Hot Property: It’s the time of the season
Wait for it. Many of those celebrity houses that didn’t find buyers last year will be reintroduced to the market very soon — at new and reduced prices. This week’s sampling includes one such home in Pacific Palisades owned by “Saturday Night Live” veteran Kevin Nealon. Yes, it’s safe to safe the comic actor is getting more serious about selling now that he has adjusted his price point downward.
For a peek inside a celebrity home, check out our video of designer Justina Blakeney’s bright and bold kitchen. She thinks color brings life to space and offers her insights on how to make tight quarters seem larger.
Once you’re done reading about these deals, 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
Paring her portfolio in Hollywood Hills?
A limited liability company connected to film producer Megan Ellison has sold a modern home in the Mount Olympus area for $4.07 million. The buyer was a trust linked to “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” personality Teddi Jo Mellencamp and her husband, security technology entrepreneur Edwin Arroyave.
Wrapped in horizontal wood panels, the multilevel house has five bedrooms, six bathrooms and a little over 4,300 square feet of living space. Open-plan living spaces include a chromed-out kitchen, living and dining areas and a den.
Ellison is the founder of Annapurna Pictures. Her producer credits include “American Hustle” (2013), “Lawless” (2012), “Zero Dark Thirty” (2010) and “True Grit” (2010).
Mellencamp, the daughter of musician John Mellencamp, this year joined the cast of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
‘SNL’ vet gets serious
Actor-comedian Kevin Nealon, of the current series “Man With a Plan,” has dropped the asking price on his home in Pacific Palisades to $4,699,999. The traditional-style house had listed last year at $5,249,999.
The stately white exterior is accented with black shutters. The more than 5,200 square feet of interior space features a living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, a kitchen with a 12-foot-long island, an office/den, seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. A butler’s pantry sits off the kitchen.
Nealon, 64, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1980s and ’90s and had a five-year stint on the show hosting the “Weekend Update” sketch. Among his credits is the sitcom-drama “Weeds” (2005-12).
It was her house of dollars
Molly Parker of “House of Cards” fame has sold her home in Echo Park for $999,000. That’s $100,000 above the asking price of $899,000 and nearly twice what the actress paid for the property in 2004 — $577,000.
The Spanish-style bungalow, built in 1923, has 1,300 square feet of white-walled living space including a sunlit living room, a galley-style kitchen, a breakfast nook, two bedrooms and one bathroom.
A flagstone path leads up the sloped lot to a small artist’s studio.
Parker, 45, has more than two decades of acting credits. She received an Emmy nomination for her role as House Majority Whip Jackie Sharp on “House of Cards.”
Onetime Raider lands in Woodland Hills
Joselio Hanson, who played eight seasons in the NFL, has bought a house in Woodland Hills for $2.3 million.
Perched on a hill and built in 2015, the contemporary house takes in panoramic cityscape and mountain views. Some 5,700 square feet of sleek living space includes four bedrooms and five bathrooms.
The 3-acre lot features an infinity-edge swimming pool, a fire pit and a lounge area.
Hanson, 36, signed with San Francisco in 2003 as an undrafted free agent and made the active roster in 2004. The defensive back also played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Raiders.
NFL player takes a loss in Poway
Orlando Franklin, a former San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos offensive guard, has sold his home in Poway for $1.5 million. Franklin bought the San Diego County property two years ago for $1.85 million.
Set at the end of a cul-de-sac, the single-story house has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and slightly more than 6,500 square feet of interior space. Living areas include a beamed-ceiling great room, formal living and dining rooms, and a game room.
There’s a free-form swimming pool, a fire pit and built-in barbecue island on more than 1 acre of grounds.
Franklin, 30, was released by the Chargers in May, two years after joining the team on a five-year, $36.5-million free-agent deal. He is currently a free agent.
Ex-Padre sells his home base
MLB pitcher Ian Kennedy has sold his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., for $1.71 million.
Set on nearly an acre in a gated equestrian community, the 1979 house underwent a 3,000-square-foot addition in 2000 and an extensive renovation in 2014. Today the authentic Spanish-style residence boasts six bedrooms, six bathrooms and 6,360 square feet of living space.
A resort-style heated pool, lawn, an outdoor seating area and a kiva fireplace complete the backyard.
Kennedy, 33, plays for the Kansas City Royals. He has spent time with the New York Yankees, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres.
Her favorite room
Designer Justina Blakeney makes the most of natural light in her 1,200-square-foot Frogtown house. She enlarged windows, added mirrors and added light colors to make the space feel larger. A backsplash wall of teal Moroccan glazed terra cotta tiles adds a pop of color in her favorite room, the kitchen. “The green, the shininess, the handmade quality and earthiness embodies who I am as a designer,” said the author of “The New Bohemians,” whose colorful products can be found at Anthropologie, Target and Living Spaces.
From the archives
Ten years ago, actress-entrepreneur Suzanne Somers and her husband, producer Alan Hamel, listed a desert house they had owned since 1977, the year they were married. The 65-acre Les Baux de Palm Springs was priced at $35 million.
Twenty years ago, Christopher Darden, one of the lead prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, put his Ladera Heights home on the market at $480,000. He had purchased the house in 1996 for $460,000 while working on the screenplay of his bestseller, “In Contempt,” based on the Simpson case.
Thirty years ago, Pickfair, the honeymoon home of film stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Sr., was in escrow to sell to celebrity Pia Zadora and her multimillionaire husband, Meshulam Riklis. Jerry Buss, then owner of the L.A. Lakers, the Kings and the Forum, was selling the 3.1-acre property for just under $7 million.
What we’re reading
ICYMI: The Los Angeles Times’ Saturday section took a look back at its most popular home tours of the year. Making the cut were a midcentury modern restoration in Palm Springs, a Lake Arrowhead escape and a Malibu trailer.
Illusionist Harry Houdini’s onetime Harlem house is in escrow for $3.6 million, according to CurbedNewYork.com. Houdini resided in the 18th century town home for 22 years. It had a large sunken bathtub where he practiced underwater tricks.
