It’s a super heroic sum for anyone
Apparently, whether choosing a role or a residence, Tobey Maguire is unafraid to scale a wall.
His latest venture in real estate is the purchase of a home site in Brentwood for about $10 million, according to Westside real estate agents.
This is the screen superhero’s highest-priced residential purchase.
The 32-year-old actor’s first home deal was in 2002. He bought a Hollywood Hills home for $3.7 million that he sold in 2007 for close to $11 million, after he had it refurbished.
The new deal has the added risk of being undertaken in a down economy.
Otherwise, it’s got several things going for it. The acre-sized property -- the tear-down on it had already been razed -- is north of Sunset. It wasn’t on the market, realty agents said.
When completed, a newly built home will accommodate Maguire, his wife, Jennifer, and their child. Maguire’s wife is the daughter of Ron Meyer, president and chief operating officer, Universal Studios.
Maguire appeared in “The Cider House Rules” (1999), “Seabiscuit” (2003), “The Good German” (2006) and the “Spider-Man” series.
Party house will have to rock on without him
New York socialite Alex Hitz was in Hollywood the other day to celebrate his 39th birthday and to announce that he and actor Yul Brynner’s daughter, Victoria, had purchased the film rights to “Empress Bianca.”
The 2005 novel by Lady Colin Campbell was taken off bookstore shelves in England after there were threats that a libel suit might be filed.
Hitz, a Coca-Cola stock heir, is not only a producer but also a party-host extraordinaire. He cooked his birthday meal for 100 friends, then announced that the house where he cooked it was now for sale at $7.5 million.
Until recently, the bicoastal Hitz had leased out the Sunset Strip-area house while he was staying in Manhattan. Among his lessees have been French rock star Johnny Hallyday, Italian rock star Vasco Rossi and the Canadian rock band Rush.
If the walls in this house could talk, they’d have plenty to say about the well-attended parties Hitz held in the 6,000-square-foot, three-level contemporary with 12-foot ceilings and an elevator.
And this isn’t just any ol’ house off the Strip. It’s a modern interpretation of an 18th century town house in Paris and has an outdoor living room, two master-bedroom suites, two guest suites, a detached guesthouse, four fireplaces, a pool and a spa. In other words: It’s a party house.
Brent Watson of Coldwell Banker Previews, Beverly Hills, has the listing.
Player pitches his beach home
Jaret Wright, the oft-injured baseball pitcher who has played for the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles since 1997, has put his Newport Beach home on the market at close to $1.8 million.
The home has three large bedrooms, including two master-bedroom suites, and 3 1/2 bathrooms in 3,100 square feet.
There is a large, resort-style pool with fiber-optic lighting, a spa and a waterfall slide. The yard also has a barbecue and fire pit.
Wright, 32, was a 15-game winner for Atlanta in 2004 but lost all three games he started for Baltimore last season.
Andrew D. Karigan at Prudential California Realty, Newport Beach, has the listing.
A great place for fiddling around
The longtime L.A. residence of internationally acclaimed jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, 65, has been put on the market at $2 million, completely furnished. The gated 2,800-square-foot house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The Laurel Canyon house, built in 1923, was recently redesigned to include amenities worthy of a fancy hotel spa. The idea was to make the house into a retreat for artists, musicians and actors who want on-site facilities.
There is a large outdoor dining and entertainment area with a wood-burning pizza oven, a fireplace, sauna, rock pool, spa, several waterfalls, fruit and palm gardens, and a massage pavilion.
Ponty, inspired by Miles Davis, is among the best-known jazz composers and musicians in the world. He used the home as his West Coast base for two decades before moving back to France.
Simon Mills of Mills Realty, Toluca Lake, has the listing.
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