Rock Solid in the Hills
Rock star Eddie Van Halen and his wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, have purchased a Hollywood Hills home for close to its $2.25-million asking price.
The traditional-style home has five bedrooms and six bathrooms in 5,200 square feet. Built in 1948 but recently remodeled, the home is on a promontory of about an acre. The house is behind gates with city views and rolling lawns, where Van Halen, an avid golfer, can practice his swing.
The house also has vaulted ceilings, two wood-burning fireplaces, a media and family room, a master suite with walk-in closets and a separate bedroom wing off the family room.
The couple, in their 40s, were living in a smaller home in the San Fernando Valley.
Van Halen, lead guitarist for the band Van Halen, and Bertinelli have been married since 1981. He composed the theme music for the 1990 sitcom “Sydney,” in which she starred. Van Halen has been described as “one of the most revolutionary guitarists in rock music.”
The band was originally formed by Van Halen and his drummer brother, Alex. With singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, they released their debut album in 1978 with the single “You Really Got Me.” The album sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
Last year, Eddie Van Halen announced that he had tongue cancer, but in May he said that he had conquered it. He also had hip-replacement surgery in 1999. His health has been cited as a reason the band has not toured or released new material in four years.
Bertinelli, who first gained attention as the younger daughter of a divorced mother on the CBS sitcom “One Day at a Time” (1975-84), joined the cast of the CBS series “Touched by an Angel” in 2001.
Jana Jones-Duffy and Fred Holley of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills South, shared the listing with Lee Walters of Leland Properties, Studio City, sources said.
Portia de Rossi, who played lawyer Nelle Porter in the Fox series “Ally McBeal,” and her companion, singer-musician Francesca Gregorini, daughter of actress Barbara Bach and stepdaughter of former Beatle Ringo Starr, have purchased a home in the Los Feliz area for $2.1 million.
Shortly after it was built in the ‘20s, the Spanish villa was the home of Raymond Griffith, a silent-screen star who quit acting after he appeared in the 1930 talkie “All Quiet on the Western Front.” He then entered the production side of the business and was associate producer of the movie “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938), starring Shirley Temple.
The home, behind gates with city views, has five bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms and a library-den in about 3,700 square feet. There are also three fireplaces in the house and such ‘20s design touches as Malibu tiles, stenciled beams and vintage fixtures.
The house was updated to include a granite kitchen, a new roof, new plumbing, seismic retrofitting and electronic wiring.
The half-acre grounds have a deep lap pool, cutting and vegetable gardens, a flat lawn and specimen trees.
Rossi, 29, had been living in a Hollywood penthouse that she listed in May at just less than $1.2 million.
The actress, who will be seen in Clint Eastwood’s upcoming movie “Blood Work,” and Gregorini bought their new home from film producers Patrick Crowley and Cathleen Summers, who moved to a home they bought several months ago in Malibu.
Crowley is producer of the recently released movie “The Bourne Identity,” starring Matt Damon, and he was executive producer of “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993). Summers was executive producer of “Slow Burn” (2000), starring Minnie Driver and Josh Brolin, and she produced “Stakeout” (1987), starring Richard Dreyfuss.
Richard Stanley of Coldwell Banker, Los Feliz North, had the listing.
Frank Sinatra Jr., who will perform Aug. 15-21 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas--where he appeared earlier this year in a tribute to his late father--has purchased a Beverly Hills-area home for just under $1.8 million.
He recently sold a nearby home, which he refurbished, for $2.9 million.
The traditional-style home that the singer-orchestra leader, 58, purchased has five bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in about 3,400 square feet. The master suite has a deck and a fireplace. There are four fireplaces in the house.
The home also has a playhouse, private yard and pool. Built in 1977, the home was updated by its sellers.
Arleen Ruby and Lawrence Leviton of the Ruby Leviton Team at Prudential California Realty, John Aaroe Division in Beverly Hills, had the listing on the house Sinatra bought; Michele Martin of DBL Beverly Hills represented him in his sale and purchase, sources said.
Amanda Scheer Demme, widow of the late director Ted Demme, has purchased a one-story, mid-century modern home in the Sunset Strip hills for $2 million. She also has an apartment in New York.
Demme, nephew of director Jonathan Demme, was an award-winning TV director and producer when he died of a heart attack in January at age 37. Ted Demme also directed the movies “Blow” (2001) and “Beautiful Girls” (1996).
Amanda Demme, a music supervisor on “Blow,” and her husband had been renting in the L.A. area for a couple of years. The house she purchased has four bedrooms and four bathrooms in about 3,000 square feet. Her new home is on half an acre with city-to-ocean views.
Barry Peele of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, had the listing, and Brett Lawyer of Prudential California Realty, Beverly Hills, represented Amanda Demme in buying, sources said.
Composer-arranger Roger Neill, who wrote the music for the NBC series “UC: Undercover” and the Fox animated series “King of the Hill” as well as the CBS series “Chicago Hope,” and his attorney wife, Lisa Sergi, have sold their country English duplex in Los Feliz and purchased a Spanish-style villa in the same area.
They sold the duplex, which was listed at $795,000, for $925,500, and they bought the five-bedroom house for its $844,000 asking price. The couple had restored the duplex, built in 1937, with Art Deco tile work, carved doors and leaded-glass windows.
They also plan to restore the Mexican-hacienda home they just bought. Built in 1940, it has a pool, a pool cabana with a fireplace and dressing rooms, and city views.
Neill co-wrote scores for the movies “Trixie” (2000), starring Emily Watson and Nick Nolte, and “Where the Money Is” (1999), starring Paul Newman and Linda Fiorentino.
Rick Chimienti, estates director of DBL Beverly Hills, represented the couple in selling and buying. Rosemary Low, director of estates for DBL Los Feliz, co-listed the duplex and represented the buyer as well as the sellers.
*
Want to see previous columns on celebrity realty transactions? Visit www.latimes.com/hotproperty.
