Starting From Scratch in Venice

Frank Gehry, architect of the rising Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, has purchased a half-acre home site in Venice for $1.6 million.

“I’m 73 years old, and I always wanted to build a house from scratch,” Gehry said.

He and his family have been living in Santa Monica since 1978, when he redesigned his current residence, a former Dutch Colonial now clad in such signature Gehry materials as corrugated metal, plywood and chain-link fence.

“We’re going to have to do something with the Santa Monica house when we move,” he said. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has expressed an interest in owning it, he added.

In the ‘70s, Gehry wanted to live in Santa Monica to be near his work. Now that he’s moving his offices just north of Jefferson Boulevard near Centinela Avenue, he wants to live in Venice.

He will also be closer to his sailboat, which he keeps in Marina del Rey.

For Gehry, Venice is a return to what might be called his roots, because he had offices there before he opened some in Santa Monica.

His home site, vacant for 35 years, was once the location of one of the original houses in Venice. Gehry envisions building “a fairly modest home with a large garden.”

Gehry’s house plans are “conceptual at this point,” said his Realtor, Jack V. Hoffmann, but the architect will have more room, especially outside, to entertain friends and dignitaries.

“We just closed escrow, so I’m having a survey made and looking at the views from a cherrypicker,” Gehry said. “I’m doing what I do for a client. I’m starting to understand the neighborhood.”

Hoffmann, broker-owner of Venice Properties, represented Gehry in his purchase and co-listed the residential site with Dannie Cavenaugh of Century 21 in Culver City.

Sky Dayton, founder of Internet-service provider Earthlink, has sold his Santa Monica home for $13.5 million, according to Westside brokers.

Dayton, also founder and chief executive officer of the high-speed Internet service Boingo Wireless, purchased the eight-bedroom, 14,000-square-foot-plus home from computer software magnate Peter Norton last fall for about $12 million. The asking price this year was just under $15 million.

Dayton, 31, has been looking at scaling down to a house in the $8-million range, Realtors said. He bought a Malibu home for about $5.9 million in 1999.

Built in 1989, the Santa Monica home is on 1.2 acres overlooking a golf course. The Mediterranean-style home also has a two-bedroom guest house, a game room, gym, tennis court and pool.

The longtime Bel-Air home of the late Wilt Chamberlain has been sold in the high $2-million range.

Marketed in 2000 at $7.45 million, the former basketball great’s six-bedroom, 7,200-square-foot, wood-and-glass contemporary was reduced in 2001 to about $4.4 million.

The buyers, described as “a pair of young, talented television writers” who want to remain anonymous, plan to refurbish the house, maintaining its architectural integrity.

Dave T. Rich designed the home in the shape of an equilateral triangle. Paul Lubowicki and Sue Lainier will do the restoration.

“It took ... adventurous buyers to see beyond the flashy reputation of the former owner and his lifestyle,” said the buyers’ agent, Jo Wilder of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills North.

While living in the home from the time it was built in 1971 until he died in 1999, the legendary Lakers center was also known as a ladies’ man. In his bedroom, there is a mirrored ceiling that retracts to reveal the sky, and a large triangular tub at the foot of the bed with 18-karat gold tile.

The house, on 2.5 acres of a peak with city-to-ocean views, also has a moat/swimming pool that leads into the living room, and a front door 14 feet high and 5 feet thick.

Stephen Dorff, who co-starred as Mike Reilly in the horror movie “feardotcom” and had the title role in the comedy film “Cecil B. DeMented” (2000), has purchased a Malibu home listed at just under $3 million.

The actor, 29, bought a three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot house on the beach with walls of glass and high ceilings.

Built in the ‘60s, the house was recently remodeled and has an ocean-view deck off the master suite.

Dorff, who plays the villain in the upcoming movie “The Devil’s Throat,” played a villain in the martial arts action film “Blade” (1998), and he starred as a boxing South African schoolboy in the movie “The Power of One” (1992).

Steve Hilton, a grandson of the late hotel scion Conrad Hilton, and his pianist-composer wife, Lisa, have listed their Malibu home at nearly $3.1 million. The couple plans to move in the area.

They built the house in 1991. It has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms in 6,300 square feet. On a nearly 4-acre knoll top, the house has panoramic canyon and ocean views. The property is adjacent to hiking and riding trails.

Among its other features are a sauna, office, game room, gym, deck, orchard and vegetable garden.

The grounds are landscaped with native California plants, and the home is heated by solar panels on the roof and radiant floor heating, partly warmed by the solar panels. Rainwater is kept in an underground tank for irrigation, and there is a system for collecting water from the showers and sinks, also for irrigation use.

Steve Hilton, a son of Barron Hilton, is president of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a philanthropic entity.

Ellen Francisco of Coldwell Banker Previews, Malibu, and Christy Hilton, a sister-in-law of the sellers who works at Hilton & Hyland in Beverly Hills, share the listing.

Christopher Lawrence, a DJ and dance-music producer, and his wife, Sara, have purchased a Miracle Mile home in the mid-$600,000 range. He is a headliner at dance clubs and events.

The DJ, in his 30s, is a first-time home buyer. His English country-style home has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in about 1,500 square feet. The home also has vaulted ceilings and a step-down living area. The Lawrences plan to add a third bedroom.

Jeeb O’Reilly of Nelson Shelton, Beverly Hills, represented the couple in buying, and Brian Mazurkiewiz of Prudential John Aaroe, West Hollywood, had the listing.

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