‘Far and Away,’ back to her native Australia
Nicole Kidman’s Pacific Palisades home is in escrow at close to $11 million.
The actress assumed ownership of the property as part of her 2001 divorce settlement with actor Tom Cruise, who purchased the home for about $4.7 million shortly before they were married in 1990.
Kidman also got the couple’s multistory waterfront home on Sydney Harbour through the divorce, and she recently bought a place in Manhattan in the West Village.
The 1940s Palisades house, behind gates at the end of a long driveway, has five bedrooms and six bathrooms in about 7,600 square feet, according to public records. It is on nearly an acre with a pool.
The home wasn’t listed and was only shown a couple of times.
Kidman, 35, co-starred with Cruise, 40, in the 1990 movie “Days of Thunder,” which marked her U.S. film debut. The couple subsequently co-starred in “Far and Away” (1992) and “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999). Kidman also was in “Batman Returns” (1995). She made her acting debut on the London and Broadway stages, starring in “The Blue Room,” in 1998.
She was nominated for a best actress Oscar for her role in “Moulin Rouge” (2001) and the same year had a No. 1 hit record in Britain when she recorded “Somethin’ Stupid” with singer Robbie Williams.
Kidman plays Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” and co-stars in “Cold Mountain.” Both films are due out in December. She also stars opposite Anthony Hopkins in “The Human Stain,” expected to be released in the spring.
Musician hits a high note in Hancock Park
Beck, the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter who came to national attention in the ‘90s with his single “Loser,” has purchased a Spanish-style home in Hancock Park for slightly more than its $2.3-million asking price.
The house has three bedrooms, a maid’s quarters, a game room and an office in about 6,600 square feet. There are hand-painted ceilings and mosaic tiles in the 1920s home. The property also has a guest house and a pool.
Beck, 32, teamed up this year with Nigel Godrich to produce the album “Sea Change.” Among Beck’s earlier albums were “Odelay,” “Mutations” and “Midnite Vultures.”
Beck -- known as “the king of musical collage” for fusing rap, rock, folk and funk -- has been on tour this fall and is scheduled to appear Monday with Flaming Lips at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City.
Skating pair warm to Laguna Beach
Todd Sand and Jenni Meno, U.S. champion pair skaters preparing for their fifth season on tour with Stars on Ice, have purchased a Laguna Beach home. The asking price was $1.1 million.
The married couple are residents of Nevada but bought in Laguna so they could continue their training in Orange County near their longtime coach John Nicks.
The contemporary-style Laguna house has three bedrooms and an office in 3,100 square feet. The master suite has a fireplace. The 1991 home, above Victoria Beach, abuts acres of picturesque canyons and has coastal and Catalina Island views.
Sand and Meno are three-time U.S. Pair Champions, 1998 World Silver Medalists, two-time World Bronze Medalists and three-time Olympians.
They are due to appear with skating champ Scott Hamilton in an NBC special Dec. 14 and with singer Ray Charles in an NBC special Dec. 21. They are also planning to skate in a Christmas special with singer Charlotte Church on Christmas and on NBC’s “Today” show Christmas morning.
Meno and Sand were represented by Victoria Strombom of Re/Max Real Estate Services, Monarch Beach. Strombom also represented the couple in the sale of their previous Orange County home. That home was in Aliso Viejo.
Empty-nester opts for the farm life
Casey Coates Danson, Hollywood activist and environmental designer, has put her Brentwood home on the market at $3.95 million.
She is selling because her children, by former husband actor Ted Danson, are in college and she is spending more time at her Santa Fe farm. She also has purchased a smaller home in Rustic Canyon.
She founded and runs L.A.-based Global Possibilities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the use of solar and renewable energy to reduce a dependency on fossil fuels and to mitigate climate change.
Danson bought her Brentwood house 4 1/2 years ago. Two years ago she completed a two-year project, turning the nondescript ‘50s home into what she calls “a contemporary craftsman” that is about 95% solar-powered. The house, on 1.3 wooded acres behind gates, has wood and stone features and many skylights.
The 5,000-square-foot residence, with canyon-to-ocean views, includes a three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bathroom main house and a detached guest house. The master suite has a fireplace and a gym. Among other features in the main house are an art studio, office and dark room. There is also a newly built, solar-heated infinity pool and spa on the property.
Kathi Holland and Penny Warren of Coldwell Banker, Studio City, have the listing and represented Danson in buying her homes in Brentwood and Rustic Canyon.
New chapter for Sinclair home
The Upton Sinclair House in Monrovia has sold for $725,000.
The Spanish Colonial Revival-style home, built in 1923 for a hotel magnate and his wife, was purchased in the early ‘40s by the author-social reformer already known for his expose of the meat-packing industry in “The Jungle” and for his failed bids for governor.
After Sinclair moved into the house, he finished his novel “Dragon’s Teeth,” for which he won a 1943 Pulitzer Prize. Sinclair lived in the house for 24 years.
In the ‘70s, the three-bedroom, 2,380-square-foot house was designated a National Historic Landmark, and it was granted local landmark status.
A Mission Revival parapet tops the facade. The front door is covered with bronze grillwork depicting the initial “V” for Louis B. Vollmer, the hotelier. On the inside, there are pocket doors, a stone fireplace and Batchelder tile.
The original garage, now a guest house, and a fireproof storage building, which long housed Sinclair’s collection of nearly half a million letters and manuscripts, still stand on the property, along with a detached two-car garage. Sinclair built the garage and the storage building. He used the original garage as a writing studio.
The house, which has a basement, was built of concrete blocks.
The buyers, a venture capitalist and his wife, closed escrow on the house last week. He grew up in a Victorian in Auburn in Northern California. She was raised in Monrovia and had long admired the Sinclair house. Both buyers are preservationists.
Donna Baker of Century 21 Adams & Barnes, Monrovia, had the listing.
To see previous columns on celebrity transactions, visit www.latimes.com/hotproperty.
