Hot Property Newsletter: A $165-million record setter
We can’t top this: The world’s richest man is buying one of Los Angeles’ historic trophy properties. And in the process, he’s breaking previous residential sales prices for the entire state.
Our Home of the Week is a newly renovated Malibu contemporary designed for the adventurous of heart with an adult treehouse, hidden pathways and sweeping ocean views. In one of the bathrooms, a ceiling faucet feeds a 500-pound amethyst geode that was fashioned into a sink. The three-bedroom house is priced at $11.45 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 Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale
One for the books
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is setting a record for the most ever paid for a home in California, ponying up $165 million for media mogul David Geffen’s famed Warner estate in Beverly Hills.
The nine-acre property centers on a Georgian Revival-style mansion designed in the 1930s for movie mogul Jack Warner. Geffen had owned the home since the 1990s, when he paid $47.5 million in an all-cash deal.
A golf course, a tennis court, a swimming pool, fern gardens, fountains and sculptures fill the grounds.
Bezos, 56, is ranked by Forbes and Bloomberg as the world’s richest man, with a net worth of $131 billion.
Geffen, 76, is the co-founder of DreamWorks.
Goodbye, Middle-earth
Actor Elijah Wood of “The Lord of the Rings” film series has sold a pair of properties in Venice for $1.685 million. In recent years, the properties have been leased out for as much as $5,250 a month.
The urban compound consists of two updated bungalows on a postage-stamp-sized lot. Fenced and gated from the street, the homes combined have a total of two bedrooms and two bathrooms in about 1,400 square feet.
The larger residence, a Craftsman dating to 1921, has a galley-style kitchen, a living room with built-ins and a sun-lit reading nook. The smaller bungalow contains a kitchen with a bar, a dining area and a living room.
Wood bought the houses in 2004 for $1.2 million.
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.
So long, house in trees
Actress Anne Heche and her former partner, actor James Tupper, have cut a deal in Lake Arrowhead, selling a lakefront retreat in the forested community for $1 million.
The rustic cabin retreat, built in 1956, has an original stone fireplace in the great room, an updated kitchen, a loft, three bedrooms and two bathrooms within its 1,440-square-foot floor plan. Wrap-around decking and a single-slip dock complete the lakeside package.
Heche, 50, is known for her film roles in “Donnie Brasco” (1997), “Six Days, Seven Nights” (1998) and “John Q” (2002).
Tupper, 54, met Heche on the set of the show “Men in Trees.” His other credits include “Mercy” (2011-15) and “Revenge” (2010-11).
His wine country playground
The Napa Valley compound of Steven Bochco — the late TV producer behind “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue” — is for sale off-market at $8.5 million.
The estate, owned by Bochco’s widow, Dayna, spans 47 acres and includes a European-style main home, a guesthouse and olive groves. The ivy-covered residence contains a great room, a center-island kitchen, a library and three bedrooms in 4,600 square feet.
The backyard is dotted with terraces, dining areas and lawns. A flagstone patio adjoins a swimming pool and spa.
Bochco, who died in 2018 at 74, won Emmys for “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue.”
Actress parts with N.Y. farmhouse
Oscar-nominated actress Glenn Close has sold her bucolic farmhouse in Bedford Hills, N.Y., for $2.75 million.
The 10-acre estate includes meadows, gardens, mature trees, a guest cottage, a swimming pool, a barn and a playhouse with a loft.
The main house, built in 1910, holds four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in 5,773 square feet. There’s a dining room with paneled walls, a living room with bay windows and an office wrapped in bright cherry cabinetry.
Close, 72, has had notable roles in films such as “Fatal Attraction,” “The Big Chill” and “101 Dalmatians.”
His favorite room
A softbox light, stacks of notated scripts and a miniature alpaca stuffed animal blend in the space devoted to actor Brendan Meyer’s craft. The Studio City bedroom doubles as a workshop where Meyer, of the Netflix series “The OA.,” films his auditions against a stark wall, writes and stockpiles his favorite DVDs, acting books and souvenirs from various roles.
From the archives
Ten years ago, box office giant Tom Hanks purchased the 14,500-square-foot Pacific Palisades home of veteran producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall for slightly more than $26 million. The contemporary, built in 1996, had four bedrooms and five bathrooms.
Twenty years ago, actor Dan Aykroyd and his wife, Donna Dixon, listed their Hollywood Hills home at $2.45 million. Built in the early 1950s, their six-bedroom, nearly 5,000-square-foot Hollywood house was the home, at various times, of the Beatles’ Ringo Starr and singer Mama Cass. The gated, New England-style estate, on nearly an acre, had a library, a master suite with an office and gym, six fireplaces and staff quarters.
Thirty years ago, actor and comedian Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, sold a 195-acre ranch in Calabasas for $10 million. The property had been used for cattle, sheep and horses.
What we’re reading
The homes of Democratic presidential candidates caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal recently. They took a look at the South Bend, Ind., home Pete Buttigieg bought in 2009 for $125,000, as well as the real estate portfolios of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg.
Architectural Digest takes readers inside “Breaking Bad” star Aaron Paul’s Idaho getaway. The log-clad cabin-style home blends interior stonework with “urban cool” furnishings and understated light fixtures.
For those struggling to make sense of Bezos’ record-setting purchase in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles Times wealth reporter Laurence Darmiento has done the math on the monumental deal. Bezos’ big buy amounts to just 0.13% of his net worth, which is equivalent to an Angeleno earning L.A. County’s median income ($68,000 and change) buying an eight-person tent at Walmart.
