Hot Property: Fanning out across the nation
Even though Hollywood makes L.A. and environs a celebrity magnet, not all the big real estate action plays out within the City of Angels. This week’s selection includes California deals of note in the O.C. and San Jose.
Elsewhere, there’s a horse farm owned by a box-office draw that’s up for auction in Kentucky, and the old stomping grounds of an Oscar-winning actress changes hands in Connecticut.
Once you’re done checking out these star-studded transactions, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week. That’s also a great place to leave a tip about a celebrity home deal on the QT.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
Plenty of room for Madea
Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has purchased a home in gated Mulholland Estates for $14.5 million through a corporate entity.
The modern house, built in 1992, sits on more than 4 acres. Steel beams and walls of tempered glass form the shell of the home, which features overlapping slabs of marble and floating staircases.
Pyramid-shaped skylights and angled ceilings bring light into the 17,245 square feet of living space. Interiors include living and dining rooms, a media room, an office/den, seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms.
A resort-style swimming pool, a stream-fed koi pond and a tennis court complete the grounds. Party ready, the motor court off the entrance has space for more than 30 vehicles.
Perry, 47, is known for his recurring role as Madea in such films as “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” “Madea’s Witness Protection” and “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Neighbors From Hell.”
He created the television shows “House of Payne” and “If Loving You Is Wrong,” now in its fourth season.
Hepburn’s playground
Katharine Hepburn’s onetime summer retreat in Old Saybrook, Conn., has sold for $11.5 million. We can just picture the four-time Academy Award winner curled up in a chair at the front window watching a storm blow in across Long Island Sound.
The 8,400-square-foot Colonial-style home was built for the actress in 1939 and used by the “African Queen” star for decades as a family retreat.
Encompassing 1.5 acres, the waterfront estate centers on a renovated three-story home with seven fireplaces, six bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. Some 220 feet of beachfront, a dock and a pond complete the grounds.
Back at the ranch
Actor Johnny Depp hasn’t found a buyer for his Kentucky horse farm, currently listed at $2.9 million, so he’s put it up for auction Sept. 15.
Set outside Lexington, the property centers on a 1915 brick residence with six bedrooms and 5,944 square feet of living space.
There’s also a guest house, three barns, 15 stalls and 10 watered paddocks for horses. Four cars or tractors can fit into the oversized garage.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, a Kentucky native, bought the farm for $950,000 in 1995, sold it for $1 million in 2001 and then bought it back for $2 million in 2005.
Ending her reign
Model-actress Ali Landry and her husband, filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde, have sold their home in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles for $1.95 million.
The Spanish-style house, built in 1927, features hardwood and rustic tile floors, stained-glass windows and offbeat features. Bright tilework lines the arched entry alcove as well as a fountain/spa in the backyard.
Formal living and dining rooms, five bedrooms and five bathrooms are within 3,200 square feet of space. An attached guest suite has a full kitchen and a separate entrance.
Landry, 44, is a former Miss USA. Monteverde, 40, has film credits that include “Bella” (2006) and “Little Boy” (2015).
Chargers GM scores in the O.C.
Tom Telesco, general manager of the L.A. Chargers, bought a Newport Beach home from baseball-player-turned-television analyst Jim Edmonds and his wife, “Real Housewives of Orange County” personality Meghan King Edmonds, for $2.998 million.
The remodeled two-story, updated since it was built in 2010, has more than 5,500 square feet of living space including formal living and dining rooms, a great room, five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
French doors on the main floor open to outdoor living space, where hedges surround a patio area. A three-car garage sits at the back of the home.
Retiring his residence
Former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis is asking $5.5 million for his Mediterranean-style house in San Jose – $500,000 less than when he originally put it on the market in 2015.
Not to worry — he purchased the home in 2010 for $3.5 million, according to public records.
Sitting on 4.3 acres with views of the surrounding city and mountains, the 9,878-square-foot home has a wine cellar, a theater, a game room and four bedrooms.
After playing for Ole Miss, Willis, 32, spent his career with the 49ers and retired in 2015.
His favorite room
L.A. Opera President Christopher Koelsch carves out calmer moments at the Arts District townhouse loft he shares with husband Todd Bentjen and their dog, Franklin. His favorite “room” is the unit’s third floor, open-plan space that includes the kitchen, dining and living rooms, with its exposed brick, hardwood floors and ample supply of art books.
Christopher Koelsch in the main living space of his four-story downtown L.A. loft.
From the archives
Ten years ago, Paris Hilton landed a new home behind gates, not bars. The hotel heiress had recently spent some time in jail for violating probation on an alcohol-related reckless driving conviction. After her stint, the socialite bought a house in a gated Beverly Hills Post Office area community for $5.9 million.
Twenty years ago, rock star David Bowie put a Beverly Hills-area condominium on the market at $895,000. He rarely used the three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot unit, spending the bulk of his time in New York and Switzerland.
What we’re reading
Between rents and home prices, half of California’s population struggles to keep a roof over their heads. CALmatters takes an in-depth look at why housing costs are so high.
Before Harvey, Houston had one of the weakest apartment markets in the country with tens of thousands of vacant units. Now landlords say prospective renters are lining up outside their doors and some have almost no units left. The Wall Street Journal explores how the recent disaster is changing the housing market in Texas.
