Sunshine boy? Not for long
Neil Simon has sold his longtime Bel-Air home for close to its $8.5-million asking price, according to real estate sources not involved in the transaction.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright had owned the estate for nearly 30 years. The buyer was a local physician.
The Connecticut-style house, on almost two acres, was built in 1937 and renovated about eight years ago. The one-story home has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 6,760 square feet. Other features are a gym, library, media center, guesthouse, pool and park-like grounds.
Simon, 77, put his Bel-Air home on the market in October. Earlier in the year, he underwent a kidney transplant. By fall, he plans to spend more time in Manhattan, where he has several upcoming projects. Among them is his latest play, a stage adaptation of his bestselling 1996 memoir, “Rewrites.” A revival of “The Odd Couple,” starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, is expected to be staged on Broadway next year. His many other hit plays include “Lost in Yonkers,” “The Sunshine Boys” and “Barefoot in the Park.”
Simon and his wife, Elaine, maintain homes on both coasts. He reportedly contracted in January to buy a two-bedroom Park Avenue apartment for slightly more than $1 million. He already owned a smaller unit in the same building.
Jan Horn, founder and executive director of the Coldwell Banker architectural division, had the listing on the Bel-Air home.
Just mad about Hollywood Hills
Michael McDonald, who plays Kirstie Alley’s agent, Sam Raskal, in the new Showtime series “Fat Actress” and is completing his seventh season on Fox’s “Mad TV,” has purchased a Hollywood Hills home for nearly $2 million and has sold a nearby house, which he remodeled, for slightly more than $1 million.
He bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom villa with canyon views. The tri-level home has a master bedroom suite with a sitting room, balcony and spa tub for two. The house also has a home theater and a pool.
He sold a two-bedroom, 1 1/2 -bathroom home built in 1925. It has an office with custom built-ins and a remodeled kitchen. The home also has an outdoor kitchen, roof deck and gated spa.
McDonald, 40, is known for his character, named Stuart, on “Mad TV.” He has had a recurring role on “Scrubs.” He also appeared on “Seinfeld,” “Ellen,” “NewsRadio,” “Just Shoot Me!” and in all three Austin Powers movies. He was once a member of the L.A. comedy improv group the Groundlings.
K.J. Marmon, now of his own firm, KJM Real Estate, West Hollywood, represented McDonald in both deals. Pamela Rich, now with Sotheby’s, Sunset, represented the buyer of the house McDonald sold. Dennis and Mimi Martino of Prudential John Aaroe had the listing on the home McDonald purchased.
They bought their house for a song
Sherry Hackney Cade, a film and TV composer, and her husband, Alan Cade, a principal of Dugan & Associates Construction Management, have purchased a La Canada-Flintridge home for less than its $1.8-million asking price, and they listed their Burbank home for about $1.2 million.
The house they bought is on almost an acre, behind gates and has three bedrooms and four bathrooms in 3,400 square feet. The home, built in 1948 and refurbished in 2004, also has a pool and a pool house.
They plan to double the size of the house.
The house they are selling has four bedrooms and three bathrooms in 3,650 square feet. It has downtown L.A. and downtown Glendale views plus a large room that Hackney Cade used for her studio. The house is close to the film studios, post-production houses and the Burbank Media District.
Among Hackney Cade’s composing credits are “Modern Marvels,” “Forensic Files” and “The Planet’s Funniest Animals”; this year, she’s working on writer-director Robert Zappia’s thriller “Asylum Hill.”
She and her husband also own a 300-acre farm in Kentucky.
Carol Huston at Sotheby’s, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
An estate fit for a Derby winner
The Bradbury Estates home of the late Prince Ahmed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia has been sold for about $13.1 million. The buyer was described as a Chinese businessman who purchased the home for entertaining visiting dignitaries and friends.
The prince, nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, died of a heart attack at age 43 in 2002, the same year that his horse, War Emblem, won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness but failed to win the Triple Crown. War Emblem lived on the Bradbury Estates property along with other horses owned by the prince.
The property, listed in July, has been called “more of a gentleman’s farm than a business enterprise.” The 16-acre parcel has a groomed quarter-mile track with a starting gate and viewing stand, a palatial main house and 5,800-square-foot guest quarters with their own pool.
The 9,900-square-foot main house has six bedroom suites, five fireplaces, an elevator, a pool and a family room with a theater and billiards.
There is a 6,000-square-foot barn with offices, a 24-stall training barn of 6,400 square feet, a hay and grain barn, and a horse-walking arena.
Ronald Chang of Coldwell Banker, Arcadia, represented the buyer.
Michael Darling and Catie Snider, now with Sotheby’s, Pasadena, had the listing.
To see previous columns on celebrity real estate transactions visit latimes.com/hotproperty.
