Castle in the hills, no moat
Cameron Diaz, who returned to voice the character of Princess Fiona in “Shrek 2” this year, has purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $2.7 million.
The actress bought a gated, one-story traditional-style house with three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in about 2,800 square feet. The home, built in the ‘50s, also has a guesthouse and city views.
Diaz, 32, first appeared in a feature film as the torch-singing moll in “The Mask” (1994). She went on to star in “There’s Something About Mary” (1998) and costar in “Charlie’s Angels” (2000). She was the voice of Princess Fiona in the first “Shrek” (2001), and she played a supporting role in “Vanilla Sky” the same year. She was also in “Gangs of New York” (2002) and “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (2003).
She will star opposite Toni Collette in the movie “In Her Shoes,” due out in April.
Kirk Frieden of Coldwell Banker, Sunset Strip, represented the seller, and Brett Lawyer of Prudential John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, represented Diaz, real estate sources said.
Ex-Laker Fox sells in Marina del Rey
Rick Fox, who retired from basketball in late September after being traded by the L.A. Lakers in August, has put his Marina del Rey home on the market at $4.5 million.
Fox had owned the Mediterranean-style home since 1999. The house was built in 1998 and has six bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms in about 5,000 square feet. It also has a landscaped yard and a roof deck with ocean views. It’s in the Silver Strand area.
Fox, 35, was a starter on the last two Laker championship teams and had a recurring role as team facilitator in seven seasons with the franchise. His retirement announcement, prompted by physical injuries, came about two months after he filed for divorce from actress-singer Vanessa Williams. Fox is exploring careers as an actor and TV sports analyst.
Michele Blackmon of Independence Realty has the listing.
A Valley house
for activist-author
David Horowitz, the author and civil rights activist, has sold his home in the Malibu area for slightly more than $2 million and purchased a home in the west San Fernando Valley for about $1.2 million.
The home he sold has four bedrooms in nearly 3,000 square feet and was built in 1967. The house he bought is the same size but is newly built.
“It’s quiet in the hills of the Valley,” Horowitz said, “and with its horses and rabbits, it has a great feel to me as a writer.”
He was editor of Ramparts magazine, a forum for the political views of the New Left, before he wrote such books as “Uncivil Wars,” “Left Illusions” and “Unholy Alliance,” his latest, which examines the relationship between Radical Islam and the American Left. He also co-wrote biographies on the Kennedys and the Rockefellers.
Grace Frey and Marie France Levesque of Coldwell Banker, Calabasas, represented him in buying and selling the homes.
Beverly Hills plot was painter’s muse
The Beverly Hills home of the late Eleanore Berman, whose garden paintings have been exhibited around the world, has been sold for close to its asking price of about $6 million.
Berman, who died at 75 in August, had lived in the house since 1967. The garden she created on the grounds was included in about 200 of her paintings, which were shown as far away as Amsterdam and as nearby as the L.A. County Museum of Art.
The six-bedroom, 7 1/2 -bath- room home has an Old Hollywood aura. It was built in 1930 by filmmaker Sidney Franklin, who directed “The Barretts of Wimpole Street” (1934) and produced “Mrs. Miniver” (1942).
The house has a two-story entry, sweeping staircase, master bedroom with fireplace, library and breakfast room. There is a maid’s wing with two bedrooms and one bathroom. French doors open to the garden, pool, guesthouse and artist’s studio.
Joe Babajian and Kyle Grasso of Prudential John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, had the listing; Susan Smith and Avrille Krom of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer.
Out of the copter and Sherman Oaks
Jennifer York, the KTLA morning traffic reporter who flew in a helicopter over L.A. for more than a dozen years before recently calling it quits, has put her Sherman Oaks home on the market at $1.25 million.
The New England, traditional-style home has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in nearly 2,300 square feet. The house, built in 1940, has dark hardwood floors, white walls, a den, a dining room and a dramatic staircase leading to the master suite, which has a balcony overlooking the patios.
York is downsizing while exploring new employment opportunities and playing in her all-female jazz group, the York Quartet. She is an electric and acoustic bassist.
York’s husband, Tommy Allegood of Coldwell Banker, Malibu West, has the listing.
To see previous columns on celebrity transactions visit latimes.com/hotproperty.
