Advertisement

Ellen DeGeneres sells trophy home to tech billionaire Sean Parker

Share via

Ellen DeGeneres has sold the A. Quincy Jones-designed Brody House on Los Angeles’ Westside to Napster co-founder Sean Parker for $55 million in an off-market deal.

Built in 1950 for real estate developer Sidney Brody and his wife, modernist art collector Frances Brody, the property was sold four years ago for close to $15 million to an investor-owner who spent three years restoring the Midcentury Modern home. Daytime talk show host DeGeneres bought the trophy home last winter for nearly $40 million.

Set on 2.3 acres, the house features the floor-to-ceiling glass walls typical of the Midcentury style and a central atrium/living room. There were nine bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms in 11,511 square feet of living space when the residence last appeared in the Multiple Listing Service.

A swimming pool, a pool house/guesthouse and a tennis court also are on the grounds.

Parker, 34, is a former Facebook president. The tech billionaire also is the co-founder of Plaxo, an online address book and social service.

Advertisement

Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency handled the sale, according to area real estate agents not authorized to comment on the deal.

Features include Napoleon’s bookshelf

Heidi Klum, the model and television producer, has listed her gated Brentwood estate for sale at $25 million, and it’s a beauty.

Advertisement

The Italianesque mansion, built in 1999, is on 8.5 acres with rose gardens, lawns, a koi pond, hiking trails and an infinity-edge swimming pool and spa. Views take in the ocean, nearby canyons and cityscape.

The 12,300 square feet of living space, renovated by Klum, feature a domed library with a fireplace, a wine temperature-controlled room and a master suite with a sitting room, dual closets and a terrace. A massive bookcase in the library came from Napoleon’s country retreat in France.

There are living, family and dining rooms, a butler’s pantry, a den, an office, a projection room, seven additional bedrooms and 9.5 bathrooms. French doors open to patios and terraces.

Advertisement

Klum, 41, won an Emmy for hosting “Project Runway,” which she also executive produces. She has been a judge on “America’s Got Talent” and “Germany’s Next Top Model.”

The occasional actress and serial home remodeler bought the property in 2010 with then-husband Seal, the R&B singer, for $14.2 million, public records show. The villa was used as a family home.

Lynn Teschner of the Agency is the listing agent.

Buyers should jump at Flea’s home

Michael Balzary, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist known as Flea, has a home for sale in the Griffith Park area at $6.8 million.

The Mediterranean-style compound, built in 1925, sits behind walls and gates on close to three-quarters of an acre with a guesthouse in what was once a carriage house. The living space contains formal living and dining rooms, a library, a bar, an eat-in kitchen, a rooftop deck, six bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The grounds feature redwoods, mature pines, olive trees, stone pathways, an outdoor fireplace and a saltwater swimming pool.

There are views of the city, woodlands and the Griffith Observatory.

Flea, 51, is a founding member of the Grammy-winning funk-rock band, which two years ago was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They appeared this year with Bruno Mars at the Super Bowl game and are working on their 11th studio album.

Advertisement

The musician-actor has done voice work on “The Wild Thornberrys” and appeared in “Back to the Future Part II.” He was in this year’s film “Low Down.”

Flea bought the property, known as the Van Griffith estate, in 2011 for $4.55 million.

Sherri Rogers and Anthony Stellini of Nourmand & Associates are the listing agents.

Former Walt Disney property sold

Investor and pro soccer team owner Gabriel Brener has sold the former Walt Disney property on L.A.’s Westside for $74 million.

The 35,000-square-foot mansion that sits on the 3.6-acre site was built in 2001, several years after Brener bought the estate from the Lillian B. Disney Trust for $8.45 million.

In the early 1950s, Disney tinkered in a barn on the property, building a one-eighth-scale train he named the Carolwood Pacific Railroad and giving the neighbors rides, according to Los Angeles Times reports. The barn was later dismantled and sits in Griffith Park.

The three-level mansion that just sold has an oval two-story foyer, a wine cellar, a movie room, three bars, a library, a gym, eight bedrooms, 17 bathrooms and two safe rooms.

There is a swimming pool with a pool house, a tennis court and a putting green.

Brener, who owns the Houston Dynamos, heads Azteca Acquisition Corp.

Mauricio Umansky and Jay Harris of the Agency in Beverly Hills and Ron de Salvo of Coldwell Banker were the listing agents. Jane Gavens of Coldwell Banker represented the buyer.

That’s a lot of cans of pineapple

Advertisement

David H. Murdock, the Dole Food Co. chairman and chief executive, has parted with a mansion in Bel-Air for $24 million.

Designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann and built in 1927, the American Colonial Revival home features a grand entry gallery with 14-foot arched ceilings, parquet floors, two offices, a sun room, a wet bar and a free-standing spiral staircase.

The 1.5-acre property has terraced gardens, a swimming pool, a pool house, a guesthouse, a detached garage and a greenhouse.

There are six fireplaces, six bedrooms and nine bathrooms in 12,435 square feet of living space.

Kaufmann’s notable works include the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills and the Moderne-style Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles.

The 91-year-old Murdock bought the house in 2001 for $10 million, public records show. He owns another property nearby.

Advertisement

The property the billionaire sold came on the market in December at $30 million.

Jeffrey Hyland and Rick Hilton of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s International Real Estate and Karen Crystal and Nicki LaPorta of Ewing Sotheby’s International Realty were the listing agents. Drew Fenton and Trista Rullen of Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s International Real Estate represented the buyer.

lauren.beale@latimes.com

@LATHotProperty

Advertisement