‘Captain’ Is Drawn to the Marina
Actor Nicolas Cage has purchased a beachfront home in Marina del Rey for about $2.7 million.
The newly built home has four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in about 4,400 square feet. It has ocean views from most of the rooms, and it has a rooftop deck.
The winner of a best actor Oscar (for “Leaving Las Vegas,” 1995) also has homes in Bel-Air, New Orleans and Malibu, where he owns nearly 400 acres of land. In December, he bought an acre of land in Bel-Air for about $6 million.
Cage, 38, co-stars with Meryl Streep in “Adaptation,” a movie due out later this year. He has the leading role of a World War II soldier assigned to protect Native American code breakers in “Windtalkers,” to be released June 14.
He is also making his feature directorial debut with the movie “Sonny,” filmed recently in New Orleans. While making the movie, starring James Franco (“Freaks and Geeks”), Cage bought a 200-year-old house in the French Quarter of the city.
Cage co-starred with Penelope Cruz in “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” released last year.
Flea, bassist with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has sold his home off Mulholland Drive for slightly more than $1.5 million.
The buyer is Ben Silverman, chief executive of Reveille, an independent studio that is backed by Vivendi Universal.
The bicoastal Silverman, 31, is said to be planning to keep his apartment in New York.
The Country English-style home that Silverman purchased is on almost two acres behind gates and at the end of a long, private drive. Built in 1948, the three-bedroom compound includes a main house with panoramic city views and a den/office; a detached recording studio, hiking trails and a pool.
Flea, also known as Michael Balzary, is moving to Malibu, according to Realtors in the beach community. The Australian-born rocker, 39, was a co-founder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983.
Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, represented Silverman in buying, and Barry Sloane of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, had the listing, sources said.
Comedian, actor and director Howard Morris, a regular cast member and writer on TV in the ‘50s with Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” has purchased the Hancock Park-area home of actor Christopher Lloyd, best known for his roles in the movie “Back to the Future” and the TV comedy series “Taxi.”
Morris, 82, bought the house for $675,000. Built in the ‘20s, the house has two bedrooms in just under 2,000 square feet, plus a guest house.
It was Lloyd’s home for 20 years, and, during that time, it had been a “work in progress” for the actor and architect Robert De Young, who planted rare and exotic plants in the yard and installed such art pieces inside as a ceramic counter said to resemble works of Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi.
Morris appeared in such movies as “Boys’ Night Out” (1962), “The Nutty Professor” (1963), “High Anxiety” (1977), “History of the World: Part I” (1981) and “Life Stinks” (1991). He directed many TV series and such movies as “Who’s Minding the Mint” (1967). He also appeared on many TV series and was a regular voice in “The Jetsons,” “The Flintstones” and “Mr. Magoo.”
Lloyd, 63, appeared in the HBO adaptation of “Wit” (2001). He also appeared as himself in the movie “Man on the Moon” (1999) and played Uncle Martin in the movie “My Favorite Martian” (1999).
Susan Chadney of Prudential John Aaroe, Hancock Park, had the listing. Mikki Wood of Sotheby’s, Beverly Hills, represented Morris in buying.
Actress Cheryl Chase, who does the voice of Angelica in the “Rugrats” animated series and movies, has purchased a home in the Sunset Strip area and put her former home in Valencia on the market.
The house she bought, for slightly more than $800,000, has three bedrooms in 2,000-plus square feet. The house was once owned by actress Betty Hutton.
The Cape Cod-style home was built in the mid-’50s but has been renovated. It has a fireplace in the living room and parking for three cars.
The home Chase listed, at just under $420,000, has four bedrooms in about 2,400 square feet. The home was built in 1999 and has had more than $115,000 in upgrades. Among the features are a loft, fireplace, breakfast bar, office/computer room and balcony. The community has a pool, spa and tennis courts.
Chase, who has worked on “Rugrats” for nearly a decade, is currently doing voices for “Angelica and Susie’s School Days,” due out in 2003.
She did the voices of Baby Elizabeth in the 1993 movie “Baby Boom,” starring Diane Keaton, and Baby Pubert in “Addams Family Values” (1987). She also did voice-over parts for Nickelodeon’s “Ren & Stimpy Show.”
Patrick Abbott at SCV Homes Inc. in Valencia has the listing.
Iris Karni at Re/Max represented Chase in buying her new home, which Keith Cox at Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, had listed.
A Laguna Beach home owned until 18 months ago by Richie Sambora, lead guitarist with the rock band Bon Jovi, has been listed at just under $1.8 million. Pop star Ricky Nelson owned the property in earlier days.
Sambora, who is now married to “Spin City” star Heather Locklear, spent two years redoing the house after he bought it in 1988. In 1990, he had the house gutted and rebuilt with no nails, to resemble Craftsman-style homes built in the early 1900s in Pasadena.
Before they were married in 1994, Locklear was impressed with what Sambora had accomplished on the house, said listing agent Patrick Tenore of Nationwide USA Real Estate in Newport Beach.
Sambora sold the house when Locklear bought a larger one in the same neighborhood. Now Locklear is considering buying back the smaller house to use for their guests, Tenore said. The Realtor originally sold the house to Sambora and has since handled other deals for the couple.
Situated in a gated community a few steps to the ocean, the house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms in nearly 1,600 square feet. The home also has ocean views, a private spa and a view deck capable of holding 50 people.
Want to see previous columns on celebrity realty transactions? Visit www.latimes.com/hotproperty for more Hot Properties.
