Halle Berry joining the ranks of secretive home sellers
Actress Halle Berry is trying to sell her Hollywood Hills West house. The home’s motor court was the site of a Thanksgiving Day altercation between her former boyfriend, model Gabriel Aubry, and her fiance, actor Olivier Martinez, that landed both men in the hospital.
The property is being shown and marketed off the Multiple Listing Service in what is known as a pocket listing for $15 million. The five-bedroom house has 5,900 square feet of living space and sits on more than half an acre with a 1,400-square-foot guesthouse, a swimming pool and spa.
Berry bought the home in 2005 from former “Malcolm in the Middle” star Frankie Muniz for $5.995 million. She and Aubry had been involved in a custody battle.
Berry, 46, has starred in the “X-Men” movies and “Die Another Day” (2002). She won an Oscar for best actress for “Monster’s Ball” (2001). The former model and Martinez starred this year in the film “Dark Tide.” Berry also starred with Tom Hanks this year in “Cloud Atlas.”
Billy Rose of the Agency in Beverly Hills has the pocket listing, according to area real estate agents. He should be familiar with the property. He is also a onetime owner of the house, property records show.
Malibu pad is celebrity magnet
A beachfront house in Malibu that was rented at different times this summer to Usher and Sean Combs is for sale at $16.75 million. The house was listed at $100,000 a month but the amount each singer paid was not disclosed.
The Cape Cod-inspired two story, built in 1994 and sitting on more than half an acre, has 80 feet of beach frontage, a front lawn and gardens. Features include skylights, an office, a bar, a wine room, four fireplaces, a sauna, two master suites, four additional bedrooms and a total of six bathrooms in 5,653 square feet of living space.
The property last changed hands in 1985 for $1.3 million, public records show.
Wendy Carroll of Westside Estate Agency in Malibu is the listing agent.
Another notch in his beach belt
Oracle Corp. head Larry Ellison is buying yet another house along Malibu’s Carbon Beach. This will be his 10th residential purchase along the coveted stretch of sand called Billionaires’ Beach for its wealthy homeowners.
The seller is film and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
The beachfront house, which was not listed for sale, has 70 feet of ocean frontage, three bedrooms, three bathrooms and 2,239 square feet of living space, public records show. The sale price is not known at this time. The assessed value of the property is more than $3.65 million.
Ellison already owns the houses on either side of Bruckheimer’s home. Nearby neighbors include entertainment mogul David Geffen, former Dodgers Chief Executive Jamie McCourt and business magnate and former junk bond king Michael Milken.
In addition to the Carbon Beach houses, Ellison owns commercial property along the sand that includes the Nobu Malibu restaurant as well as other Malibu properties.
Ellison, 68, is ranked the third-wealthiest person in the U.S. by Forbes, with a net worth of $41 billion. Known as a real estate trophy hunter, he made an estimated $500-million deal this year to buy 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
Bruckheimer, 67, is executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning reality competition show “The Amazing Race” (2001-present) and multiple “CSI” series. His film work includes the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
The one-third-acre property previously sold in 1987 for $2.4 million.
No real estate agents are involved in the sale.
Estate has been road tested
The longtime estate of publishing magnate Robert Petersen and his wife, Margie, has come on the market in Beverly Hills at $15.995 million.
The traditional-style Paul Williams-designed house, built in 1933 and redone in 1988, sits behind gates on 1.23 acres. Features include a foyer with a spiral staircase and a two-story window, a den/office, a wine room, a glass-enclosed porch, a gym, an office, seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 7,735 square feet of living space. The grounds include an enclosed cabana/outdoor dining room, a swimming pool with a spa and a pool house. There are chauffeur’s quarters off the garage.
Petersen, who died in 2007 at 80, was a former Hollywood publicist who made his fortune publishing Hot Rod and Motor Trend, among other magazines. He helped establish L.A.’s Petersen Automotive Museum in 1994 with his wife, who died last year at 76.
The home was built for filmmaker Nunnally Johnson, who wrote the screenplay for the epic 1940 film “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Jade Mills and Christopher Livingston of Coldwell Banker’s Beverly Hills South office are the listing agents.
New keys for a musical home
A onetime home of actress and singer Julie Andrews has sold in the Beverly Crest area for $5.15 million. The sellers are film producer Stacey Sher and musician Kerry Brown, who had listed the house in April for $5.795 million.
Originally designed by Wallace Neff and built in 1948, the home has since been remodeled. The 1.61-acre site includes a 7,800-square-foot main house, a 2,480-square-foot guesthouse, a separate building with a bathroom, a tennis court, a basketball court, a swimming pool and waterfalls.
The living space features beamed ceilings, stained-glass windows, brick, stonework, mahogany doors and six fireplaces. There are five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a screening room, a den and a gym in the main house.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom guesthouse contains living and dining rooms, a kitchen, a den, an office and recording studio space. Among artists who have recorded at the studio are Courtney Love, Ziggy Marley and the Strawberry Alarm Clock. It has also been the site of music recorded for the films “P.S. I Love You” (2007) and “Death to Smoochy” (2002).
Sher, 50, is working on Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.” Her production credits include “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “Erin Brockovich” (2000) — for which she shared an Oscar nomination — and the series “Reno 911!” (2004-09).
Brown, 49, has played drums with the groups Catherine, the Smashing Pumpkins and Spirits in the Sky. His music editing and production credits include “Along Came Polly” (2004) and the series “Jessica Simpson: The Price of Beauty” (2010).
Rick Chimienti of Prudential’s Beverly Hills office was the listing agent. Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker’s Beverly Hills South office represented the buyer.
