Hot Property newsletter: It’s a big start to the New Year
As American Top 40 host Casey Kasem used to say, “The hits just keep on coming.” Topping the charts in this week’s roundup are the $88-million handoff of a Holmby Hills mansion once owned by Sonny and Cher and a $27.5-million Bel-Air purchase by a well-known television host.
Our Home of the Week in Beverly Hills is a 92-year-old Mediterranean that found new life in the 21st century. A dramatic remodel mixes modern amenities with original details such as beamed-and-stenciled ceilings, massive fireplaces and arched windows. The 11,000-square-foot mansion is priced at $25 million.
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— Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale
Will he tape from Bel-Air?
Trevor Noah will spend 2021 in style. “The Daily Show” host has shelled out $27.5 million for a contemporary mansion in Bel-Air.
The 11,000-square-foot home, inspired by Japanese architecture, features sliding walls of glass and extra-thick walls. Three stories contain six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, an office, a library, an elevator, a gym and a game room.
From the street, the home appears as a series of stacked cubes. A cabana with a bar and sun deck adjoins a swimming pool at the back of the house.
Noah, 36, succeeded Jon Stewart in 2015 as host of the late night show and inked a five-year extension in 2017 — the same year he won a Primetime Emmy.
Actor has left the scene
David Berman, who played assistant coroner David Phillips on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” for 15 years, sold his Hollywood Hills home for $2.235 million, finding a buyer in less than two weeks.
The quarter of an acre hillside property contains a solar-powered house, an entertainment deck, a dining patio and an outdoor lounge with a movie projector. Manicured gardens with 20 fruit trees and a vineyard descend to a fire pit and spa.
The actor touched up the 2,400 square feet of interiors during his stay, whitewashing the vaulted beams in the living room and adding a floor-to-ceiling fireplace. A dining room, a galley-style kitchen with a skylight, three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a movie theater with reclining stadium seats complete the interior.
Berman, 47, appeared in nearly 300 episodes of “CSI” from 2000 to 2015. Other credits include “Vanished” and “The Blacklist.”
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DJ’s home is in the mix
Grammy-winning DJ and record producer Paul Oakenfold has listed his treehouse in Hollywood Hills for $3.7 million — about $1 million more than he paid in 2015.
The post-and-beam was built 70 years ago as the personal residence of Robert Boyle, the Oscar-nominated production designer who collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on films such as “North by Northwest” and “The Birds.” Boyle designed the place himself.
Wood and glass adorn the Midcentury’s exterior, with huge windows and expansive terraces taking in views of the city below. There’s a family room, an office and four bedrooms within the 2,825-square-foot floor plan.
Oakenfold, 57, has twice been named the No. 1 DJ in the world by DJ Magazine. He has remixed songs for Madonna, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, among others.
A who’s who of former owners
Owlwood — a Holmby Hills mansion that was once owned by actor Tony Curtis and later pop duo Sonny and Cher — has sold for $88 million.
Spanning 10 acres, the 12,000-square-foot Italian Revival-style mansion was designed in 1936 by Robert D. Farquhar, an L.A. architect whose other projects included the Pentagon, Beverly Hills High School and the California Club.
A series of high-profile players owned the home in the following decades, including 20th Century-Fox Chairman Joseph Schenck, oil tycoon William Keck and Hotel Bel-Air founder Joseph Drown. Curtis lived there in the 1960s, selling to Sonny and Cher in the ’70s.
At the front of the estate, a driveway wraps around a spacious lawn anchored by a fountain. Two structures occupy the regal grounds: a main house topped by clay tile and an ivy-clad guesthouse. They combine for nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
Frank Gehry looks to the future
Famed architect Frank Gehry has unveiled a bold plan to transform the Los Angeles River into more than just a concrete flood channel and establish it as an unprecedented system of open space.
The 91-year-old Gehry is best known for flashy cultural and commercial landmarks, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, but now looks to uplift the profiles of Southern California’s poorest, most densely crowded communities along the backbone of the county’s flood-control system, reporter Louis Sahagún writes.
In South Gate, where the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo meet, the design envisions “elevated platform parks,” bridge-like green spaces that would stretch nearly a mile over both rivers and support a lush landscape of trees, grass, scenic ponds, horse trails and walking paths. A $150-million cultural center would rise nearby.
“We studied the river upside and down and found that less than 2% of the time it runs very fast and is very dangerous,” Gehry said. “So, we thought if we can’t get rid of the concrete, maybe we can cover it.”
From the archives
Thirty years ago, two-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Bret Saberhagen of the Kansas City Royals was building a $2-million residence at Lake Sherwood. The 8,570-square-foot home would include a swimming pool, a basketball court and a batting cage. “It will be our main residence when baseball’s done,” Saberhagen said. “I’ll be out here three to four months of the year.”
Twenty years ago, Grammy Award-winning pop singer Christina Aguilera purchased a home in the Beverly Hills area for just under $2.8 million. The Mediterranean-style villa had three bedrooms and maid’s quarters in more than 7,000 square feet.
Ten years ago, actress and model Mischa Barton listed her Beverly Hills Post Office area compound for sale at $8.695 million or for lease at $30,000 a month. The main house and three guesthouses had a total of eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and six fireplaces in nearly 9,800 square feet of living space.
What we’re reading
We learned something new this week from the folks at Apartment Therapy. Ever seen those crazy looking angled windows in a New England farmhouse? They’re called “witch” or “coffin” windows. The practical solution for allowing more daylight into a room is also said to keep witches riding on brooms from entering.
And while we’re in that part of the country, Phish bassist Mike Gordon has listed his three-bedroom Vermont home for $895,000, reports Realtor.com. The wood-clad contemporary cabin is set on 12 acres in Essex Junction.
