Hot Property Newsletter: How to get away with a real estate deal

We venture all over the map this week with a collection that includes the Hancock Park house where a prolific TV writer held court with her muse, a muscleman’s Pismo Beach purchase and a tennis great who kept chipping away until he landed a buyer for his Texas spread.

Our Home of the Week in Escondido sits on 20 acres of boulder-strewn land zoned for uses such as vineyards, farming or an equestrian facility. The 1960s vibe Midcentury Modern has unusual features including leather floors and a central atrium. The asking price is $1.399 million.

Once you’re done reading about these deals, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week.

– Neal Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale

Where her muse hung out

Television producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, whose scores of credits include “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” has sold her home in Hancock Park for slightly more than $7.166 million.

The 1920s traditional-style home, which she had owned since 2010, has 8,300 square feet of space adorned with coffered ceilings and crown molding. The formal entry has a hand-stenciled floor.

The six bedrooms and nine bathrooms include a multi-room master suite complete with dual baths, two walk-in closets and a study. Another bedroom/office is where Rhimes penned screenplays for many of her hit shows.

The tiered backyard has lawn and steps leading up to a swimming pool and pool deck.

Rhimes, 49, is the producer behind such popular television hits as “Private Practice,” “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Station 19.”

A step away from the studios

Actors Topher and Ashley Grace have bought a home in leafy La Cañada Flintridge through a trust for $2.975 million.

The traditional of nearly 4,000 square feet sits back from the street and is fronted by a horseshoe driveway. The 1940s house has a living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, a game room and a vaulted-ceiling family room that adjoins the kitchen. The four bedrooms and five bathrooms include a master suite with a fireplace and French doors that open to a balcony.

The home sits on about two-thirds of an acre with mature trees, lawn, a fire pit and a swimming pool with a spa.

Topher Grace, 41, is known for his role on the sitcom “That ‘70s Show,” which ran from 1998 to 2006. Ashley Grace, 30, also known as Ashley Hinshaw, has had roles in the shows “StartUp” (2016) and “The Arrangement” (2017-18).

Plenty of flex space

Bodybuilder turned actor Lou Ferrigno has bought a home in the hills above Pismo Beach for $2.9 million.

Set on a knoll in Arroyo Grande, the gated compound has panoramic vistas of nearly 360 degrees that take in the coastline and the mountains of San Luis Obispo.

The Mediterranean-inspired house, built in 1980, has 7,000 square feet of living space. Five bedrooms and five bathrooms are spread across two floors.

Palms frame a heated swimming pool and pool deck. A gazebo, gardens, meandering pathways and an 8,000-square-foot workshop/barn fill out the grounds.

Ferrigno, 67, was a two-time Mr. Universe before landing the title role on the CBS series “The Incredible Hulk.” As an actor, his credits also include the show “The King of Queens” and the 2009 film “I Love You, Man.”

Some green for his green

Pro golfer Mark O’Meara teed up his place in Houston and hit it straight off the market. The two-story house, built for O’Meara a decade ago, has found a buyer for an undisclosed price.

You see, it’s Texas. They don’t include home sales prices in the public record there. But we can tell you the estate was listed at $3.699 million.

The Mediterranean and traditional hybrid sits on half an acre of landscaped grounds that feature a swimming pool and — you guessed it — a putting green.

The 7,072 square feet of living space includes a barrel-ceiling foyer, a pair of tile-lined living rooms, a formal dining room, a center-island chef’s kitchen, an office, a lofted media room and five bedrooms.

O’Meara, 62, turned pro in 1984. The World Golf Hall of Fame inductee won the Masters Tournament and the Open Championship in 1998.

One for the loss column

A McLean, Va., mansion owned by Washington Redskins President Bruce Allen has sold for $3.2 million.

The place had been listed more than half a dozen times in the last eight years, most recently at $3.475 million. He bought the property for $3.45 million in 2010, a few months after becoming the Redskins’ general manager.

Built in 2006, the two-story home has 10,500 square feet of living space adorned with coffered ceilings, crown molding and lots of columns.

A two-story foyer with a sweeping staircase sets the stage for the main level, which contains two living rooms, two dining areas, an office and a center-island kitchen. Among the seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms is a master suite with two closets, two bathrooms, a lounge and a balcony.

Allen started his NFL career with the Oakland Raiders and took over his current role as Redskins president in 2017.

He chips away and scores

After a string of price reductions, onetime top-ranked tennis player Andy Roddick and his wife, actress and model Brooklyn Decker, have sold their estate in Texas. The Austin property was most recently listed at $4.65 million.

The 15 rolling acres with Hill Country views center on a 2003 farmhouse-style home, which underwent extensive renovation during the couple’s 13 years of ownership.

Beamed ceilings and plank-wood floors add a rustic vibe to the 7,368 square feet of chic interiors, which contain two dining rooms, two living rooms, five bedroom and 6.5 bathrooms.

Roddick, 36, became the World No. 1 singles player in 2003. He made five Grand Slam finals, winning the U.S Open in 2003. Decker, 32, is on the current series “Grace and Frankie.”

From the archives

Ten years ago, actress and model Milla Jovovich, the weapon-toting glammando from the “Resident Evil” films, sold a Beverly Hills Post Office area home for $2.75 million. The John Woolf-designed, Hollywood Regency-style home had 3,582 square feet of living space and opened to a clover leaf-shaped pool. [Editor’s note: The coining of the word “glammando,” for a glamorous commando, sent the copy desk into a tizzy. The writer prevailed. However, a decade later the word has still not caught on.]

Twenty years ago, a Laughlin Park home owned for nearly four decades by director Cecil B. DeMille sold for $3.8 million. DeMille bought the house, where Charlie Chaplin had previously lived, in about 1920 and owned it until he died in 1959. DeMille’s family continued to own the home until 1988.

What we’re reading

Paul Manafort’s luxury condo in Alexandria, Va., is listed for sale at $3.2 million, reports Realtor.com. The former Trump campaign chairman stayed at the three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot unit when he was under house arrest. He currently resides in prison.

It’s not easy to build homes on scenic Mackinaw Island in northern Michigan, reports the Wall Street Journal. There’s a ban on vehicles most of the year. So contractors have had to get inventive, sometimes putting snowmobiles and horses to use.