She Hits Jackpot in Beverly Hills
Debbie Reynolds has purchased a home in the Beverly Hills area for just under $1 million.
Reynolds, 68, just finished filming the upcoming ABC-TV movie “These Old Broads” with Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins. The film, co-written by Reynolds’ daughter, Carrie Fisher, is due to air Feb. 12.
For a number of years Reynolds owned a hotel and casino in Las Vegas.
The hacienda-style home that Reynolds bought was built in 1934 and was once the chauffeur/guest house of an estate later owned by Oscar-winning costume designer Edith Head.
Screenwriter Charles Bennett owned Reynolds’ new home from 1938 until his death at 95 in 1995. Bennett, who received the Screen Laurel award for lifetime achievement from the Writers Guild of America, wrote more than 50 films, including seven directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Among the 25 movies that Bennett wrote in the house were Hitchcock’s Oscar-nominated “Foreign Correspondent” (1940), Cecil B. DeMille’s “Reap the Wild Wind” (1942) and the cult classic “Curse of the Demon” (1958).
Bennett also entertained such guests as Hitchcock, Boris Karloff, Errol Flynn, Sir Cedric Hardwick and Joan Fontaine in the house.
Occasionally, when Bennett traveled abroad, sometimes to his native England, he leased the property. Among the lessees were billionaire Howard Hughes and gangster Bugsy Siegel, who installed a living room mirror to watch for gunmen moving though the garden. Siegel was gunned down a few months after he moved out of the house.
Reynolds bought the house after it was put on the market for the first time in 62 years. It was sold by Bennett’s son, John.
Situated on an acre, the home has three bedrooms and three baths in about 2,500 square feet. Reynolds is working with an architect to expand the house.
Yvonne Hefner and Maureen McQuiston of Coldwell Banker Previews, Beverly Hills North office, represented both sides of the deal.
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John Stamos, who starred in the longtime ABC sitcom “Full House” and will star Dec. 20 in Fox’s Holiday movie “How to Marry a Billionaire,” and his wife, supermodel-turned-actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, have listed a parcel of land in Benedict Canyon, where they had planned to build an estate, at just under $2.2 million.
The actor, 37, played Uncle Jesse Katsopolis in “Full House” from 1987 to 1995 and made his Broadway debut in the ’95 revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Earlier this year, he had a co-starring role in the independent movie “Dropping Out,” produced “The Beach Boys: an American Family” for ABC, and is executive producer of a TV remake of “Butterflies Are Free,” starring his wife.
Romijn-Stamos, 28, recently appeared in the movie “X-Men” and is now working on the film “Rollerball,” due out in May.
The couple put in a road from Benedict Canyon and then listed the 3-acre property because they purchased another parcel, where they are building instead, in the hills of the North Valley.
The Benedict Canyon land is at the end of a cul-de-sac on a knoll with tranquil views. The sellers also have a drawing of a 10,000-square-foot home planned for the site.
Diane Sharp of Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
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Kathy Nelson, the newly named president of film music for Universal Music Group and Universal Pictures, has purchased a newly built, Mediterranean-style home in Studio City in the high $3-million range.
In her dual role, effective in January, Nelson will become the first executive to oversee soundtracks and feature film music at a major entertainment company. She has been president of film music at the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group for five years.
Nelson, who is looking forward to celebrating the holidays in her new home, listed her four-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills at about $1.5 million.
Her new home has five bedrooms plus maid’s quarters, a library and a breakfast room in about 8,500 square feet. The house, on slightly more than two acres, also has a panoramic valley view, a pool and a spa.
The home has specially designed accommodations for her dogs, including a heated and air-conditioned kennel.
Before buying her new home, Nelson sold a 1929 Spanish-style duplex built for the Dupars, owners of the landmark L.A. restaurants. Nelson had purchased it with some savings as a teenager in the late ‘70s. Bret Parsons, a design publishing executive, is the buyer.
Connie Nelson of Coldwell Banker Previews, Studio City, represented Nelson in her purchase. Connie Nelson and Beth Styne, of the same office, share the Hollywood Hills listing.
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The real estate that Gary Winnick, founder of Global Crossing, traded as part of his October purchase of the Bel-Air home of David H. Murdock, Castle & Cook’s chief executive, is being shown to prospective buyers at $32 million.
Winnick bought Murdock’s former 23,000-square-foot home on about 7.5 acres adjacent to the Bel-Air Country Club in a complex transaction that could be worth as much as $95 million, including the two home sites totaling 5 acres now for sale.
The sites, in Bel-Air, include a 4-acre parcel where the late Henry Salvatori, a confidant of Ronald Reagan, lived for many years. Before he bought the Murdock home, Winnick razed the 12,000-square-foot Salvatori house and tore down a house on an acre next door. Winnick had planned to build one 30,000-square-foot home in place of the two houses but bought the Murdock property instead.
The Salvatori house had been designed by architect Paul Williams, the same architect who designed the building and plaza now serving as the Beverly Hills headquarters of Global Crossing, the Pacific Capital Group and Colony Capital. The building was designed in the late ‘30s as the original headquarters for MCA, and it later served as home to Litton Corp.
In November, Winnick oversaw a dedication of his company’s new headquarters. The dedication also marked completion of a restoration.
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Clothing designer Carole Little has sold her Beverly Hills-area home for close to its $8.9-million asking price.
The buyer was described as a software executive. Little is staying in the L.A. area, sources said.
The company that operates dress house Carole Little and sportswear maker Chorus Line padlocked its doors earlier this month following an attempt by three suppliers to force Chorus Line to liquidate or reorganize. The company that owns Chorus Line also owns the Carole Little operations.
Little’s house was built in 1994 and has four bedrooms and seven baths in about 9,000 square feet. Behind gates with a stone driveway and a guardhouse, the Italian country-style main residence also has city-to-ocean views.
The 2.2-acre grounds also have a free-standing movie theater, a guest house and a pool.
Natalie Janger of DBL, Beverly Hills, was the selling agent, sources said.
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Did you miss Thursday’s Hot Property column in Southern California Living? Want to see previous columns on celebrity real estate transactions? Visit https://www.latimes.com/hotproperty for more Hot Properties.
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John Stamos and Carole Little
