Hot Property Newsletter: Passing go
Welcome to Hollywood’s life-size version of Monopoly, where celebrities are busy buying, selling, expanding portfolios and flipping houses. Among those rolling the dice in the real estate game this week are a music mogul, singers of note and a supermodel.
Our Home of the Week was a 1920s Norman-style stone mansion until it was destroyed in the 1960s by wildfire. The original thick granite walls now shelter a temperature-controlled wine cellar, a movie theater and 6,000 square feet of polished living space. The asking price of the Hollywood Hills property is $6 million.
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.
– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale
In a holding pattern
Music producer and mogul Dr. Dre has added another property to his growing portfolio, buying a home in a gated Pacific Palisades community for $2.25 million.
The Mediterranean-style house features formal living and dining rooms, a family room, four bedrooms and four bathrooms within its 3,100 square feet of living space.
Dr. Dre, 54, is the founder and chief executive of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics. The Grammy winner has worked with Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent, among others.
He owns a number of properties in Los Angeles County, including a massive Brentwood compound that he purchased five years ago from NFL star Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, for $40 million.
He met his dream house
Actor Jason Segel, known for his roles on “Freaks and Geeks” and “How I Met Your Mother,” has purchased a 100-year-old home in Pasadena through a trust for $4.255 million.
The two-story was recently renovated but retains such character details as decorative window inlays. A formal living room with a fireplace, an oversized dining room, a new kitchen, a family room, five bedrooms and five bathrooms sit within more than 5,600 square feet of interior.
The home sits on about half an acre and includes a new swimming pool with a raised spa, lawn and mature trees.
Segel, 39, has appeared in the films “End of the Tour” (2015), “The Discovery” (2017) and “Come Sunday” (2018).
Singers drop some C-notes
The asking price for the marital home of musicians and exes Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale has been reduced from $35 million two years ago to $24.995 million.
The renovated contemporary, set in a gated community north of Beverly Hills, is stylishly tricked out. The more than 15,000 square feet of interiors include a formal dining room, a theater room, a gym and two offices. Counting the guesthouse, there are seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
An infinity-edge swimming pool, a lighted tennis court, a playground, lawn and a chicken coop complete the two acres of grounds.
Stefani, 49, is a three-time Grammy winner and the lead vocalist for No Doubt. She has been a judge on the “The Voice.” Rossdale, 53, is the frontman and guitarist for the rock band Bush.
Off in a new direction?
Actress Rachel Griffiths, known for television roles on “Six Feet Under” and “Brothers & Sisters,” has listed her longtime home in Encino for sale at $1.748 million.
The single-story home, built in 1961, blends minimalist and modernist elements in an open floor plan of more than 2,800 square feet. A row of picture windows brings park-like views into the master suite, which is one of four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
The gated residence sits on more than a third of an acre with a swimming pool.
Griffiths, 50, will make her directorial film debut later this year with “Ride Like a Girl,” which stars actors Sam Neill and Teresa Palmer.
Vincent Price’s onetime haunt
A home that was once the haunt of horror film actor Vincent Price is for sale in the Holmby Hills area at $20.995 million. Earlier Times reporting places him in the house during the 1960s.
Set behind gates on 1.65 acres, the 1927 home features timbered cathedral ceilings, wrought-iron work and hand-painted tiles. The 11,653 square feet of living space in the mansion and guesthouse includes eight bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.
The grounds contain a tennis court, a swimming pool and rose gardens.
Price, who died in 1993 at 82, left a huge body of film and television work. He was in the movies “Tower of London” (1939), “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961) and “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” (1971). A new generation would hear his distinctive bass voice speaking in a sequence on the Michael Jackson 1982 song “Thriller.”
Her next makeover
Supermodel, television host and celebrity home-flipper Tyra Banks has bought a Pacific Palisades home for a little over $3 million.
The 1949 traditional house, which has been owned by the same family for 70 years, is in need of a makeover.
Banks, who in recent years has bought and sold a number of homes in the area, plans to transform the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house into a farmhouse-inspired beach cottage. Within more than 1,600 square feet of interior are mosaic parquet wood floors, formal living and dining rooms, a sun room and a den with a rock-wall fireplace.
Banks, 45, began her career as a model before expanding into acting. She is the creator of “America’s Next Top Model,” which wrapped up its 24th season last year. She made her third appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue this year.
From the archives
Ten years ago, bass guitar player Michael Balzary, known to fans as Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, listed his bluff-top Malibu home at $13.676 million. With unobstructed ocean views, the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house sat on two flat acres. “It’s the beautifulest residence of mega-fun and peace,” the rocker told The Times.
Twenty years ago, “Friends” star Matthew Perry bought a Beverly Hills home for about $3.2 million. The rock, steel and glass house was described as having an “almost industrial” look, with city-to-ocean views. The one-story house had four bedrooms within its 6,500 square feet.
What we’re reading
Actor Michael Douglas, who is ready to part with his 250-acre estate in the Balearic Islands of Spain, is lending his voice to a video promoting the $32.38 million villa, reports Architectural Digest. The retreat, which Douglas bought in 1990 for $3.5 million, first came on the market in 2014, when it listed for about $60 million. The property includes a castle-like main house, cottages and apartments with a total of 10 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, a home theater, a library, a game room and a wine cellar.
A three-by-five-mile island off the coast of Ireland’s County Donegal is looking for new residents from the U.S. and Australia, reports the Irish Post. Arranmore, population 469, recently became the recipient of Ireland’s first offshore digital hub in an effort to make it attractive to remote workers. “There are … enough musicians and good Irish whiskey to keep the party going well into the night,” officials said in an open invitation letter. Be prepared to rent, however. All we could find for sale was a one-bedroom cottage listed at about $90,000.
