Hot Property Newsletter: The Beach Boys still ‘get around’ in housing circles
What are the chances that one of the three remaining original Beach Boys would be a player in the current real estate market and the former home of another would be up for grabs? This week’s collection also includes properties associated with a best-selling novelist, a boxing champion and a king (of sorts).
Our Home of the Week is a party-ready contemporary in Bel-Air. Open-concept spaces dominate the 11,000 square feet of living space, which is topped by a roof deck. The mansion is priced at $32.5 million.
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– Neal Leitereg and Lauren Beale
New front man sought
Talk about some good vibrations. A Santa Barbara estate once owned by the Beach Boys’ Mike Love is for sale at $14.95 million.
The gated, oceanfront compound covers 2.5 acres, including a bluff with unobstructed views of the Channel Islands. Made up of five cottages, guest quarters and a music studio, the more than 10,500 square feet of living space contains 15 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.
The largest house (aptly named Love Cottage) has more than 3,000 square feet, including loft space. Beamed ceilings, fireplaces and skylights are among interior features. An observation deck with a spa sits on the bluff overlooking the surf.
Love, 78, is a singer, songwriter and co-founder of the rock band, which formed in 1961 and is credited with creating the “California Sound.” His early lyrics focused on surfing, cars and girls. Among the group’s hit songs were “I Get Around,” “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Good Vibrations.”
Goodbye, lake chalet
Singer-songwriter Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys sold his getaway on Lake Arrowhead for $2.85 million. He bought the house in 2012 for $2.1 million.
The chalet-inspired home, built in 2012, overlooks the water and includes a dock slip and a lakeside deck.
Some 4,500 square feet of living space contains a vaulted-ceiling great room, a formal dining room, a family/game room and five bedrooms.
Wilson, 77, wrote such Beach Boys hits as “Good Vibrations” and was inducted with the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. He has gone on to release 11 solo albums, including “No Pier Pressure” in 2015.
A new chapter in Bel-Air
The longtime Bel-Air home of the late romance novelist Judith Krantz is for sale as a pocket listing at $10.5 million.
The Italianate house, which dates to the 1930s, sits on a gated lot of more than half an acre surrounded by hedges and mature trees. The grounds have a swimming pool, a detached guesthouse and expanses of lawn.
The 6,657-square-foot residence features grand common areas such as a living room with a fireplace, a garden-view breakfast room and a two-story library. There are six bedrooms and six bathrooms.
Krantz, who died in June at 91, had owned the property since 1986. Her first two novels were the New York Times best sellers “Scruples” and “Princess Daisy.” Many of her books have been adapted as TV miniseries, including “Secrets” and “Torch Song.”
Boxer flattens his asking price
Boxer Andre Berto, a two-time welterweight world champion, has knocked down the price of his Beverly Hills home by a million dollars to $7.995 million. He first listed it for sale a year ago, public records show.
The 2016 contemporary is a boxy two-story with walls of glass that open to balconies and patios. White walls, 12-foot-high ceilings and wide-plank floors give a clean, modern appearance to the more than 4,900 square feet of living space. There’s an open-plan kitchen and dining area, a living room with a fireplace, a theater room, five bedrooms, six full bathrooms and a half-bath.
The third-acre lot is made up of lawn and a swimming pool with a spa.
Berto, 36, represented Haiti in the 2004 Olympics.
Elvis once graced this land
A Palm Springs property known as Elvis Presley’s honeymoon retreat has circled back on the market at $3.2 million — the same price as early this year.
To be sure, the king of rock ’n’ roll never owned the stucco and flagstone house, but leased it for a very special occasion. He and Priscilla Presley stayed there following their secret wedding in 1967.
If the A side association with the singer isn’t enough to find a fan, the Midcentury Modern has B side cred too. Once called the “House of Tomorrow” by Look magazine, the 4,695-square-foot home with rounded rooms was considered avant-garde when it was built in 1960.
Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42, had such hits as “Hound Dog,” “Suspicious Minds” and “Burning Love.”
Her favorite room
Film producer Suzanne Todd pays homage to her inspirations in the living room of her 4,480-square-foot Pacific Palisades home. Her family, books and the magical world of Disney are well represented in the functional space through photos, a game table and an often-gathered-around fireplace.
From the archives
Twenty years ago, rap mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs leased his Beverly Hills area home out for a year at $25,000 a month. The Grammy-winning rapper had bought the 8,300-square-foot house a year earlier, but never moved in.
Also 20 years ago, John Cusack of the movie “Being John Malkovich” bought a Malibu home for slightly more than $2 million. The four-bedroom, 3,300-square-feet house included a guest apartment with a private entrance.
Thirty years ago, jockey Chris McCarron was on the housing fast track, having sold a home in the Beverly Hills Post Office area and planning to build another nearby. The English-style house he sold was 7,500 square feet in size with five bedrooms and maid’s quarters.
What we’re reading
Architectural Digest served up a collection of seven homes for sale in the most secluded parts of the world. While we’d dispute that they are located in the “most” secluded spots, the houses really capture the imagination. Our personal favorite was the $4.9-million four-bedroom on tiny Potato Island in Branford, Conn. Yes, the buyer gets the whole one-acre island.
And while we were looky-looing... It’s pretty hard to get us to say “wow,” but these celebrity-owned yachts at Celebrity Homes had us uttering the word. Check out Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour’s old-fashioned super-yacht.
