Happy Ending to His Hunting
Ben Affleck, who gained fame with Matt Damon when they co-starred in and won a best original screenplay Oscar for “Good Will Hunting” (1996), has purchased a Hollywood Hills home for about $1.7 million.
After winning the Oscar, Affleck, 26, co-starred with Bruce Willis in “Armageddon,” appeared opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes in “Shakespeare in Love” and co-starred with Sandra Bullock in “Forces of Nature.”
He appears in the ensemble drama “200 Cigarettes”; the Billy Bob Thornton comedy “Daddy and Them,” due out in October; and director John Frankenheimer’s “Reindeer Games,” expected to be released in December.
Affleck bought a Spanish-style home that was built in the early 1990s and has been completely refurbished, say sources not involved in the deal. The house, which has six bedrooms in about 8,000 square feet, also has an elevator, canyon views, two fountains, a pool and a spa.
He has been living in an apartment off Sunset Boulevard and a loft in Manhattan.
The home that he bought had been listed by Joe Babajian of Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills, and Affleck was represented by Judy Ross of Coldwell Banker.
British-born actor Tim Roth, who has gained a cult following playing streetwise characters in such independent films as Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” (1992) and “Pulp Fiction” (1994), and his wife, fashion designer Nicki Butler, have purchased a Pasadena home for close to its $1.9-million asking price.
Roth, 38, also co-starred with Gary Oldman in the movie “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” (1990) and was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actor in “Rob Roy” (1995). Roth played an ex-con who attracts Drew Barrymore in Woody Allen’s musical “Everyone Says I Love You” (1996). He is making his debut as a feature-film director with “The War Zone,” to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
Roth and his wife purchased a Mediterranean-style villa with five bedrooms, a library, butler’s pantry and breakfast room in about 5,000 square feet. Built in the 1920s by architects Reginald Johnson, Gordon B. Kaufmann and Roland Coate, the home also has a courtyard and garden views.
Boyd Smith and Maggie Navarro of Coldwell Banker-Previews, Pasadena, had the listing, other sources said.
Arranger-conductor Ray Ellis, who worked recently with Adam Sandler on a soon-to-be-released CD in which the comic actor sings, and his wife, Yvette, have put their Ojai home on the market at $1.9 million.
The veteran musician, originally a jazz saxophonist, has written, produced and recorded songs for such top vocalists as Billie Holiday, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett and Paul Anka.
The Ellises, married 53 years, are ready to move to a smaller home in Ojai. “This is a little too big for us and the two poodles,” he said. The five-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot-plus home is on two acres.
Yvette Ellis designed the house, built in 1980, to look like an old villa that she had seen in Tuscany. An avid cook, she designed the kitchen to have a baking area and a built-in covered barbecue. The dining room can seat up to 50 guests.
The living room, which has a 14-foot-high ceiling, has room for a grand piano and as many as 125 people. The home also has a soundproof office-music room, an exercise room and a game room. The grounds have a tennis court and a pool.
Lerie Bjornstedt and Holly Humphrey have the listing at Prudential Ojai Realty.
A Beverly Hills home built for comic actor Buster Keaton in 1925 and most recently owned by actress-writer Pamela Mason, who died in 1996, has been sold to two developers for just under $5 million.
Mason had owned the home since the late 1940s, when she and her then-husband, actor James Mason, bought it. Actor Cary Grant and actress Barbara Hutton owned the home after they were married in 1942. Keaton lived in the house into the 1930s.
The new owners, John Bercsi and Christopher Bedrosian, plan to do a major renovation. The 10,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style house has five bedrooms plus maid’s quarters, a two-story guest house, a tennis court and a pool. The 1.5-acre property is at the end of a private drive.
Ed Fitz of Nourmand & Associates, Beverly Hills, represented the buyers.
Raymond Bekeris of John Bruce Nelson & Associates had the listing.
Longtime CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian and Lois R. Mills have purchased the Beverly Hills-area home of the late Jerome Factor, a member of the Max Factor cosmetics family, for about its $2.85-million asking price.
Chirkinian, who has won four Emmys and a Peabody for golf coverage, showed television how to cover the sport, directing the first PGA championships and pioneering sound, camera angles and quick-cut coverage to get in as much action as possible. He worked his first golf tournament for TV in 1958 and still handles golf coverage for CBS.
Factor, who died about a year ago, built the house in 1976 for his wife, Alida. The 6,200-square-foot house has a 2,500-square-foot master suite plus staff quarters and a guest bedroom.
Bernice and Janine Gershon of Coldwell Banker-Jon Douglas Co., Beverly Hills, had the listing, and Beverly Sassoon and Marie Healey of Prudential-John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, represented the buyers, who plan to redesign the home.
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