Hot Property newsletter: Celeb homeowners are shooting for the $tars
We love a mega-million-dollar price when it comes to home listings and sales. This week we bring you a singing competition host who is hoping for an offer to the tune of $85 million, a onetime business magnate’s estate listed at $75 million and a $13-million payday for the queen to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Talk about modern. Our Home of the Week in Santa Monica dazzles with angles, concrete surfaces and expanses of glass. The blocky new build features floating staircases, heated floors, skylights and smart home features. The 5,400-square-foot, five-bedroom house is listed at $5.487 million.
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— Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale
Ready to name a finalist
Ryan Seacrest is asking $85 million for his compound in Beverly Hills. The singing competition, talk and radio show host bought the secluded property eight years ago from Ellen DeGeneres for $36.5 million.
The contemporary estate covers about three acres and includes a 9,000-square-foot main house, two guesthouses, a pool house, a detached gym and an underground garage. Manicured lawns, gardens and dining areas dot the grounds, which feature a reflecting pond and swimming pool.
Exposed beams, skylights and chandeliers adorn the common spaces. In total, there are seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
Seacrest, 45, may be best known as the host of the singing competition show “American Idol.” His current hosting duties extend to radio and the current daytime gig “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”
It’s all business in Bel-Air
The longtime Bel-Air home of the late business magnate Barron Hilton is up for grabs at $75 million. Hilton, son and successor of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton, bought the property in the 1960s and lived there until his death last year.
The Georgian-style mansion was built in 1936 for Jay Paley, a businessman and film producer from the family that founded the Columbia Broadcasting System. Paul R. Williams — a famed architect with a star-studded client list including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz — handled the design.
The more than 15,000-square-foot mansion contains 13 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, a step-down living room, a formal dining room, a billiards room, a den and a commercial-grade kitchen.
One of the estate’s most noteworthy features is a custom pool with blue, gold and yellow tiles that depict the 12 signs of the Zodiac. A pool house and sunken tennis court complete the 2.5-acre grounds.
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Priscilla has left the building
After nearly half a century in Beverly Hills, Priscilla Presley is moving on. The actress and former wife of rock legend Elvis Presley has sold her Spanish-style compound for $13 million.
Gated and landscaped, the Spanish-style retreat centers on a 1950s villa of nearly 9,000 square feet. It is surrounded by a series of gardens, lawns and terraces and includes amenities such as a swimming pool and tennis court.
Exposed beams, arched doorways and ornate fireplaces are among the interior details. Rich wood panels wrap around the library, and the formal dining room features velvet drapes and a crystal chandelier. There are seven bedrooms and 8.5 bathrooms.
Presley, 75, was married to Elvis Presley for about six years and served as the chairwoman of Elvis Presley Enterprises. As an actress, she is known for her roles in “The Naked Gun” films and on the prime-time television soap opera “Dallas.”
Ridin’ out of Malibu
Snowboarder Shaun White, who has racked up a record 15 X Games gold medals over the course of his career, has parted with his Malibu home for $8 million — $2.75 million shy of the price he paid for the property in 2016.
Set on an acre, the 2,200-square-foot open-plan house with white walls and hardwood floors overlooks the ocean through picture windows. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room with a fireplace and a kitchen with a breakfast nook.
The lower level leads to a covered patio, and the upper level opens to a deck with views of the swimming pool and the ocean.
Dubbed “the Flying Tomato” for his red hair, White is an accomplished snowboarder and skateboarder. He won Olympic gold medals in 2006, 2010 and 2018.
From the archives
Thirty years ago, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers landed a Hollywood Hills home for $650,000. The 2,600-square-foot home had three bedrooms, an atrium entry with vaulted ceilings and city and canyon views.
Twenty years ago, Edge, the guitarist who co-founded Irish rock band U2 with Bono, purchased a home in Malibu for $2 million. Built in the ‘30s, the house had two bedrooms and four bathrooms in nearly 4,000 square feet as well as a pool.
Ten years ago, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” host and Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath sold a home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.25 million. The renovated 1931 country English-style house had a step-down living room with a vaulted ceiling and fold-away glass doors that opened to a patio with city views.
What we’re reading
The show’s the thing. Not everyone who participated in a home makeover reality show appears to have been satisfied with the results, reports BuzzFeed. Among allegations compiled on a Reddit thread: fancy Moroccan tile installed without grout immediately became chipped, murals peeled off the walls in a child’s room and completed work resulted in higher property taxes.
A crowdfunding campaign has been started to buy the home of author J.R.R. Tolkien, reports the New York Times. The three-month effort aims to raise $5.3 million to purchase the longtime residence of the author of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” and then turn it into a museum. The Oxford, England, property is where Tolkien lived from 1930 to 1947.
