Owner crosses home plate
Frank McCourt, the fourth-generation Bostonian who struck a deal in November to buy the Dodgers from News Corp. for $430 million, and his wife, Jamie, have purchased a Holmby Hills home for close to the $25-million asking price.
The house is on 2.6 acres and has six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms in 20,000 square feet. The compound, described as a Palladian villa that was built in 1990 but completely refurbished in 2000, is at the end of a 600-foot-long gated drive. The home also has two guesthouses, a media room, a sound studio, a wine cellar and a tennis court.
Frank McCourt, 49, is a real estate developer as well as new owner of the Dodgers. His wife is his business partner. He named her vice chairman of the team.
The $430-million purchase included the Dodgers, Dodger Stadium and surrounding property, Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., and Campo Las Palmas, a player-development facility in the Dominican Republic.
Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, had the listing, and Jacqueline McQuarn of Nelson Shelton, Beverly Hills, also participated in representing the sellers. Drew Mandile and Brooke Knapp of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, represented McCourt in his purchase.
Simple rules to live by in Los Feliz
Actress Katey Sagal has purchased the Los Feliz home of actress Jenna Elfman, who owned the home since 2000, when she bought it from Madonna.
Sagal, who stars as Cate Hennessey in the ABC comedy series “8 Simple Rules,” paid $4.7 million for the restored home, designed by Wallace Neff and built in the ‘20s. Elfman had purchased it for about $4 million.
The one-story early California Mediterranean estate has a main house and a guesthouse on nearly two acres behind large steel gates. The main house has three bedrooms in about 5,000 square feet.
It also has a domed center hall, a large living room with arched doorways and stenciled beam ceilings, a library with a view of the grounds, a formal dining room opening to a veranda with city views, and a master suite with domed ceilings and original Malibu tile. There is a full basement with a large walk-in cedar closet. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom guesthouse has a gym and a Spanish-tile kitchen.
Sagal has had her Encino home on and off the market since March 2002. It’s listed now at just under $4.4 million. Built in 1935, the house, on about 2.25 acres, has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in nearly 8,400 square feet. The gated compound also has a guesthouse, pool, art studio, gym, library and media room.
Sagal bought the estate from actress Kirstie Alley in 1997. The home also once belonged to the late Al Jolson.
Before her current series, Sagal, 50, starred as Peg Bundy for 11 seasons, until 1997, on Fox’s “Married ... With Children.” Sagal costarred in “8 Simple Rules” with John Ritter until he died unexpectedly at 54 in September. Elfman, 32, costarred on the ABC sitcom “Dharma & Greg” for five years before making her Broadway debut last fall in “Nine.”
Richard Klug of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, had the listing on the home Sagal purchased.
Barry Sloane and Heidi Lake, both with Sotheby’s in Beverly Hills, represented Sagal in buying, and they share the listing on her Encino home.
Hollywood link
in Palm Springs
The Palm Springs estate where movie mogul Jack Warner entertained Hollywood elites from 1958, when it was built, until 1978, when he died at 86, has been sold for $2.5 million.
The walled 1.5-acre estate in the Old Las Palmas district was sold by author-screenwriter Steve Shagan (“Primal Fear,” “Save the Tiger”) and his wife, Betty. The Shagans had owned the home since they bought it from Warner’s widow, Ann, in 1989. The author did much of his writing in the guesthouse, which has its own pool.
The 8,000-square-foot compound, shaded by palm and citrus trees, also has a 3,600-square-foot, three-bedroom main house, a two-bedroom pool house, a two-bedroom caretaker’s cottage, a staff apartment, a two-car garage and an Olympic-sized pool.
Deirdre Coit and Susan Canavan of Coldwell Banker, Palm Desert, and the Desert Estates Network had the listing with Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills.
Ritter’s boyhood home is for sale
The Toluca Lake boyhood home of the late actor John Ritter has been listed at about $2.6 million.
The home, owned by Ritter’s family from 1954 to 1968, was designed by architect Paul Williams and built in 1934. Ritter’s father was cowboy actor and country music star Tex Ritter, who died in 1974 at 68. His mother was former actress Dorothy Fay, who died in November at 88.
Mark Giardino, a designer-contractor, owns the home now. He restored and updated it.
Colonial in style, the house has a master suite and four other bedrooms in 4,000-plus square feet.
The living room has crown moldings, hardwood floors, arched and bay windows, French doors and a granite fireplace. There is a formal dining room with wainscoting. The grounds have gardens and a pool with a spa and a waterfall.
Elizabeth Summers of Coldwell Banker Previews, Studio City, has the listing.
Former child star buys first condo
Josie Davis, a child star in the ‘80s who went on to play adult roles in the ‘90s, has become a first-time buyer with her purchase of a West L.A. condo for $460,000.
The light-filled unit has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,200 square feet. The condo also has a kitchen with stainless steel appliances.
Davis, 31, played Sara, the middle child watched over by Scott Baio’s character in the TV series “Charles in Charge.” She later appeared on such TV shows as “Nash Bridges” and “The Profiler” (1999), “Beverly Hills, 90210” (2000) and “Titans” (2000).
Mark Goldsmith and June Scott of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, represented Davis in her purchase.
