New Plot for ‘Fargo’ Star
Actor WILLIAM H. MACY, who will appear in the upcoming movie “A Civil Action” with John Travolta and the remake of “Psycho,” and his wife, actress FELICITY HUFFMAN, have purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for about $1 million, including two adjacent lots for privacy.
Macy, a successful stage and screen actor, had his breakthrough screen role, for which he received an Oscar nomination, as the car salesman who arranges the kidnapping of his wife in the movie “Fargo” (1996). Since then, he has had supporting roles in such 1997 hits as “Air Force One,” “Wag the Dog” and “Boogie Nights.”
He also co-wrote and starred in the USA Network drama “The Con,” which aired in March, has had a recurring role as the hospital chief of staff on the NBC series “ER” and directed the 1997 New York stage production “The Joy of Being Somewhere Different.” He is a co-founder, with David Mamet, of the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City.
Huffman, a Broadway actress who studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, plays Dana Whitaker, a strong-willed producer, on the new ABC series “Sports Night.” She also has appeared on the TV series “Law & Order,” “Chicago Hope” and “The X-Files.”
Macy, 48, and Huffman, 35, bought a house with city and canyon views on more than an acre, including the lots. Built in 1951, the 3,000-square-foot house, with two bedrooms plus maid’s quarters, had not been on the market in almost 40 years.
The couple plan to do a major renovation of the traditional-style home, which has a motor court, large pool and long private drive.
Darryl Wilson, who also has an interior design firm, represented the couple in buying their new home through Nelson Shelton & Associates, Beverly Hills.
Darrell Wallace of John Aaroe & Associates, Beverly Hills, had the listing.
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Two Beverly Hills houses purchased by the SULTAN OF BRUNEI in 1989 have been listed at $6.4 million each. The Mediterranean-style, 9,000-square-foot houses were newly built when the sultan bought them. Each house has four family bedrooms and quarters for two maids.
They also share a garden and pool area, and could be used, as they have been, as a two-house, two-acre compound.
The houses bring to four the number of Westside residential properties put up for sale by the sultan since early September, when he listed a house in Bel-Air at $16.8 million and a house in Beverly Hills at $12.8 million.
The sultan, who is 52 and one of the richest men in the world, has been battling a fall in oil prices and a family feud over the excessive spending of his brother, Prince Jefri.
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Singer-songwriter JIMMY BUFFETT has sold his Key West estate for $900,000 to duPont Publishing, according to a Playboy spokesman in Beverly Hills. Playboy owns about a 20% interest in the duPont Registry of Fine Homes, a duPont publication.
The two-house compound will be used as a corporate retreat. The 3,000-square-foot compound has a swimming pool, wine cellar, commercial kitchen and sauna. The property is on a canal that allows boating, fishing and diving.
Buffett, 51, wrote his gold-record hit “Margaritaville” while living in the compound in 1977. He sold the houses because he wanted to live closer to Margaritaville, his bar-restaurant, and his recording studio in the Old Town area of Key West.
Buffett recently opened a second Margaritaville in Charleston, S.C.
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Producers RICHARD and LILI FINI ZANUCK have listed their Beverly Hills-area home at just under $20 million.
The Zanucks produced the Oscar-winning “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989). Richard Zanuck, 63, the son of legendary studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, produced “Deep Impact” (1998), starring Robert Duvall. Lili Fini Zanuck, 44, directed one of the segments of the HBO anthology “From the Earth to the Moon” (1998).
The couple, married since 1978, built their three-bedroom 11,000-square-foot house in 1992. A Williamsburg colonial with brick exterior, the house was built on a lot sold to them by singer Kenny Rogers in 1987 for $2.8 million. Rogers planned to build but changed his mind.
The home, in a gate-guarded development, has a view of the city.
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Psychologist IRENE KASSORLA, whose celebrity clientele included Monica Lewinsky from 1992 through 1997, and Kassorla’s husband, mathematician-computer scientist NORMAN FREIDMANN, have put their Italian-style Holmby Hills estate on the market at $18.9 million.
Lewinsky’s revelations to the psychologist regarding President Clinton were reported in the Starr report.
The 20,000-square-foot home on 2 1/2 acres has been on and off the market several times since Kassorla and Friedmann built it in 1990 on the site of Jack Benny’s former home. “My mother loves to build,” said Ronnie Kassorla, who has the listing at John Bruce Nelson & Associates.
The psychologist and her husband plan to build a home in Italy and keep a smaller residence in the L.A. area, their daughter said. A former KABC-TV personality, Irene Kassorla is working on a book, writing a monthly column and making TV guest appearances. Her husband, once CEO of a Silicon Valley computer company, is an industry consultant.
The Holmby Hills home has a main house with four bedrooms and quarters for a staff of two; a guest house with two bedrooms and an office; a pool with a pavilion; and five kitchens. The dining room can seat 40 people. Situated behind 14-foot-tall gates, the estate also has a 50-foot-long reflection pool, sunken tennis court and a motor court for 50 cars.
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Recording studio chief ALLEN SIDES and his record producer wife, ANNE, have listed their Encino home at $2.1 million.
He is the owner of Ocean Way in Hollywood, one of the busiest recording studios in the world. Such hits as Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable” were recorded there, as well as songs by Beck, Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand.
The studio, which has several buildings, including actor Douglas Fairbanks’ sound stage dating from 1900, has been owned by Allen Sides since 1977.
The couple’s home was owned by actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. for about 20 years. Built in 1934, the 6,500-square-foot traditional-style house has five bedrooms and guest quarters. The house also has nine fireplaces. The 1 1/2-acre property has stables and a small lake.
The couple also own a 20,000-square-foot house on 25 acres, which they are selling for $1.1 million, in Macon, Ga. They plan to move from Encino to the Westside.
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Paul Czako of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
Drummer VINNY APPICE, who performs with the heavy-metal band Black Sabbath, and his wife, Justine, have sold their Woodland Hills house for close to its listing price of $519,000 and moved to a nearby townhome.
Built in the 1950s, the house has four bedrooms, a pool and a spa.
The drummer, 41, went on tour earlier this year with the band, which expects to release a new album by Halloween.
Katherine Stark of Fred Sands’ Woodland Hills office represented the Appices; Rochelle Cohn of Sands’ Beverly Hills Estates office represented the attorney who bought their house.
