Actor Gives Up Role as Rancher

ROBERT WAGNER, known for his suave and mildly roguish roles as a television detective, has sold his 80-acre horse ranch in Hidden Valley, near Thousand Oaks, for close to its $7-million asking price, sources say.

Wagner had owned the ranch with its stables and other facilities for 10 years, other sources said.

Known as RJ Farms, the ranch is near homes of such stars as Sophia Loren and Tom Selleck. The buyer was identified as El Campeon Farms, another horse ranch operation.

Wagner, 67, has appeared in more than 30 movies, including “Delirious” (1991). He starred as a thief-turned-detective in the series “It Takes a Thief” (on ABC, 1968-1970) and “Switch” (on CBS, 1975-’78), and he co-starred with Stefanie Powers as a husband-wife detective team in the series “Hart to Hart” (on ABC, 1979-1984).

The actor, also a producer, is married to actress Jill St. John and has three daughters from former marriages. Actress Natalie Wood, who died in 1981, was the mother of two of the daughters, including one whom Wagner adopted.

Wagner has a home in Bel-Air and recently purchased a larger ranch in Northern California, sources said.

Bill Carter and Rob Werner, both of Young Realtors Estates Division in Westlake Village, represented Wagner in the Hidden Valley ranch sale.

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ELLEN DeGENERES, 39, has sold her former home in the Hollywood Hills for about $1 million, sources say. De Generes, star of the ABC sitcom “Ellen,” purchased a Beverly Hills-area home earlier this year for about $3 million.

The gated Hollywood Hills home has three bedrooms plus a detached guest house, pool and canyon and city views. It was built in the 1950s and later refurbished.

The buyer is a writer-producer of “Seinfeld.”

Ann Eysenring of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, and Barry Sloane of Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills, had the listing, other sources said.

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FESS PARKER, who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone on two popular TV series of the 1950s and 1960s, and his wife, Marcy, closed escrow last week on a Montecito home at about its $2.5-million asking price. The Parkers also have a home at their winery and vineyard in Los Olivos.

The house they just bought has three bedrooms and a pool pavilion in 5,000 square feet, with high ceilings and doorways, “because Fess is 6-foot-5,” said Paul O’Keeffe, who represented the Parkers in their purchase.

The Parkers also own a 3,000-square-foot split-level home with a guest house in Montecito, which they have listed at about $1.2 million with O’Keeffe, an independent broker, and Dan Encell, Fred Sands Realtors, Montecito.

Parker, 71, plans to build another hotel next to the Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara, in which he maintains a 50% interest. Parker built the Doubletree as a Red Lion Inn Resort in 1987.

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Actress YVETTE MIMIEUX, featured on a just-released yoga workout video, has put her Beverly Hills-area house up for lease at $8,750 a month, furnished.

The house has been leased previously to such actors as Ben Kingsley and Rob Morrow. Mimieux, in her mid-50s, and her husband, real estate magnate Howard Ruby, live in Bel-Air.

The Beverly Hills-area house is on a promontory reached by way of a long, gated drive. The house has two bedrooms, a den, a guest house and a pool. Paul Czako of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

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The Beverly Hills home of BERNARD LAFFERTY, the butler of late tobacco heiress Doris Duke, has been sold for $1.9 million, sources say. Lafferty, who died last November at 51, had purchased the seven-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot home for $2.4 million in June 1996.

The buyer in the court-approved deal was described as “an international computer person who is in Europe a lot.”

Proceeds from the sale are expected to be returned to the Doris Duke Foundation. Duke died in 1993 at 80, leaving a $1.2-billion estate.

Sid Kibrick had the listing at Fred Sands Estates, directors office, Beverly Hills.

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A Beverly Hills house built in 1929 for the GUGGENHEIM family, who pioneered the U.S. mining industry and developed international mining interests, has been listed at $7.9 million. The house was for sale in 1993 at $10.5 million.

The 12,000-square-foot, Italian palazzo-style home, on an acre overlooking the L.A. Country Club, has a 40-foot-tall entry hall, 50-foot living room and tea house with hand-painted ceilings.

The mansion is listed with Raymond Bekeris of John Bruce Nelson & Associates, Bel-Air, and Melissa Shoup of the Prudential-Jon Douglas Co., Brentwood.

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A 7,600-square-foot house on four acres in Bel-Air has been sold for nearly $6.5 million to a Canadian industrialist who plans to tear down existing structures and build a home, sources say.

Before the 1950 mansion was built, the site was a botanical garden for an adjacent estate. The property still has more than 50 specimen trees, which the buyer intends to retain. The house was once owned by the late Al Hart, founder of City National Bank.

Loren Judd of Stan Herman-Stephen Shapiro & Associates, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, and Raymond Bekeris of John Bruce Nelson & Associates had the listing.

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The 2,800-acre El Capitan Ranch, along the ocean in Santa Barbara County, is on the market at $12.75 million.

Once owned by JULES BERMAN, who brought Kahlua to America, the ranch has a beach; campground, equestrian complex, polo field, paddocks and pastures. It is owned by Texaco, which drilled for oil there but didn’t find any.

Kerry Mormann, a Santa Barbara real estate broker, has the listing.