‘Friends’ star joins fray of bidding war
“Friends” star Courteney Cox Arquette and her husband, actor David Arquette, have purchased a Hollywood Hills home for about $4.5 million.
The all-cash, short-escrow deal was reached after some competitive bidding for the house between the couple and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, according to area Realtors. The transaction reportedly closed in three business days.
The couple had been looking to buy since early December, when they sold their Brentwood home, which Cox Arquette had refurbished, to talk-show host Ricki Lake and her husband, freelance illustrator Rob Sussman, for close to $6.5 million. Cox and Arquette also have a home in Malibu.
Their Hollywood Hills home has four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in about 4,000 square feet. Built in the late ‘60s, the house also has a media room, city views, a pool and a four-car garage. Its courtyard entry is behind gates.
Cox Arquette is known for buying and refurbishing houses, but the Hollywood Hills house was renovated recently. It is an architecturally interesting house like their Malibu home, a glass-and-wood building designed in 1979 by architect John Lautner.
Cox Arquette, 38, is in her ninth season on “Friends.” She is also creator and executive producer of an upcoming TV show called “Mix It Up,” in which interior designers will help roommates blend their styles into one living environment. She also will be a behind-the-camera design consultant for the WE: Women’s Entertainment network, expected to air in October.
Her husband, 31, starred in the Holocaust film “The Grey Zone” (2002), and played a leading role in the campy monster movie “Eight Legged Freaks” (2002). He also portrayed one of Frank Sinatra Jr.’s kidnappers in the Showtime movie “Stealing Sinatra,” which first aired last year.
A pre-tour stop to list her home
Comic Ellen DeGeneres, who will begin her 34-stop “Here and Now Tour” in March, has put her Beverly Hills-area house on the market at $4.75 million.
The traditional-style home, built in the early ‘90s, has five bedrooms in 5,500 square feet. The house also has a living room with a fireplace; a formal dining room; a kitchen with a breakfast area, a gym, a media room, a pool and park-like grounds.
DeGeneres, 45, has owned her Beverly Hills-area home since October 2001.
The same year, she received the American Comedy Award for funniest female performer in a TV special. DeGeneres won an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series for her series “Ellen” (1996-97).
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” a daytime talk-variety series, is expected to premiere in the fall.
A pitch to sell newly built home
Baseball star Chuck Finley and his estranged wife, actress Tawny Kitaen, have listed their Tuscan-style Newport Beach home at just under $11 million.
They originally listed the seven-bedroom 13,000-square-foot house last August but took it off the market and re-listed it at $3.5 million less.
Finley, 40, a pitcher formerly with the Anaheim Angels, joined the St. Louis Cardinals last July but did not re-sign in January. He filed for divorce last April. Kitaen and Finley were married in 1997.
Their recently completed home has a 12-car subterranean garage; an elevator; an infinity pool and spa; seven fireplaces, three fountains, a walnut-paneled office, mahogany doors and windows; walnut floors; and Catalina, ocean and golf course views. The house, which has never been occupied, is on a double lot on more than half an acre in the gated community of Pelican Hill.
Bill Cote at Cote Realty Group, Newport Beach, has the listing.
Grammy director leaving his tower
Pierre Cossette, who is producing the Grammy Awards show tonight on CBS and whose autobiography “Another Day in Showbiz” (ECW Press) is in bookstores this month, and his wife, Mary, have listed their condo, adjacent to Beverly Hills, at just under $1.4 million.
The unit, in a tower built in the 1960s, has two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms plus a den in 2,100 square feet with city views.
The Cossettes recently purchased a house in La Quinta, and they also have homes in Canada and New York, where he has produced such Broadway shows as “The Will Rogers Follies,” “Tommy Tune Tonite!” and “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” He has produced the Grammy telecast for more than 30 years.
Kay Pick at Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
A new voice in Toluca Lake
Debi Derryberry, the voice of Jimmy Neutron and numerous other animated characters, has purchased the Toluca Lake home of Bob Camp -- storyboard artist for “Scooby-Doo” (2002) and producer-director-writer during the ‘90s of “The Ren & Stimpy Show” -- and his wife, Gwen. The Camps moved to Connecticut.
Derryberry bought a two-bedroom 1,000-square-foot house for $326,500. The house was built in 1926.
The Camps bought a four-bedroom 2,100-square-foot house on nearly an acre for $345,000. That house was built in 1961.
Sean Bagley at Hegarty & Co. Real Estate in Brookfield, Conn., represented the Camps in buying. Carolyn Pistone at Paramount Rodeo, Woodland Hills, represented the Camps in selling.
Now directing sale of Tarzana home
Robert Berlinger, who has directed more than 200 TV shows and has been a staff director at the Mark Taper Forum and an associate director at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, and his wife, casting director Sharon Bialy, have listed their Tarzana home at just under $3 million.
Built in 1934 and recently restored, the 7,000-square-foot home, on 1.5 acres behind gates, was owned at various times by actors Robert Young and Robert Wagner.
The Spanish-style estate includes six bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms and a guest house. There are five fireplaces, a wine cellar and a motor court with parking for 20 cars. The grounds have a paddle tennis court, pool, spa and fountains.
Berlinger and Bialy have owned the home for five years.
She has cast such movies as “Rock Star” (2001), “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (1995) and “Drugstore Cowboy” (1989).
He has directed such series as “The West Wing,” “Hidden Hills,” “3rd Rock From the Sun” and “Ed.”
Judy Cycon and Michael Ford at Prudential California Realty, Beverly Hills, have the listing.
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For previous columns visit www.latimes.com/hotproperty.
