Price chops: Self-help author discounts estate by $4.7 million

Author Rhonda Byrne is hoping a multimillion-dollar price cut will be the secret to finding a buyer for her Montecito, Calif., home. She’s now asking $18.8 million for her sprawling estate, down 20% from a year ago -- $23.5 million.

Built in Tuscan style in 2001, the 8,425-square-foot main house features sandstone quarried from the 2.5-acre property, imported French limestone, custom woodwork and molding. Living spaces include a country kitchen with a large center island, a wood-paneled office and a master suite with a viewing terrace for a total of five bedrooms and six bathrooms.

Outside, an expansive patio overlooks a large expanse of lawn, formal gardens and a 65-foot-long swimming pool. Elsewhere is a one-bedroom guesthouse, a pool house and a children’s play cottage.

A native of Australia, Byrne is known for her best-selling self-help book “The Secret,” to which she has written two sequels, “The Power” and “The Magic.”

Records show that Byrne purchased the estate in 2007 for $18 million.

Rebecca Riskin of Riskin Partners at Village Properties has the listing.

Desert compound gets iced

With his season having come to a close last month at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers President Glen Sather has turned his attention to business away from the ice, dropping the price on his La Quinta, Calif., compound by $150,000.

The desert estate originally came to market in December for $2.7 million and is now listed at $2.55 million -- a price cut of about 6%. The median sale price for single-family homes in the area in April was $345,000 based on 116 sales, according to CoreLogic.

Set behind a gated drive, the single-story home was built in 1998 and features lake and mountain views. Landscaped grounds of more than half an acre include a wide patio space, a fire pit and a lagoon-style pool and spa with a $250,000 custom waterfall feature.

Inside, the house has a step-down living room with a wall fireplace and beamed ceilings. There’s also a dining room, a wet bar, a center-island kitchen and a master suite with a fireplace for four bedrooms and 4.25 bathrooms in 4,750 square feet.

Sather and his wife, Ann, acquired the property in the late 1990s, records show.

Kay Bastasini of Desert Vintage Realty is the listing agent.

Actor to entertain lower offers

Actor-producer Damien Dante Wayans of the talented Wayans family has lowered the price of his Hollywood Hills home to about $2 million, down from the February list price of $2.2 million. The property last sold in 2005 for $1.35 million, records show.

Built in 1978, the Mediterranean-style home is distinguished by distressed wood floors, extensive wrought iron railings and bright colorful tile work. An upgraded kitchen, an open-area living room with a fireplace, five bedrooms and four bathrooms make up some 3,600 square feet of space.

Outside, the grounds center on a swimming pool and a spa, set off by mountain views.

Giselle Ramirez of Rodeo Realty is the listing agent.

Talking up a deal in D.C.
Former “Meet the Press” host David Gregory is taking a more conservative approach to his re-listed home in the Wesley Heights area of Washington, D.C. Previously listed for $2.795 million, the 1930s Colonial-style home returned to the market in early May for $2.475 million.

The 5,200-square-foot home, formerly owned by U.S. ambassador to Canada Peter Teeley, features an expanded floor plan with built-ins, skylights and French doors. Among living spaces is an updated kitchen quartz countertops, a sun room and a second-story master suite for five bedrooms and five bathrooms. A two-sided fireplace divides the living and dining room areas.

Outdoors, landscaped grounds of about a third of an acre include a patio space, a play area and an attached two-car garage.

Gregory and his wife, Beth, bought the home in 2005 for $2.45 million. The couple decamped to a new $5.45-million home in the D.C. area last year, according to the Washington Post.

Stephanie Bredahl of Washington Fine Properties has the listing.

Slugger has aggressive sales approach

San Diego Padres outfielder Matt Kemp has continued with his aggressive approach to selling his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz.

Originally listed for $3.5 million, the desert Contemporary has received four price cuts over the last two months, with the latest adjustment bringing the price to $3.4 million. Kemp, who purchased a home in Poway, Calif., over the summer, paid $2.05 million for the property in 2010, records show.

Built in 1999, the single-story home has a polished look with walls of glass, custom lighting and steel accents. Among its features is a home theater with stadium seating and a game room with a wet bar and wine storage. Twenty flat-screen televisions are spread throughout some 6,700 square feet of space.

Grounds of more than an acre center on a 60-foot pool and spa with a swim-up bar and waterfall feature. A gazebo, an outdoor kitchen, a sports court and a casita complete the resort-style setting.

Kemp paid $2.5 million for the home in 2010, following his fifth year with the Dodgers. Daniel R. Williams of Sunbelt Realty & Business Advisors holds the listing.

Former Cub prices on curve
Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood, who in February put his Beaux-Arts-style mansion in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago on the market in February for $3.595 million, has adjusted his asking price to $3.495 million.

The three-story house, built in 2005, features a limestone exterior, a raised back patio and a rooftop deck that sits above the garage. The 3,473 square feet of living space has a great room, a formal dining room, a family room with a copper-lined wall fireplace, five bedrooms and five bathrooms.

Wood, now a special assistant to Cubs President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer, paid $3.325 million for the home in 2008, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Rachel Krueger of Coldwell Banker is the listing agent.

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