Their long goodbye to Brentwood
For a year and a half it’s been on again, off again and back on, but actress Michelle Pfeiffer and her husband, writer-producer David E. Kelley, finally have sold their Brentwood estate for about $19 million.
The buyer is Robert Iger, 54, chief executive of the Walt Disney Co., who is married to broadcast journalist Willow Bay.
Pfeiffer and Kelley’s estate, which has ocean and canyon views and is on slightly more than 2 acres, was first listed in June 2004, when the power couple bought a ranch north of Los Angeles, where they moved.
The 7,500-square-foot, traditional-style main house in Brentwood was built in 1946. It was restored and remodeled in 2001, a year after Pfeiffer and Kelley bought the property for $15.5 million. The couple originally listed their estate at $29 million.
It has five bedrooms, five fireplaces and nine bathrooms. The master-bedroom suite has two of the bathrooms. The property also has a detached guesthouse, a separate office/gym and rolling lawns. The equestrian-zoned grounds have stables, a tennis court and a pool.
Pfeiffer and Kelley also sold a 1-acre property next door to the estate to another buyer in August.
Pfeiffer, 47, will star in the upcoming movies “Chasing Montana” and “I Could Never Be Your Woman.” Kelley, 49, creator of several TV series, including “Boston Legal,” “Ally McBeal” and “Chicago Hope,” has won multiple Emmy Awards.
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Separate homes for ex-’Newlyweds’
Pop singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, until recently one of Hollywood’s hottest couples, have been moving on since she filed for divorce in December.
She bought a five-bedroom, 5,500-square-foot Beverly Hills home for a bit more than $5 million. The traditional, East Coast-style house belonged at one time to Ellen DeGeneres and at another time to actor Paul Hogan. The home, built in the early ‘90s, has a gym, office and media room.
Lachey listed the Calabasas home he shared with Simpson on MTV’s “Newlyweds” reality series for $3.75 million. He has owned the two-story contemporary Mediterranean, in a gated community, since June 2002. He and Simpson were married four months later.
The house, built in 2001, has soaring ceilings, an open floor plan, stone floors, a living-room fireplace and a luxurious master-bedroom suite and bathroom with a TV in the shower. There are five bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms in about 6,500 square feet. The home also has a screening room and a music studio. The grounds feature an infinity pool and spa.
After he sells, Lachey is expected to buy a house closer to town.
Justin Berfield, who stars as Reese on “Malcolm in the Middle,” made an offer on the house last week. The property is now in escrow, due to close in February.
Lachey, 32, and Simpson, 25, singers when they married, gained fame on the MTV show that documented their first and second years of marriage.
Kay Cole of Ewing & Associates/Sotheby’s International Realty, Calabasas, has the listing for Lachey’s house.
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Flying his banner in Northridge
David Draiman, 32-year-old lead singer of the band Disturbed, has purchased a castle of sorts in Northridge for slightly more than $2.5 million.
Completed in 1992, it’s not really a castle but looks like it’s out of the Middle Ages, minus a moat and with the addition of modern amenities.
The 23-room home has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 8,000 square feet. It also has a tennis court, guesthouse and pool.
In September, Draiman’s metal band released the hit CD “Ten Thousand Fists.”
Robert Carey and Katrina Webb-McNeil of Sotheby’s had the listing; Stacey Hirsch and Staci Mintz of Paramount Rodeo represented the buyer.
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Scoring a place in Manhattan Beach
L.A. Lakers forward Brian Cook has purchased a townhouse in Manhattan Beach for just under $1.2 million. The house has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in 2,064 square feet.
Cook, 25, was picked 24th by the Lakers in the 2003 draft. Last fall, the Lakers exercised their fourth-year option to keep him under contract through the 2006-07 season. He will make $1.82 million this season.
Phyllis Cohen-Edwards of Shorewood Realtors represented both sides of the transaction.
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To see previous columns on celebrity realty transactions go to latimes.com/hotproperty.
