Perhaps now he’ll produce a lemon
Even Hollywood kingpin Jerry Bruckheimer needs to escape the madness once in a while, and now he can while tending his orchards. He and his wife, Linda, bought a ranch in Ventura County with citrus trees on part of its nearly 400 acres. The selling price was close to $20 million.
The prolific TV and movie producer and his wife quietly purchased the ranch this summer but haven’t yet moved much of their weekend stuff there, neighbors said.
He has been too busy. His name is on at least eight TV shows this season, and his films have earned worldwide revenues of an estimated $14 billion in box office, video and recording receipts. The youthful-looking 61-year-old is a pop-culture brand name associated with big-budget, high-octane action movies (“Armageddon,” “Con Air”).
By contrast, the ranch is quiet and secluded. On its grounds is a 1930 Monterey-style, 6,500-square-foot main house with eight bedrooms, 6 1/2 bathrooms and a great room with a built-in indoor barbecue and a 40-foot-long veranda. The room also has tile wall mosaics, an al fresco dining area, adobe-brick walls and hand-hewn beams. The knoll-top home site has views of the ranchlands and the Topa Topa mountains.
When the Bruckheimers are in the mood for fresh fruit, they can sample some from their 125 acres of orchards. Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and avocados grow near a tennis court, pool, pool house and six-car garage. The property also has many trails and acres of open space.
It’s a very different environment from his studio, which produces popular TV fare (“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “The Amazing Race”) and movies (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”)
Victor Plana of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, in Montecito, and Joyce Rey, of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, shared the listing.
‘Mayor’ didn’t let house go to pot
Elizabeth Perkins, who earned an Emmy nomination this year playing Mayor Celia Hodes on the Showtime series “Weeds,” has sold her home in Windsor Square for $3.2 million.
The gated 1918 Spanish-style home has four bedrooms and five bathrooms in 4,000-plus square feet. The property also has a pool, outdoor shower and guesthouse. Other features are a sun porch, courtyard, balconies and a playroom in the garage.
Perkins’ Emmy nomination was for best supporting actress in a comedy series.
She also starred opposite Jeff Goldblum in the live-action/animated film “Cats & Dogs” (2001).
Big ‘Break’ leads to the foothills
The third time may be a charm for actor William Fichtner, who plays FBI Agent Alexander Mahone on Fox’s “Prison Break.”
Fichtner was hoping for a hit TV series. “MDs,” an ABC drama in which he portrayed a renegade doctor, wasn’t it. Neither was “Invasion,” the ABC sci-fi series about a Florida town where Fichtner was the sheriff.
Each series lasted one season, but then along came the second season of “Prison Break,” and it was proclaimed a surprise hit.
With that good news, Fichtner purchased a home in the Glendale foothills for about $1.7 million.
Fichtner bought a 1936 English Tudor with three bedrooms and four bathrooms in about 3,400 square feet.
The home, which has been renovated, has a dining room with French doors opening to a balcony with views of Los Angeles. Other features are an outdoor kitchen and eating area, a game room, a pool and a three-car garage with an attached workshop.
Fichtner has appeared in scores of TV shows and movies, including “Crash,” “The Longest Yard” and “Black Hawk Down.”
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Glendale, had the listing.
Designer pad, yes; shoulder pads, no
The name Bob Mackie usually isn’t associated with houses. Mackie designed spectacular gowns and is particularly known for his over-the-top creations for Cher and hilarious costumes worn by Carol Burnett on her show. (Remember Burnett’s Scarlett O’Hara gown made from drapes -- complete with curtain rod?)
Yet the costume designer also left his mark on at least one house -- a Beverly Hills-area home that is on the market at close to $2.4 million.
Mackie lived there in the ‘90s, and the house, which he remodeled, has his sense of drama and glamour.
The three-story home has high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors and views of the city, canyons and greenbelt areas.
The tiled kitchen has a bar and sitting area, and there is a spa in the lush yard. The house, built in 1956, has five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in nearly 4,000 square feet.
Nandu Hinds of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
Pair to pare down in Beverly Hills
Lindsay Doran, producer of the Emma Thompson film “Sense and Sensibility” (1995) and former president of United Artists, and her husband, investor-developer Rodney Kemerer, have put a house next door to their Beverly Hills residence on the market at $2.1 million
The couple bought the adjacent home five years ago for its acreage, some of which has since been added to their 1931 Tudor Revival residence known as the George R. Kress House for its original owner.
Kress, a Pittsburgher, gained fame in the ‘30s by moving a mansion down the Allegheny on a raft. He built the house in Beverly Hills near the high point of his career as a house and building mover in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Kemerer, also from Pittsburgh, restored the Kress house after he and his wife bought it in the early ‘90s, and he got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The house for sale next door is Mediterranean in style and has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a new kitchen and a master bedroom suite, all in about 3,000 square feet.
Doran produced the film “Nanny McPhee,” starring Emma Thompson, and has completed post-production on “Stranger Than Fiction,” starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah and Emma Thompson. The movie is due out Nov.10.
Mary Ann Musico of Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
