edwards owned the house.
Sacks moved to California from Florida after buying the Malibu home, and he probably will continue to live in the area, a source said.
The home is listed with Ellen Francisco of the Prudential-Jon Douglas Co., Malibu.
Guitarist STEVE VAI, whose next album is expected to be released in September, has been refurbishing a two-acre Encino home he purchased recently for $1.2 million. Vai, 35, was in Frank Zappa’s band and then Whitesnake.
He plans to rent out his current residence in Hollywood when he moves into the Encino house. He built a Chatsworth house that went on the market in January at $1.1 million.
Enola Burrell of Coldwell Banker, Woodland Hills-Calabasas, represented the seller of the Encino home, and Lynn Weiss of Coldwell Banker, Sherman Oaks, represented Vai and has his listing.
DAN SHERBONDY, owner of the Australian Beach Club chain of restaurant-nightclubs, has completed construction on his 7,000-square-foot home in the hills of Brea.
Not surprisingly, the $1.2-million home has its own nightclub, with a deejay-type sound system, bar, strobe lights, black lights, mirror ball, dance floor, pool table, air-hockey game and table-tennis table. The home also has a four-car garage plus a garage for a 35-foot motor home.
Five years ago, Sherbondy, now 32, was living out of his car after going through a divorce, he said. Then, having hurt his back, he retired as a firefighter with about $15,000 to open his first club. Now, with clubs in San Bernardino, Burbank and Fullerton, Sherbondy has built his mansion on two acres with city, ocean and mountain views.
The five-bedroom house also has a theater, dark room, weight room and backyard plans for a 100-foot-high water slide.
SUSIE FIELD, who was once married to movie producer Ted Field (“Three Men and a Baby”), has listed her Bel-Air home at $6.4 million. She bought it in April 1995, for $4.7 million.
Built in 1925, the home is on 2 1/2 acres along the Bel-Air Country Club. Field remodeled and expanded the house during the last year. It now has nine bedrooms and eight baths in 8,000 square feet, including a two-bedroom guest house.
Field also had a children’s play “village” built for her youngsters. The village has a schoolhouse, beauty salon and church, all with electricity and running water.
Field, 32, wants to go to Europe for three months to travel, so she has listed the home for lease, at $60,000 a month, as well as for sale. The home is listed with Newport Beach Realtor Spyro Kemble.