In La Jolla, the plot thickens

Anne Rice, author of about 25 novels, including “Memnoch the Devil” and “The Queen of the Damned” in the popular “Vampire Chronicles” series, has purchased a La Jolla home for $8 million.

Rice, who put her longtime New Orleans residence on the market at close to $4 million last year, purchased a six-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot Tuscan-style villa with panoramic ocean views. The three-story La Jolla home was built in 1993.

The house has 10 bathrooms, an office, an exercise room, a four-car garage, a motor court, an elevator, a media room, a breakfast room, a steam shower, a spa and a lap pool. The kitchen, designed for gourmet cooking, has two refrigerators, an indoor grill, a built-in rotisserie, a warming drawer and two pantries. Nearly every room opens to a balcony or patio.

The villa was originally listed in 2003 at just under $9.4 million.

After listing her three-story, Greek Revival-style home in New Orleans, Rice purchased a residence in a gated subdivision in the suburbs nearby. Last fall, she also listed her two adjacent, Midtown New York City apartments at a total of nearly $2.9 million.

Rice’s son, Christopher, is an author who lives in West Hollywood. Her husband, Stan, a poet and artist, died at age 60 in 2002. The couple had been married for 41 years. They had lived in the 11,000-square-foot New Orleans mansion since 1988. Much of the house has been used as settings in Rice’s work.

Rice, 63, wrote the novel “Interview With the Vampire,” which was made into the 1994 movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. She also wrote the screenplay.

Bonnie Adams of Coldwell Banker, La Jolla, represented Rice in her La Jolla purchase, area real estate sources said.

Beware, vampires of Brentwood

Jessica Biel, who played a vampire slayer in the Wesley Snipes movie “Blade: Trinity” (2004), has purchased a Brentwood home for $2.6 million.

Biel bought a gated Mediterranean-style villa with three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in just under 2,900 square feet.

The house, built in 1924, was recently restored and updated. The master bedroom suite has a steam shower. The house has air conditioning and a water purification system.

There is also a bonus room and a pool.

Biel, 22, is a former costar of the WB series “7th Heaven,” and she appeared in the 2003 remake of the cult classic “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” In her first film, “Ulee’s Gold” (1997), she played Peter Fonda’s granddaughter.

Donna Dellaportas and Sally Forster Jones at Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills East, represented Biel in her purchase.

Juicy estate in Beverly Hills

Pamela Skaist-Levy, co-founder and co-president of the casual-fashion house Juicy Couture, and her husband, writer-director-producer Jefrey Levy, have purchased a Beverly Hills estate that was listed in 2003 at $34 million.

The selling price was not disclosed, but Westside Realtors not involved in the transaction estimated it to be in the $20-million range.

The Georgian Colonial, built about 1940, was owned for many years by Liliore Rains, a daughter of Burton Green, one of the original developers of Beverly Hills.

After she died in 1985, Merv Griffin, the talk show host and real estate mogul, purchased the estate and built a tennis court and pavilion there. He sold the property in 1994 to Fred Rosen, former chairman of Ticketmaster, and his wife, Rikki.

The residence sits on slightly more than three acres, behind gates, and has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms in 6,200 square feet.

The main house has a mahogany-paneled library and city views. The tennis pavilion has a screening room, a kitchen and a bar.

The compound also has a guesthouse and a guardhouse.

The Levys plan to move into the estate and lease out their Midcentury Modern Hollywood Hills home.

The couple were represented by their attorneys in buying. Linda May of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills North, had the listing.

A Bangle bids bungalow adieu

Michael Steele, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter with the band the Bangles, has sold her West Hollywood bungalow for about $800,000.

The two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot home, built in 1941, has two bathrooms, hardwood floors, French doors, casement windows, a breakfast area, a laundry room, a dining room and a living room with a fireplace.

Steele, who has a home in Northern California, recently completed an international tour with the Bangles to promote the group’s latest album, “Doll Revolution.” She wrote or co-wrote four tracks on the album.

Steele rose to fame in the early ‘80s with the all-girl band the Runaways. In 1983, she joined the Bangles in releasing the album “All Over the Place.” Later, the group had such hits as “Walk Like an Egyptian” and “Eternal Flame.” After a hiatus, the band regrouped in 1999 to record a song for the movie “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

Jeff Yarbrough of Sotheby’s International Realty, Sunset Strip, had the listing. The buyer, Nicole Nash, of the same office, represented herself.

To see previous columns on celebrity real estate transactions visit latimes.com/hotproperty.