One cat who doesn’t hate water
Halle Berry, who has been living in the Hollywood Hills, has purchased a home in Malibu for $8 million.
The Oscar-winning actress’ new home has four bedrooms and five bathrooms in slightly more than 5,000 square feet. The house, built in the ‘90s, was recently refurbished. Glass, stainless steel, granite, limestone and maple were used in its construction.
The house, on 60 feet of beach frontage, was designed to have coastline views from almost every room.
Berry, 38, starred this year in the movie “Catwoman,” and she stars in the upcoming ABC-TV movie “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God,” due to air in the spring. Berry also voices one of the main characters in the animated film “Robots,” to be released in March.
She won her best actress Academy Award for her work in “Monster’s Ball” (2001). A year later, she played opposite Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond movie “Die Another Day.”
Berry has been involved this year in a split with her husband, singer Eric Benet.
Bronson’s widow sells Malibu digs
Kim Bronson, widow of the late actor Charles Bronson, has sold the Malibu home she shared with him for close to its $5,995,000 asking price.
The house has six bedrooms in slightly more than 6,400 square feet. The estate, built in the 1980s, also has a pool, spa, courtyard and four-car garage. It is behind gates and has mountain views.
Charles Bronson died at 81 in August. He appeared in such ‘60s films as “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Great Escape” and “The Dirty Dozen.”
The Bronsons were married in 1998.
Frank and Tracy Moss and Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, had the listing.
Home retains its cosmetic appeal
A Beverly Hills-area home owned by heirs of the late cosmetics mogul Max Factor has been sold for close to its list price of $6.5 million. The buyers are Palm Springs cosmetic surgeon David Morrow and his wife, Linda.
Escrow closed last week on the house, which had been owned by Louis Factor, the late son of Max Factor, who founded the cosmetics company in L.A. in 1909. Louis Factor died at 68 in 1975. His philanthropist wife, Doris, died this year.
The house, on nearly an acre, has five bedrooms and six bathrooms in about 7,300 square feet. As many as 400 guests at a time have been entertained in the home with dinner and dancing. The house was built about 1935, and it was remodeled by Aleck Dugally. There is a glass-enclosed solarium overlooking manicured lawns and a pool.
Susan Smith and Avrille Krom, both of Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills, represented the buyers. Bernice and Janine Gershon, both of Coldwell Banker Previews in Beverly Hills, had the listing.
Leaving the hills, without a trace
Poppy Montgomery, one of the stars of the CBS series “Without a Trace,” has put her Hollywood Hills home on the market at about $1.8 million. The actress, 29, plans to move to the beach. She has owned the home for about a year.
The house, built in 1937, has three bedrooms and three bathrooms in about 2,400 square feet. The home also has a sun room, office, pool and spa.
Kirk Psenner and Karen Lower of DBL, Los Feliz, have the listing.
Bye to Beverly Hills; hello beach
David Simon, a former Disney, DreamWorks and Fox TV executive, and his wife, Linda, have listed their Beverly Hills home, previously owned by actor Leslie Nielsen, at $6.3 million.
The Simons plan to move to smaller accommodations in Malibu. They also own a converted barn in the Cotswolds, in England.
Their Beverly Hills home, built in 1929, has been restored and updated. It has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in about 8,400 square feet. The Spanish-style villa has stained glass and hand-painted details, carved-beam ceilings, a library and a courtyard with a pool.
David Simon, president of Simon Bros. Media & Entertainment, joined the Noodlesoup Productions Inc. board of directors in June. Noodlesoup is an animation studio based in New York City. In July, Simon was named U.S. liaison for BFC Berliner Film Companie. He was head of DreamWorks Television Animation Studios in 1997.
Doron Langer of Osman Realtors, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
To see previous columns on celebrity transactions, visit latimes.com/hotproperty.
