Newsletter: Hot Property: One for the record books
It’s been a record-setting kind of week in the land of Hot Property, with chart-topping sales cropping up in all the usual places ... and some you might not expect. So sit back and strap on your seat belts as we take a spin through the latest celebrity real estate deals.
Blockbuster in waiting
The pin has been pulled, but the grenade has yet to go off. A $53-million deal is in the works for a storied estate in Beverly Hills — a price that would make it the most expensive sale in all of Los Angeles County this year.
Hotelier Brad Korzen and noted designer Kelly Wearstler have entered into an agreement to sell their longtime estate, which was once owned by movie producer Albert Broccoli, to designer and filmmaker Tom Ford.
The 3.2-acre estate includes a seven-bedroom main house, a guesthouse, a swimming pool and a tennis court. A gym and a screening room are among the features.
Korzen and Wearstler have an agreement to sell their storied Beverly Hills estate to Tom Ford, above, for $53 million, according to sources. (Google Earth | Inset: Getty Images)
Old Hollywood at a premium
The Palm Springs estate where leading man Cary Grant held court for two decades sold in a hurry and for top dollar. The John Byers-designed desert retreat closed sale last week for $3.4 million, making it the priciest transaction historically in the Movie Colony neighborhood.
Built in 1930, the Spanish Andalusian farmhouse sits behind gates on grounds filled with 80-year-old eucalyptus, agave and fruit trees. The 6,000-square-foot home was restored in 2009 and retains its original hand-painted tile, custom cabinetry and wood-burning fireplaces.
Las Palomas, the onetime desert digs of actor Cary Grant, was built in 1930 in the style of an Andalusian farmhouse. (Val Riolo)
Tiny home, mansion-like price
In L.A.’s luxury market, even the mobile homes can run you seven figures.
A triple-wide home in Malibu’s Paradise Cove trailer park recently changed hands for $5.3 million. That’s the most ever paid for a mobile home in the Westside community, according to agents involved in the sale.
No ordinary mobile home, this fancy manufactured pad boasts beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, a wood-paneled den and a master suite with a boutique-inspired closet. Views take in the ocean and coastline.
A triple-wide mobile home in Malibu's Paradise Cove sold for $5.3 million. (Berlyn Photography)
A star turn in Studio City
Studio City saw some magic in the Multiple Listing Service this week with a record-setting sale of a newly built showplace. The 7,846-square-foot contemporary designed by architect Armen Kazanchy brought in $7.6 million, a price that puts it up there with some of the priciest single-family home sales historically in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood.
Set at the end of a private driveway, the boxy showplace boasts clean lines, wood-paneled accents and 300-degree views of the surrounding area. A lounge/bar area and a temperature-controlled wine cellar are among amenities of note.
This modern showplace in Studio City sold for $7.6 million. (Rodeo Realty)
Madea’s big splash
Not every chart-topper plays out in the City of Angels. Over on the eastern side of the country, actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry did his best Westside impression with a record sale in the Atlanta area.
Perry’s 34,688-square-foot behemoth of a home recently sold for $17.5 million — reportedly the most ever paid for a residential home in Atlanta.
You’ll find feature upon feature in this celebrity home, but of note we are partial to the Roman-style bathhouse, 18-seat theater and the underground ballroom topped with groin vault ceilings. A massive swimming pool and cascading waterfall feature round out this over-the-top home.
Perry sold his home in Atlanta for $17.5 million. (VSI | Los Angeles Times)
Rocking out of BHPO
Geezer Butler, a founding member of the heavy metal group Black Sabbath, has traded his bass guitar for a pair of drumsticks ... as in, he’s looking to drum up interest for his Beverly Hills home.
Jokes aside, the rock veteran is asking $3.225 million for his toned-down Mediterranean in the Post Office area.
Set on more than half an acre, the house has a courtyard entry, light and airy interiors and a master suite with a balcony overlooking the grounds. There’s also a retro kidney-shaped swimming pool out back.
Black Sabbath founding member Geezer Butler listed his Mediterranean-style home in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for $3.225 million. (Rodeo Realty | Getty Images)
Former Laker exits South Bay
Pau Gasol, more than two years removed from his last Lakers game, completed an off-market pass of sorts, selling his home in Redondo Beach for $3.325 million.
Built in the late 1980s, the ocean-view contemporary is made up of a pair of condos that Gasol acquired in separate deals. Combined, the two-unit beach pad offers four bedrooms, six bathrooms, a wine room and a media room in 4,500 square feet of space. An elevator is there to help navigate the home’s four floors.
Gasol sold his home in Redondo Beach for $3.325 million. (Vista Sotheby's International Realty | Los Angeles Times)
Home reel with a history
A Georgian Colonial-style home built for Warner Bros. studios co-founder Harry Warner and later sold by the executive to finance one of his films is up for sale in Hancock Park.
Listed for $5.575 million, the brick-lined classic was designed by architect A. Burnside Sturges and completed in 1924. Details of note include a grand formal entry, curved glass doors, a wood-paneled lounge and a lavish master suite.
A gated sports/tennis court, a pool, a pool house and lawns fill the grounds.
The 1920s Georgian Colonial, built for Warner Bros. cofounder Harry Warner, listed for sale in Hancock Park for $5.575 million. (Marc Angeles)
From the archives
The topic of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks always brings to mind the couple’s famous Pickfair estate in Beverly Hills, but it was the Hollywood couple’s vacation home that was the talking point in Hot Property 30 years ago this week.
Noted designer Bobi Leonard was putting the finishing touches on a Santa Monica house once owned by Pickford and Fairbanks. The new owners at the time commissioned the project after buying the property a few months earlier for about $1.5 million.
Pickford and Fairbanks used the property to entertain royalty and other celebrities while they were married from 1920 to 1936.
What we’re reading
— “Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons recently opened his doors to the Wall Street Journal for a tour of his 1920s Spanish Revival-style home in historic Los Feliz. Parsons and partner Todd Spiewak enlisted Commune co-founder Steven Johanknecht to enhance the interiors of the home, which counts actor Robert Pattinson and basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar among its former owners.
— The fight to ease the working-class housing crisis received some A-list support this week when Eva Longoria joined the cause. L.A. Times reporter Andrew Khouri notes that the actress recently became an investor in a housing fund aimed at promoting affordability in low-income communities.
— In a story for The Times, journalist Barbara Thornburg has a cool read on a Laguna Beach home forged from penny-pinching and elbow grease. Artists Scott and Naomi Schoenherr stuck to a modest budget and tackled a lot of projects themselves to create their 2,800-square-foot dream home and ceramics studio.
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