Hot Property: Shorter days, lower prices
It’s that time of year. The days are getting shorter, and properties that had been on the market for a while are returning at lower price points. This week’s collection includes discounts at a film producer’s oceanfront estate in Malibu and an NBA veteran’s house in Hidden Hills.
For a look inside Paris Hilton’s Beverly Hills home, check out our video. The French Victorian-vibe screening room, complete with a 120-inch screen, is the socialite’s favorite place to entertain — there’s even a secret escape door and a stairway that will take you up to her own nightclub.
Once you’re done checking out these 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 us a tip about a celebrity home deal.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
Game, set, match
Tennis champion Serena Williams has bought a contemporary-style house in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for $6.68 million.
The 6,000-square-foot mansion sits on a quarter-acre in a guard-gated community. The three-story home features three bedrooms, a yoga room, a wine cellar and a den with a wet bar.
Lawn wraps around the home, and a swimming pool is set against a landscaped wall.
Williams, 36, has held the top female tennis ranking for 319 weeks over the course of her career. In addition to seven Wimbledon titles, seven Australian Open titles, six U.S. Open titles and three French Open titles, she also has four Olympic gold medals.
The 39-time Grand Slam winner recently gave birth to a daughter.
Something to sing about
Singer Alanis Morissette has sold her longtime home in Brentwood for $5.325 million.
The gated six-bedroom, seven-bathroom Mediterranean estate, built in 1951, sits behind gates on a flat half-acre lot with a swimming pool and a sports court.
The 5,150 square feet of living space contains a two-story living room with Arts-and-Crafts-style woodwork, an office/den and a three-room master suite.
Morissette, a seven-time Grammy-winner, gained fame in the 1990s with her album “Jagged Little Pill.”
She bought the property in 1996 for $1.795 million, records show.
He takes a little off the top
Blockbuster film producer Joel Silver has relisted his Malibu property for sale at $52 million. Last year, the oceanfront spread was priced at $57.5 million.
The gated compound centers on a 1930s two-story house with a courtyard entry. Among the living spaces are a two-story great room, a dining room with a fireplace, a loft office, five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
There’s also a detached guesthouse with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Brickwork surrounds the swimming pool and spa. The three-quarter acre property has 137 feet of beach frontage and a tennis court.
Silver, 65, has produced scores of films. His credits include the “Lethal Weapon,” “Die Hard” and “Matrix” franchises.
Player takes a price pivot
NBA veteran Tyson Chandler has put his estate in gated Hidden Hills back up for sale at $7.995 million. That’s a $2-million pivot from when he put the house on the market two years ago for $9.995 million.
Built in 2009 and extensively updated by the all-star, the traditional-style house has about 12,000 square feet of living space. Including the guest suite, which has a kitchen and living room area, there are six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms.
A covered patio gives way to a custom swimming pool and spa in the backyard. A detached man cave/theater, a separate gym, horse facilities and a barn also lie within 1.36 acres of grounds.
Chandler, 35, is in his 17th NBA season. He plays center for the Phoenix Suns.
Another buyer materializes
Singer and interior designer Karyn White has sold a Beverly Hills home for $14 million through a limited liability company. She bought the Georgian-Colonial-style estate two years ago from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” actor Jonathan Frakes for $11.995 million.
The two-story home, which sits behind gates on more than an acre, underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation during White’s ownership. Traditional with a contemporary twist, the 10,000 square feet of interiors feature a wood-paneled study, a wine cellar, a gym, a tricked-out man cave with a wet bar, seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
The park-like backyard has rolling lawns, mature trees and a swimming pool.
White, 52, had such hits as “Superwoman,” “The Way You Love Me” and “Romantic” in the 1980s and ’90s.
He called it correctly
This time, the meteorologist was right on the mark. Retired weather forecaster Johnny Mountain and his wife, Martha, have sold their home in Pasadena for its asking price of $3.749 million.
Set on a half-acre, the Mediterranean-Mission-style house was built in 1927 and designed by Wallace Neff for his parents. Neff was an architect to the stars during Hollywood’s golden age.
The elegant house has a clay-tile roof, arched windows and a loggia. The circular black-and-white marble foyer opens to a formal living room with a grand fireplace.
There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms within the nearly 5,200 square feet of living space.
Mountain, who retired in 2010, worked locally for both KABC-TV Channel 7 and KCBS-TV Channel 2 during his career.
Her favorite room
Paris Hilton’s French-Victorian-vibe screening room is one of her favorite places to entertain. The space features a pink pool table, a carnival-inspired photo booth, a 120-inch screen television and more than a dozen framed magazine covers of the heiress on the walls. “It’s very girly, like me,” said Hilton, 36, a designer and DJ. “I don’t spare any details.”
From the archives
Twenty years ago, actors David Duchovny and his wife, Tea Leoni, bought a Malibu home for close to its $2.95-million asking price. The property had a four-bedroom main house built in the 1940s, plus a four-car garage, a studio, a pool and gardens with a stairway to the sand.
Also 20 years ago, pop star Prince sold his Beverly Hills-area home of about five years for just under its $2.5-million asking price. He sold because he mainly lived in Minneapolis, his hometown, and spent little time in L.A. Built in 1989, the Mediterranean-style villa had about 8,000 square feet.
What we’re reading
Here’s a twist on a looky-loo tour. New York Magazine took Whoopi Goldberg, Martha Stewart, Matthew Broderick and Lauren Hutton to visit their old New York City apartments.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ childhood home in East Hampton, N.Y., is in escrow, reports Newsday. The 7.15-acre estate, centered on an 8,500-square-foot main house, was listed at $29.995 million.
ICYMI: In the fixer-upper department, take a look at a screenwriter’s home in Silver Lake that underwent a major rewrite. The two-bedroom house, near the reservoir, had a three-year renovation with an eye toward emphasizing its incredible views.
