Secret retreat among the trees
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, lived in a small, secluded Pacific Palisades neighborhood for more than a dozen years before the actor took office. Before that, director John Ford owned a home there. So did actors John Forsythe (“Dynasty”) and Daniel J. Travanti (“Hill Street Blues”).
One several-blocks-long street in the neighborhood is so private it isn’t even listed correctly on some public documents. Celebrity homeowners apparently like this secrecy.
Actor Michael Keaton was an owner in the neighborhood until this year, when he gave up his longtime plan to build and sold his vacant lot to Lloyd Braun, head of Yahoo Media Group.
Now, Geraldine Clark is selling her home in this exclusive neighborhood. She is the widow of Dane Clark, a contract player with Warner Bros. in the ‘40s and ‘50s who costarred with such actors as Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant.
A former model and New York City stockbroker who became a real estate agent, Clark owns the first property subdivided in the original 21-acre development. Her guesthouse was built in the ‘70s. The main house was totally remodeled when she purchased the home in June 1999.
The property has two bridges over a year-round stream and a place to sit and meditate or watch a natural waterfall in the distance. Her backyard is a garden with a koi pond.
About this house: It’s actually a two-house compound, English Country in style. One is used as a guesthouse.
Asking price: $6 million
Size: The main house has two bedrooms and three bathrooms. The guesthouse has one bedroom and one bathroom. Each house is about 2,600 square feet. The acre-plus lot is zoned for equestrian use.
Features: The one-story home has a den, dining and living areas and a loft.
Where: Pacific Palisades
Listing agent: Geraldine Clark, Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills East, (310) 278-4100 or (310) 922-6828.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, please send color interior and exterior photographs on a CD with caption information and a description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Questions can be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
