Latest trek: beyond the Palisades
Patrick Stewart, who costarred with Glenn Close in the Showtime remake of “The Lion in Winter,” which aired in May, has listed his Pacific Palisades home at $6.4 million.
Stewart bought the home in 1997, after it had been refurbished. The original house was built in the ‘50s.
The renovated home has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in almost 6,900 square feet. The gated estate, which has mountain views, also has a den, family room with bar, media room, library, office, gym, four fireplaces and a sunroom. The half-acre grounds have a pool and gardens.
Stewart, who portrayed Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-94), played classical stage roles for years with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England before he came to the United States. The actor, 63, is from the north of England, where he has owned a 315-year-old farmhouse that he bought with earnings from the TV series.
In November, he is expected to be officially conferred as chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.
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Bel-Air tear-down brings $16 million
David Murdock, owner of Dole Food Co. and Castle & Cooke, has purchased a Bel-Air property from the estate of the late Joseph Field, of the Marshall Field’s department store chain, for $16 million. The asking price was $13.5 million.
There were multiple bids for the site, which came on the market in early April for the first time in 40 years. The property is considered choice because of its 2.4 acres of mainly flat land between two country clubs.
There is a Paul Williams-designed 9,500-square-foot Colonial house, built in 1942, on the site that is expected to be razed so that Murdock can build a 33,000-square-foot mansion for his family in its place. Arnold Savrann, who has designed many buildings for Murdock, including two hotels on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, will design the Greek Revival house.
Murdock already has a smaller house in Bel-Air as well as a home in Thousand Oaks.
While previewing the property that Murdock just purchased, the listing agents discovered a set of the original plans in the basement. Three families have owned the property since 1942.
Mark Wollman and Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s Great Estates, Beverly Hills, had the listing.
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Bizkit’s Durst sells a Los Feliz home
Fred Durst, frontman with the band Limp Bizkit, has sold his Los Feliz home for slightly less than $2 million.
The modern-style house, built in 1994, has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in 3,100 square feet, behind gates. The home also has expansive city views.
Durst, 32, has bought and sold a number of homes on the Westside since 1999. Limp Bizkit is due to go on a U.S. tour at the end of this month. The rap-rock group performed in England in April but was forced by a bomb threat to cancel a gig in Poland in March.
Francis R. Gibbons, Joseph Babajian and Kevin Watson-Babajian, all of Prudential John Aaroe, had the listing on the house Durst sold.
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In Ann Miller’s family for 60 years
The longtime Beverly Hills home of the late actress Ann Miller has been sold for about $3.7 million. The asking price was about $3.5 million.
Miller, who was famous for tap-dancing alongside Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in films of the ‘40s and ‘50s, died at 81 in January. The house was listed in April.
The buyer plans to renovate the 5,200-square-foot Spanish-style house, built in 1930. Miller and her family had owned it for about 60 years.
Billy Rose Design & Development will spearhead the refurbishing.
Billy Rose plans to reconfigure the downstairs to create a great room -- a large kitchen opening directly to a family room -- and he expects to add a master bathroom and closet plus a swimming pool. The intent is to retain the grandeur and original detailing of the six-bedroom house while updating where necessary.
Rose, a former talent agent and entertainment attorney, also represented the buyer through Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills. Sally Forster Jones at Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills East, had the listing.
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Late director’s home is listed
Celebrity photographer Michael Childers, the late Oscar-winning British director John Schlesinger’s partner for 36 years, has listed their Palm Springs home at nearly $1.3 million.
Schlesinger, who won a directing Oscar for “Midnight Cowboy” (1969), died in July at 77. Childers, whose work was in an exhibit titled “Icons and Legends” at the Palm Springs Desert Museum earlier this year, has been capturing the images of film stars for 40 years.
The walled and gated estate has golf course, lake and mountain views. The house also has an atrium, modern kitchen and master bedroom suite with a media center, office, fireplace and glass block shower. The master bedroom opens to the pool, spa and private patio. There are two guest suites and landscaped grounds with fountains and fruit trees.
The 3,500-square-foot house was built in 1996 on half an acre and has a garage for two cars and a golf cart. There is gated parking for guests.
Jim Schwietz of Windermere Real Estate, Palm Springs, has the listing.
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To see previous columns on celebrity transactions visit latimes.com/hotproperty.
