Newsletter: Hot Property: The heat is on
Things are heating up across the Southland, and not just temperature-wise. Our expert eye forecasts a continued rise in demand with a sprinkling of high-dollar showers through the summer months.
Here’s a sampling of this week’s realty news that kept our heat index at a steady boil.
Musical chairs
Keeping up with the Kardashians is proving to be a full-time job around these parts.
Kylie Jenner, the 18-year-old daughter of Kris and Caitlyn, is already looking to move on from the Calabasas home she bought last year. The reality television personality is asking $3.9 million for the glammed-up home, or $1.3 million more than what she paid for the property a year ago.
Jenner may have plans to leave the family neighborhood, but she’s not straying too far: Earlier this year, she paid $6.025 million for a Traditional-style home on 4.5 acres in gated Hidden Hills.
Jenner put her starter home in Calabasas on the market for $3.9 million. (Riley Jamison | Inset: Getty Images)
An eye on a bigger prize
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 fame is poised to see a strong return on his investment in Beverly Crest.
The singer-songwriter and television personality this week put his new-look home up for sale at $17.5 million. That’s nearly four times what he paid for the 7,100-square-foot house four years ago: $4.83 million.
Renovated from top-to-bottom, the house features an open-plan design, cathedral-style ceilings and skylights for days. Elsewhere on the property is a custom two-story garage complete with an elevator lift, game room and speakeasy-style bar.
Levine listed his home in Beverly Crest for sale at $17.5 million. (Realtor.com | Los Angeles Times)
Real estate champion
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry may not be an NBA champion this year, but he’s certainly a winner in the great real estate game.
The two-time Most Valuable Player recently sold his old house in Orinda, Calif., for $4.65 million in a deal that closed outside the Multiple Listing Service. That’s a healthy $755,000 uptick over his reported asking price and $1.55 million more than what he paid for the property in 2013.
It’s not a Bay Area exit for Curry, however. Last year, he dropped $3.2 million on a gated Mediterranean home in nearby Walnut Creek, Calif.
Curry sold his home in Orinda, Calif., for $4.65 million. (Google Maps | Getty Images)
Old Hollywood seeks top dollar
A Holmby Hills home designed by architect-to-the-stars Robert Finkelhor for early film pioneer Allan Dwan has come up for sale with an A-list price tag of $35 million.
Built in 1939, the Colonial-style estate retains its vintage good looks with a grand entry, detailed molding and a handsome wood-paneled library. It’s also in good company: The Playboy Mansion, which is in contract to sell for $105 million, sits right across the street.
The Colonial-style home, on the market for $35 million, was built for Dwan in the 1930s. (Jeffrey Ong | Getty Images)
Studio City turnaround
Paul Wesley of “The Vampire Diaries” fame has put his Studio City address up for sale after buying the contemporary-style home from Counting Crows instrumentalist Charlie Gillingham for $2.05 million roughly a year ago. He’s now asking $2.245 million for the residence, which he extensively upgraded during his ownership.
Designed by Jay Vanos and completed in 2010, the house is distinguished by its clean lines, walls of glass and vaulted ceilings. Views take in the surrounding city and mountains.
Wesley put his home in Studio City up for sale at $2.245 million after about a year of ownership. (Lee Manning | Los Angeles Times)
More sports cred in South Bay
Professional basketball player Ryan Anderson has made his No. 1 pick in the real estate draft: a newly built home in the Hermosa Beach area.
The shooting forward, who will be an unrestricted free agent, recently paid $5.48 million for a multilevel home near the Strand. Among features of note is an elevator, plenty of wine storage and a tiered theater room.
A rooftop deck completes the South Bay package.
Anderson paid $5.48 million for a newly built home in Hermosa Beach. (Realtor.com | Associated Press)
Beachwood Canyon beat
Diplo, the Grammy-winning DJ, producer and songwriter, has a new place to hang his many hats: a four-story contemporary in the Beachwood Canyon area.
The electronic music artist and Major Lazer co-founder recently paid $2.425 million for the 2,500-square-foot home, which boasts walls of glass and expansive city, canyon and ocean views. Multiple patios, balconies and a cedar hot tub keep things interesting outside.
Diplo bought a four-story contemporary in Hollywood Hills for $2.425 million. (Realtor.com | Associated Press)
Social connection in Venice
Years ago, Aber Whitcomb shaped the budding social media landscape as a co-founder of Myspace. Now he’s looking to sell a little of his space in Venice.
The tech entrepreneur has put his house in the Marina Peninsula area on the market for $3.3 million, nearly a million more than what he paid for it a decade ago: $2.45 million.
Built in the 1920s and since renovated and expanded, the multilevel home features such eye-catching details as arched doorways, rolled and vaulted ceilings and painted beams. A pink-hued dining room ranks among our all-time personal favorites.
The multi-story home in Venice's Marina Peninsula features a rooftop deck with a wrap-around bar and wine cooler. (Halton Pardee and Partners)
From the archives
Twenty years ago this week, the Holmby Hills home of Eva Gabor changed hands for close to its asking price of $2.5 million. The Colonial-style estate, designed by architect Paul Williams and built in 1938, is where the “Green Acres” actress made her home for decades before she died in 1995 at 76.
The storied estate, which counts Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow, Audrey Hepburn and David Niven among its former occupants, was back up for sale a year ago for a significantly larger sum of $16.95 million. More recently, the 6,797-square-foot house returned to market with a reduced price of $12.95 million.
What we’re reading
— The Silicon Valley-to-Seattle exodus may be significantly slowing down, reports the Seattle Times. The number of Bay Area residents shopping for homes in the Seattle area has declined 45% year-over-year. Previously, the number of Bay Area residents looking to relocate to the Pacific Northwest hub had quadrupled over the previous four years.
— Fans of smooth-singing musician James Taylor, take note: The boyhood home of the Grammy-winning artist will be going up for auction later this month, according to NBC Charlotte. The Usonian-inspired house in Chapel Hill, N.C., was built for the Taylor family in 1952. The guest house on the property is where Taylor reportedly lived during his teenage years.
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