Hot Property Newsletter: Top of the crop
The Southern California housing market has frequently claimed the title of “most expensive house for sale in the U.S.” Well, it’s happened again — this time with a $245-million estate in Bel-Air.
Our Home of the Week in Hollywood Hills is all business on the open-concept main floor, geared toward modern living. But downstairs, it’s a different scene. Reached by a separate entrance, the lower floor is party-ready with a lounge, a bar and neon lighting. The asking price of the nearly 3,800-square-foot contemporary is $2.995 million.
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– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
It’s off the charts
The late Univision billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio’s Bel-Air estate, a French Neoclassical mansion known as Chartwell, is the most expensive home listed for sale in the United States at an asking price of $245 million.
Classic TV watchers may recall the sprawling main residence from the credits of “The Beverly Hillbillies” sitcom. The 25,000-square-foot mansion dates to the 1930s.
During Perenchio’s ownership, the limestone-clad residence was enhanced and restored. Evoking an 18th century chateau, the home boasts a ballroom, a 12,000-bottle wine cellar and a paneled dining room.
The grounds of more than 10 acres include formal gardens, a guesthouse, a swimming pool with a pool house, a tennis court and a covered parking area for 40 cars.
For his next act …
Oscar-winning actor-director Robert Redford and his wife, expressionist painter Sibylle Szaggars, have listed their scenic estate in St. Helena in California wine country at $7.5 million.
The European-inspired country house is surrounded by more than 10 acres of gardens, forest and hiking trails. Outdoor amenities include expansive patios, a swimming pool and a redwood hot tub.
The main house features three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms in more than 5,200 square feet of living space. A massive, stone-encased fireplace anchors the living room. There’s also a detached artist’s studio, a garage/barn and a separate workshop.
Redford, 82, is known for his roles in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), “All the President’s Men” (1976) and “The Natural” (1984). He won an Academy Award in 1980 for “Ordinary People,” his directorial debut, and in 2002 received an honorary Oscar for his lifetime work.
Actress-ready rental
“Arrow” star Katie Cassidy has put a house in Encino up for lease at $14,000 a month, long-term.
The Midcentury Modern-style home, built in 1958, is outfitted for an actress with a room-size dressing closet devoted to organized storage and makeup/prep space. Also within the nearly 3,000 square feet of interiors are a living room with a fireplace, a dining area, three bedrooms and four bathrooms.
The yard contains a swimming pool and spa. There are mountain views.
Cassidy, 31, also appears on the current series “The Flash.” Her film work includes “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (2010), “Click” (2006) and “When a Stranger Calls” (2006). Her father was 1970s pop and television star David Cassidy (readers of a certain age, insert swoon here).
Looking sharp above the Strip
Former E! “Fashion Police” co-host George Kotsiopoulos has put his home above the Sunset Strip up for sale at $2.395 million.
The fashion consultant and TV personality bought the property five years ago and has paid great attention to details both inside and out. Wide-plank wood and warm gray notes give the Mediterranean-style house a cozy ambiance.
A vaulted-ceiling living room with a fireplace, an updated kitchen, a dining nook, three bedrooms and 2.75 bathrooms are within the 1,860 square feet of living space. The grounds include a tile patio with built-in bench seating, an in-ground spa and drought-tolerant landscaping.
Kotsiopoulos, 49, appeared on “Fashion Police” from 2010 to 2015. He currently hosts the TLC series “Say Yes: Wedding SOS” and this year appeared in the TLC special “Royal Wedding Revealed.”
Par for his course
Pro golfer Geoff Ogilvy is pulling up stakes and selling his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., as he prepares to move back to his native Australia. The asking price of the two-story custom house, built in 2013, is $4.75 million.
The flowing floor plan of 7,700 square feet is designed for both intimate entertaining and parties on a grand scale. The great room features a restaurant-inspired wet bar, and the dining room, a fireplace. The master suite has dual bathrooms for a total of six bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Retractable doors in the kitchen open to lush grounds with walkways leading to a lap pool, a spa, an outdoor fireplace and a fire pit. Camelback Mountain serves as a backdrop for the more than three-quarter-acre site.
Ogilvy, 41, won the 2006 U.S. Open. He has eight PGA Tour victories, winning World Golf Championships in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The GolfChannel.com reported earlier this year that he plans to move with his wife and children to Melbourne after Christmas.
Her favorite room
The eclectic living room of her 3,000-square-foot Hollywood Hills home reflects important chapters in the life of actress Ione Skye, who stars in HBO’s new series “Camping.” A Moroccan rug and other ethnic artifacts were gifts from interior designer and ex-fiance David Netto; vinyl records, a stereo console and a 1960 Wurlitzer piano mark the influence of her husband, musician Ben Lee; and Skye’s self-described “warm, crude and impressionistic” paintings hang on the walls.
“So much has happened in this room, and it’s had a lot of transformations,” Skye says.
From the archives
Ten years ago, TV personality Tori Spelling bought a Tuscan-style villa in Encino with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 6,718 square feet. The two-story home had a fenced pool and a putting green. The sale price was $2.95 million.
Twenty years ago, actor and director Kenneth Branagh finished up the six-month lease of a home in Bel-Air, where he had been living while filming “The Wild Wild West.” The country-style home, with three bedrooms and a gym in about 4,500 square feet, was leased at $10,000 a month.
Thirty years ago, the home where Manson family members killed actress Sharon Tate and four guests in 1969 was in escrow. Marketed at $1.999 million, it was the first time the property had been for sale in 25 years.
What we’re reading
Architectural Digest takes a look at the L.A. home of “Fifty Shades of Grey” actor Jamie Dornan. The sleek and sunlit Midcentury Modern is listed at $3.2 million.
ICYMI: The FBI is investigating possible wrongdoing by a Department of Building and Safety inspector at a Bel-Air mansion, reports Los Angeles Times writer Emily Alpert Reyes. A city employee who looked at the mansion, which has been the subject of ongoing controversy due to its mammoth size, appears to have received “items of value” in connection with the work.
