Hot Property: Hollywood heavyweights cut L.A.’s second-highest sale of 2020
Talk about your gold-medal affair. Entertainment mogul David Geffen has purchased the Beverly Hills home of Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee President Casey Wasserman for $68 million — the second-highest home sale in L.A. County this year.
A striking concoction of stone, glass and white oak, the modern mansion was designed by Pritzker-winning architect Richard Meier, whose other notable works include the Getty Center and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.
Perched in a prime location above Sunset Boulevard, the home sits on 3.25 acres of lawns and lush landscaping.
Gallery-like living spaces lined with automated steel doors fill the three-story home. There’s an indoor-outdoor great room, an open-concept dining area, a movie theater, a gym, an art studio and a sleek chef’s kitchen with an oversize center island.
The museum-like, 18,543-square-foot interior also holds six bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, including a master suite with a private deck. Two staircases and an elevator navigate the floors.
Outside, an entertainment deck adjoins an 85-foot tiled infinity pool. A pool house with sliding walls of glass completes the park-like property.
Geffen, who was last seen riding out the pandemic in his $590-million super-yacht, is no stranger to big real estate deals. Earlier this year, the music and film executive made headlines when he sold his Beverly Hills mansion to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for a California record $165 million.
The 77-year-old Geffen is known for founding the music labels Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records, which is now Interscope Geffen A&M Records. In 1990, he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Wasserman heads a Los Angeles sports marketing and talent management company. He previously spearheaded L.A.’s bid for the 2028 Olympics.
Stephen Shapiro of Westside Estate Agency was the listing agent. Kurt Rappaport, also with Westside Estate Agency, represented Geffen.
New base for ‘Modern Family’ star
Married actors Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello have made a big splash in gated Beverly Park, buying the former home of baseball great Barry Bonds for $26 million.
The 1.85-acre estate has been extensively renovated and centers on a 17,100-square-foot Italianate villa-style home. A two-story guesthouse, a sports court, a swimming pool and a spa fill out the property, which is reached by a tree-lined driveway.
The seven-bedroom, 10.5-bathroom main house pairs Old World trappings with a range of contemporary details. The dramatic design palette includes imported limestone finishes, travertine floors and crystal chandeliers. Decorative tilework creates visual interest in the chef’s kitchen, which is outfitted with onyx countertops.
Other highlights include a walnut-paneled office, a movie theater with a snack bar and an elevator.
Bonds bought the mansion in 2002 for $8.7 million and sold it more than a decade later for $22 million. Since then, the property was sold in 2016 for $26.5 million and last year for $23 million. It had been on the market since October for $30 million.
Vergara, 47, is known for her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family,” which concluded in April after 11 seasons. Among her film credits are “The Emoji Movie,” “Chef” and “Hot Pursuit.”
Manganiello, 43, gained fame on the show “True Blood.” His film credits include “Magic Mike” (2012), “Justice League” (2017) and “Rampage” (2018).
Victoria Risko and Barry Peele of Sotheby’s International Realty were the listing agents. Peele also represented the buyers.
Hollywood Hills sale is no joke
Michael McDonald — not the musician, but the “MADtv” veteran who’s starred in countless comedies over the last three decades — is looking to part with his Hollywood Hills home of 16 years. The Tuscan-style villa just hit the market for $2.979 million.
Ultra-secluded and shrouded in landscaping, the property features a three-story home and a handful of romantic outdoor spaces. Double wood doors access a covered courtyard in front. Out back, there’s a column-lined, ivy-covered space with a swimming pool, spa and dining patio.
Throughout the floor plan, arched French doors open to a series of patios and Juliet balconies and bring sweeping canyon views into the common spaces, which include a living room with a stone fireplace and a chandelier-topped dining area.
Two of the three bedrooms are master suites, and both open directly outside. A game room and office finish off the 2,756-square-foot interior.
Frank Andriolo of Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing.
A native of Fullerton, McDonald starred in the sketch comedy series “MADtv” from 1998 to 2008, becoming the show’s longest-tenured cast member. The 55-year-old has also appeared in “Scrubs” and more recently directed 12 episodes of the comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
An outpost to the stars
In the Hollywood Hills’ Outpost Estates neighborhood, the onetime home of early film actress Wynne Gibson has come up for sale for $4.195 million.
Gibson, who died in 1987 at 88, gained fame as a stage actress on Broadway before signing with Paramount Pictures in the 1920s. She was the original owner of the Spanish Revival-style home.
Designed and built in 1928 by Marshall P. Wilkinson, a Hollywood architect who also designed homes for Alan Ladd and Fred Astaire, the renovated two-story house balances period details with a host of modern upgrades. Beamed ceilings top the great room, which retains its original fireplace. In the entry, a staircase with decorative wrought-iron balusters draws the eyes upward.
A breakfast room accented by bright Spanish tile sits between the dining room and upgraded kitchen. Space beneath the house has been converted to wine storage.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home sits on a quarter-acre lot with winding pathways, gardens, a guesthouse and waterfall features. Views take in surrounding hilltops and city lights.
The area that makes up Outpost Estates, adjacent to the Hollywood Bowl, was originally owned by Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the first publisher of the Los Angeles Times. Otis acquired the undeveloped hillside in the late 1800s and used its lone structure — an adobe home — as his “outpost.” He later sold it to Charles E. Toberman, who in the 1920s developed the property as an exclusive, large-lot residential park.
In addition to Gibson, Outpost Estates has been home to such Old Hollywood stars as Bela Lugosi, Charles “Buddy” Rogers and Gore Vidal. More recently, actor Michael C. Hall and designer Jeremy Scott are among those who have called the area home.
Levi Freeman of Nourmand & Associates and Chris Cortazzo of Compass hold the listing.
