A Partridge Refeathers Nest
Oscar-winning actress-singer Shirley Jones, who appeared earlier this month on the first of several segments of “The Drew Carey Show,” and her husband, comic-actor Marty Ingels, have completed a major renovation of their longtime Beverly Hills home.
“It all started in November 1996, when I decided I wanted to turn one of my backyard garages into an office-guest house,” Ingels said.
The project, expected to cost about $250,000, wound up setting Jones and Ingels back close to $1 million, but the work also grew to include a game room with video machines, a larger master suite, a new slate roof and new plumbing and electrical throughout the house, built in 1954 and owned by Jones since 1965. She and Ingels were married in 1977.
The house was expanded from 5,422 square feet to more than 8,200 square feet. “And the feat goes on,” Ingels said. The major work inside is done, but the new pool and waterfall rock garden are still under construction, and Ingels is contemplating a kitchen remodel next year.
“I know it will all be gorgeous and wonderful, but we had to go to a hotel twice because the water at home had to be turned off,” Ingels said. “Besides, if there’s one thing that can test a marriage, it’s the disarray of new construction.”
Jones, 64, was “not exactly excited” about renovating the house even at the beginning, Ingels said. “Every time she saw a new wall, she figured she’d have to give 14 more concerts.” The star of such musicals as “Carousel” often appears in concert.
Jones, who played the mother on the ‘70s TV sitcom “The Partridge Family” and won her Oscar for best supporting actress in “Elmer Gantry” (1960), co-stars with Charlton Heston in the upcoming movie “Gideon’s Web.”
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Sandy Gooch, founder of the pioneering natural-food market chain Mrs. Gooch’s, and her husband, Harry Lederman, are building three Beverly Hills-area houses on spec that were designed to be environmentally conscious.
Gooch, now in her early 60s, sold her company and its seven L.A.-area stores to Whole Foods Market in 1993. At the time, the firms were the nation’s two biggest natural-food supermarket chains.
The couple hopes to attract the same kind of home buyers who were customers at her markets, which catered to upscale health-conscious shoppers.
Priced at just under $4 million, the first house has six bedrooms, a media room, bonus room or office, breakfast room and library in 9,000-plus square feet, with a valley view.
The house also has a four-car garage with a plug for an electric car; dual-glazed windows; a central vacuum system and a low-noise energy-saving heating and air-conditioning system with electronic humidification and air filtration for cleaner interiors.
Water- and energy-saving appliances were selected along with a commercial elevator, which is “smooth and silent,” Gooch said.
The houses were also designed to comply with feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of arranging buildings and furnishings harmoniously for good fortune and success. “Our clients may not know if they believe in it, but many would like to think that feng shui was considered,” said Judy Cycon, who shares the listings with Joe Babajian, both of Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills.
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William Fordes, co-producer of the Emmy-winning NBC show “Law & Order,” and his wife have bought a 1940s Spanish-style home in Santa Monica.
The home, purchased for close to its $600,000 asking price, was remodeled in 1991 and features a tiled patio with a cooking area leading to a pool and spa. The two-bedroom 2,000-square-foot house also has detached guest quarters that are being used as an office.
Fordes, 45, was practicing law in New York in 1990 when he was hired as a technical consultant on “Law & Order.” He started writing for the program full time and moved to Los Angeles in 1992. His wife, Taryn, 37, works for KCET as a project administrator. They were previously renting in Santa Monica.
Rick Mitchell of John Aaroe & Associates, Brentwood, represented the couple in their purchase.
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Chef Harry Schwartz, host of the second-season PBS show “Chef Harry and Friends” and a syndicated food writer, and his wife, Laurie, have listed their Malibu home at $835,000.
“We want to sell because our daughter, who is 10, has won 84 ribbons with her Welsh pony,” he said. “We’d like to move where we can have a horse in our backyard.” The chef, 41, and his wife are looking in other parts of Malibu, he said. They also have a home in Maine.
Their Malibu home has three bedrooms in 2,200 square feet. It is on a gated street with a private beach. The house was built in 1963 and has been remodeledl; it has a pool and spa.
Katie Bentzen of Fred Sands Realtors, Malibu, has the listing.
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Albert Sendrey, orchestrator of more than 100 major motion pictures, including the ‘50s films “The Great Caruso” and “Raintree County,” has sold his Sunset Strip-area home and moved to a smaller home nearby. It was the first time that the house, built in 1937, had been on the market in 35 years.
Sendrey, 75, sold the house, with three bedrooms and guest apartment in about 2,000 square feet, for about $625,000.
The house, which also has a pool and city views from every room, was listed with Michael and Yaffa Lerner at their newly established company, Lerner Realty of Beverly Hills.
