This Move to Las Vegas Is a Family Matter

JoMarie Payton, who plays Mrs. Freeman on “Will & Grace” and was a regular as the mother on the hit sitcom “Family Matters,” and her husband, novelist Landrus Clark, have listed their home in the hills of Ladera Heights at $1.8 million.

Payton, who played Harriette Winslow on “Family Matters,” also portrayed Hakeem’s mother on the series “Moesha.”

She and her husband are selling their home so that they can move to Las Vegas, where she plans to pursue her singing career. She has a singing style reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan’s and Dinah Washington’s.

Payton and Clark have owned their Ladera Heights home since it was built in 1993. The Cape Cod-style home, behind gates, has five bedrooms and a recreation room in 5,000 square feet. The home also has three fireplaces, a large redwood deck, a gazebo, an outdoor kitchen, an outdoor sound system and a garden.

Payton loves to entertain, and her home has a yard that can accommodate hundreds of guests. The home, with mountain and canyon views, also has a pool and a spa.

Ernestine (Tina) Rivers of T.R. Realty Co., Inglewood, has the listing.

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Galen Gering, who plays Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald on the NBC daytime drama “Passions,” and his wife, actress Jenna Hudlett, have purchased a Hollywood Hills home for slightly more than its $749,000 asking price.

Gering, 29, was one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World,” published in May.

The couple, married earlier this year, purchased a three-bedroom 2,200-square-foot Spanish-style home with high ceilings, decorative ironwork and a large yard. Built in 1927, the house was recently renovated and has an updated kitchen and baths.

Michael Medina of Fred Sands’ Brentwood office represented the buyers. Paul Kellogg of Coldwell Banker had the listing.

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Judy Larkin, widow of “Scatman John” Larkin, has put her San Fernando Valley home on the market at $849,000.

“Scatman John,” a lifelong stutterer who turned his speech problem into fame as a scat singer, died late last year at 57. Larkin, who had the ability to sing chords with as many as four notes at a time, liked to tell children that he was proof that problems, like his stuttering, can become assets.

He had been a jazz pianist and songwriter before turning to scat singing, selling 8 million CDs and earning 14 gold and 18 platinum records.

The couple bought their home, in Fryman Canyon, about six years ago.

“It’s a big house for me with too many memories,” said Judy Larkin, who is a granddaughter of singer-dancer Eddie Cantor and songwriter Jimmy McHugh. (He wrote such tunes as “I’m in the Mood for Love” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.”) She bought a smaller house nearby.

The house she is selling was built in 1938 and has four bedrooms in just under 3,000 square feet. The property also has a pool and a small forest.

Cissy Wellman of Coldwell Banker, Studio City/Brentwood, has the listing.

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Hot Property runs Thursdays in SoCal Living and Sundays in Real Estate. Ryon may be reached at ruth.ryon@latimes.com.