Once and again, it’s a Sela sale
Emmy-winning actress Sela Ward and her husband, businessman Howard Sherman, have sold a Hancock Park home for slightly more than $3.8 million. The buyer is Mark Werts, head of American Rag, a vintage clothing company.
Ward and Sherman restored the French-style home, built in 1939 and designed by Stiles O. Clements, who designed the Hollywood Park race track and the Pershing Square garage.
The house has three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in about 5,000 square feet. It has a slate roof, a gravel motor court, a sweeping staircase, a library, a guest apartment and a pool. Ward and Sherman also updated the kitchen before listing the house last fall at $4.4 million.
This isn’t the first time the couple has renovated and resold an L.A.-area home. In 2003, they sold a Beverly Hills house they purchased for about $5 million and expanded. Madonna bought the compound for $12 million.
Ward, in her 40s, was a regular on the ABC series “Once and Again” (1999-2002) and the earlier NBC series “Sisters.” She won an Emmy for performances in both series. In 2000, she won a Golden Globe for best actress in a TV series for “Once and Again.” She costarred in the 2004 movies “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”
Werts’ company, which he co-founded, has had a wholesale business as well as stores in L.A. and San Francisco. Werts, in his 50s, grew up in Los Feliz.
The home had been listed with Lisa Hutchins of Coldwell Banker, Hancock Park.
‘O.C.’ star will take Manhattan Beach
Alan Dale, who plays “the richest man in the O.C.” on the Fox TV show “The O.C.,” and his wife, Tracey, purchased a Manhattan Beach home a few weeks ago for about $1.5 million and did some refurbishing before moving into the house.
The couple and a builder friend created a den out of one of the four bedrooms so the actor could have more than one place to study scripts. Their 3,000-square-foot home, built in the 1940s and updated in the ‘70s, has a swimming pool, added in 1984, and two spas.
The actor and his wife have been in the United States since 2000. “The O.C.” is in its second season. When the program has been on hiatus, he has appeared on such shows as “NCIS,” “The West Wing” and “24.” Before coming to L.A., he was best known throughout Europe, Australia and his native New Zealand for his role in the Australian TV hit “Neighbours.” The actor, in his 50s, also has extensive theater credits.
Too much house for all his Emmys
Gary Smith, a partner in the Emmy-winning TV production company Smith-Hemion, and his interior-designer wife, Maxine, have listed their gated Beverly Hills-area home, on a private road, at about $7.4 million. They want to move because their children are grown and the house is larger than they need.
The contemporary-style house has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a library, a home theater and a gym with a sauna in slightly more than 10,000 square feet. The home, built in 1988, sits on 1 acre-plus, with a tennis court, pool, spa, waterfall and rolling lawns.
Smith-Hemion, winner of 24 Emmy awards, produced Paul McCartney’s first TV special and Elvis Presley’s last, Bette Midler’s first and Bing Crosby’s last. Among the many specials and events produced by Smith and his company is “100 Years of Hope and Humor,” honoring Bob Hope on his 100th birthday.
Drew Mandile and Brooke Knapp of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, are co-listing the home with Linda May of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills.
Big shoes to fill in ‘Frankenstein’ digs
Brad Fischer, senior vice president of production at Phoenix Pictures, has become a first-time home buyer with his $744,000 purchase of a Hollywood Hills house leased to Boris Karloff during the late actor’s breakthrough years: 1931 to 1934. Among the films he made then were “Frankenstein” (1931), “The Mummy” (1932) and “The Mask of Fu Manchu” (1932).
Fischer, in his 20s, is a Karloff fan. The seller of the house, graphics designer Jeffrey Price, researched the Whitley Heights property and established that Karloff had lived there.
The Spanish-style house, built in 1921, has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,800 square feet. It’s on a private knoll with city and canyon views. The home also has vintage iron, plaster details and an updated kitchen and bathrooms.
Sheila Rose-Dick of Prudential John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, and William Coveny III of the same company had the listing.
‘Deadwood’ star’s home back East
William Sanderson, hotelier E.B. Farnum on HBO’s “Deadwood,” and his wife, Sharon, have purchased a second home in her hometown of Harrisburg, Pa., for $150,000. Their primary residence is in Toluca Lake. The actor, in his 50s, plans to spend his hiatus periods from “Deadwood” in his new retreat.
The 1,700-square-foot house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a family room, a sun porch and a large pool with a deck. There is also a 1,150-square-foot basement. The property is about two hours and 30 minutes by train or car to New York City.
Sanderson has played many roles throughout the years but may be best recalled as Larry, the speaking member of three brothers on the long-running CBS series “Newhart.”
