A New Episode in Pair’s Estate
Actress Michelle Pfeiffer and her husband, writer-producer David E. Kelley, have been in the process of buying the property next door to their Brentwood home for $7 million, real estate sources say. Escrow was expected to close after press time this week.
The lot that the couple is buying is more than an acre in size and has a 62-year-old house on it, according to public records.
Pfeiffer and Kelley purchased their Brentwood home in June 2000. They paid $15 million for the two-acre parcel, including a six-bedroom home designed by architect Paul Williams.
Built in the 1940s, the 7,500-square-foot house un- derwent a major restoration after Pfeiffer and Kelley bought it.
Pfeiffer, 44, stars as a murderer in the movie “White Oleander.” She has received three Oscar nominations, including two for best actress.
Kelley, 46, has won multiple Emmy Awards for such TV series as “L.A. Law,” “Picket Fences,” “Ally McBeal” and “The Practice.” His newest series, “girls club,” is due to debut in October on Fox.
Impressionist-comedian Rich Little has sold his Laguna Beach home for close to its asking price of $1.9 million. Little is building a new home in Las Vegas, where he has been an onstage mainstay since the ‘70s.
The home he sold is behind gates and is English Cotswold in style with views of the ocean, canyon and Catalina Island. Built in 1996, the three-bedroom single-level house is on slightly more than 2.5 acres.
Little, 63, keeps up a hectic performing and touring schedule, which is one reason he decided to sell his Laguna home.
He wrapped up a five-day stint Aug. 30 in Atlantic City, and recently completed a three-night performance of his new play, “The Presidents,” in which he plays all the U.S. presidents from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.
Little also portrays Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Stewart, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite and the Rat Pack. The play is expected to be taped and shown as a PBS special.
Victoria Strombom and Jerry Barbanell of Re/Max Real Estate Services represented Little in his sale, and Jordan Kyle, of the same firm, represented the buyers.
Actress Renee Zellweger, who purchased a Bel-Air home for about $6.8 million in July, has put her former home in the Hollywood Hills on the market at about $3 million. She has owned the house since March 2000.
Built in the 1960s, the country-style estate--reached by a long, gated drive--was remodeled after Zellweger purchased it.
The three-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot house now has four bedrooms, including a master bedroom with a fireplace and a master bathroom with a fireplace. The house, on nearly two acres, also has an office, manicured gardens, a pool and a spa.
Zellweger, 33, appears in the movie “White Oleander,” and she stars in the upcoming romantic comedy “Down With Love” and the film version of the Broadway musical “Chicago,” scheduled for release in December.
She was nominated for a best actress Oscar this year for her role in “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
Grayhall, the Beverly Hills home built from 1909 to 1919 and recently refurbished and expanded into a compound on about 2.5 acres, is for lease at $125,000 a month; $100,000 a month if rented for more than six months.
The more than 14,000-square-foot estate has nine bedrooms, 20 bathrooms, a padded music room, a walk-in vault, a ballroom, a gym and a sports court.
It is owned by the estate of the late Mark Hughes, founder of Herbalife. Actor Douglas Fairbanks leased the original home and built a secret tunnel to oversee construction of Pickfair, his honeymoon home with actress Mary Pickford. Actor George Hamilton owned Grayhall before Hughes bought it.
The compound was the first of Hughes’ properties to be listed after he died at age 44 in 2000.
Hughes owned nearly $100 million in Southern California real estate.
Although it’s for lease, Grayhall is still for sale at $29 million.
Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, and Jerry Jolton of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, share the listing.
Deborah G. Dixon, newly named executive director of the Actors Studio in New York City, and her husband, Martin I. Kagan, managing director of the 1,200-seat Ford Amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills and Ford Theatre Foundation, have listed their South Pasadena home at $699,000.
Built in 1924, the English-style home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms in 2,555 square feet. The house has rich woods, built-in bookcases and a Batchelder tile fireplace as well as an updated kitchen and a master bedroom with its own bathroom, balcony and large closet.
The couple bought the home 10 years ago.
They’re moving because of her job change. Kagan plans to follow his wife in moving to New York.
Dixon spent the last 10 years in Los Angeles, working for the Pasadena Playhouse, Walt Disney Theatricals, and Walt Disney Imagineering and Theme Park Productions.
Before coming to L.A., she worked at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Carol Majors at Coldwell Banker Previews, San Marino, has the listing.
Frank Beddor, chief executive officer of Automatic Pictures, and producer of such movies as “There’s Something About Mary” (1998), has purchased a Hollywood Hills home for $1.4 million.
Beddor is renovating the home, and has expanded it from two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,300 square feet to three bedrooms and three bathrooms in 3,500 square feet.
The mid-century modern, cottage style of the house is expected to be maintained.
Robert Byrd, the original architect, had a trademark rustic style and was known for his Hansel-and-Gretel knotty-pine look.
This was a first-time home purchase in L.A. for Beddor, a native of Minnesota.
