 By Ann Brenoff, Times Staff Writer
My answer to those who would argue that Los Angeles has no mavens of culture is Peter Morton, the creator of the first Hard Rock Cafe and those ubiquitous T-shirts. Admit it, you owned at least one.
Morton, whose papa, Arnie, was the founder of the legendary restaurant Mortons, wheels and deals high-end property no matter the economic climate. He just listed a house in Beverly Hills that he’s owned for about two years for $22.5 million.
What makes this property unique among the eight-digit listings is that it will only be shown only on clear days, according to the MLS/CLAW. The listing says the "extraordinary" view is from downtown to the ocean. And apparently they don’t really want you looking in the direction of the house, which is being sold for "land value," says the listing.
The listing offers few details about the property and notes there will be no inspections of the house. This suggests "teardown city" to those who read realty tea leaves. The two-story house on 4 acres was built in 1940, and we personally hate to see the old destroyed for the new. But the basics are: seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms in about 8,000 square feet.
The property has an extraordinary Hollywood ownership lineage as well. It once belonged to actress Marlo Thomas, who sold it to media mogul David Geffen, who flipped it over to radio tycoon Norm Pattiz, who then sold it to Morton for $18.5 million in 2006.
Mortons — the restaurant — was the subject of Julia Phillips’ 1991 book, "You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again" — the premise being that your ability to get a good table there was a barometer of your relative importance in Hollywood.
Photo: Peter Morton in his Beverly Hills office in 2006
Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times
 Those of you who don't like celebrity items, move along, this doesn't concern you. Go ahead, move along.
Now then. The best beach read in town, the reliable blog Manhattan Beach Confidential reports that actress Teri Polo had to drop the price quite a bit to sell her Manhattan Beach home.
Once featured in the The Times' Hot Property column as a $2.6-million listing, MB Confidential reports the house sat on the market for months, and the asking price was dropped to $2.09 million before the home finally sold.
MB Confidential further reports that Polo paid $2.5 million for the home in May 2006, and concludes, "You Can Lose in MB."
More from MB: "Remember that May 2006 was not a bad time in our local market. Just the first hints of buyer skepticism and flattening prices were beginning to be heard. There was plenty of contrary evidence –- maybe the local market would keep rocketing forward. It didn't. Fall 2006 saw a real slowdown, and the Spring 2007 rally was quickly subsumed by the credit crisis last summer."
Big giant caveat: The blog doesn't report the ultimate sales price. It's quite possible Ms. Polo did better than $2.09 million.
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo: Circlepix
 File this one under the heading "Hard times in Newport Beach." From L.A. Times staff writer E. Scott Reckard:
Ripples from the shipwrecked housing markets are washing up in unusual places, including criminal proceedings for a microchip billionaire.
Soft home prices in Newport Beach and Malibu figured in arguments last week before the federal judge in Santa Ana who was deciding whether to grant bail for Henry T. Nicholas III, the 48-year-old co-founder of Irvine’s Broadcom Corp.
Nicholas had surrendered Thursday to the FBI to face charges of distributing illegal drugs to associates and defrauding Broadcom shareholders by manipulating stock options. Arguing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato, prosecutors contended he was a flight risk and a threat to the community, and so should be locked up.
Nakazato indicated he would allow bail. But what is an appropriate bond for an electrical engineering Ph.D. and entrepreneur who, by the government’s estimate, is worth $1.5 billion?
Read more For Nicholas, hard times in Newport Beach and Malibu »
 Another celebrity seller has woken up and smelled the, er, market. From Ann Brenoff's Hot Property on LATimes.com: "In today's real estate market, sometimes the goddess of common sense has to give us a smack upside the head. Said goddess must have recently visited actress Joely Fisher, who just listed her Encino house again, this time at $3,295,000.
"It was listed last summer for at least $1 million more."
More, for you high-rollers who are actually interested in the house: "The compound is at the end of a long circular driveway and sits on a three-fourths-acre lot with views. There is a lagoon pool, pool house, sports court and rolling lawns. There also is a detached state-of-the-art THX home theater. The one-level contemporary was built in 1955 and substantially rebuilt in 2005. It has four bedrooms in 4,500 square feet. The living room has stone floors and a wood beamed ceiling."
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: Jeff Elson
This story lives at the rarely traveled intersection of trophy Southern California real estate and political intrigue. Is it important? Time will tell.
From the incomparable political blog Top of the Ticket: "Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts and a current silent candidate to become Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate, is also about to become a Californian."
"A Southern Californian."
"The Romneys await closing on a home in La Jolla on the oceanfront, of course. Are there any other kind there?
"According to SignOnSanDiego.com, the savior of the Salt Lake City Olympics and a self-made multimillionaire has decided to pour a few more of his millions into a home in that oceanfront community in the state that just happens to have the most electoral votes.
"Or maybe he just wants to watch the seals sun themselves."
Interesting stuff.
Hat tip: The irrepressible Andrew Malcolm, via e-mail.
Photo: Los Angeles Times
 I know readers here generally don't give a hoot about celebrity real estate, but I thought I'd make an exception for this item: a couple of celebrity-owned properties that have sat on the market for a while are now reduced in price.
Actress Angela Bassett and her husband have cut the asking price on their Hancock Park house from $5.99 million to $4.6 million, a price cut of 23%.
And actor Frankie Muniz (that's his house pictured) has reduced the listing price on this Hollywood Hills home from $3.875 million to $3.695 million.
Your thoughts? Comments?
Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times
 You can't make this stuff up: Former major league baseball player Jose Canseco, pictured, "said on Thursday he had lost his California mansion to foreclosure -- one of the first celebrities to publicly admit being a statistic in the U.S. housing crisis," the Associated Press said.
In comments to the TV show "Inside Edition," Canseco says, "It didn't make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else."
More from the Associated Press: "Canseco, 43, one of the most flamboyant U.S. baseball players until his retirement from the major leagues in 2001, told the celebrity TV show 'Inside Edition' that it did not make financial sense to keep his 7,300-square-foot home in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino. 'Inside Edition' said it had foreclosure documents showing Canseco owed a bank more than $2.5 million on the house.
Sports headline: Jose walks.
More to come on this item. But don't hold back on your thoughts and comments. Something tells me this item is a setup in search of a punch line. Go for it.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Hat Tip: Seattle Snoop
 Worth noting: The governor of California (pictured), widely seen as having good business sense in his own affairs, has been a recent buyer of land. The L.A. Times' Hot Property reports Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, recently bought 25 acres of ranchland in Carpinteria, in Santa Barbara County. Price tag was about $4.7 million.
Also worth noting: An L.A. Times analysis of beach communities shows median sales prices are slipping -- down 8.9% from August -- though are still outperforming the rest of metro L.A. Sales are down as well: 149 sales in February in 18 beach ZIP codes, down from 209 in February 2007. The biggest seaside price declines: In Huntington Beach, where median prices in one ZIP have dropped from $1.2 million in 2007 to $827,000 in February, a dip of 31%.
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: AP
 I understand many of you do not like celebrity items. Still, this one came recommended by a reader, and I pass it along as a sign of the times: Forbes.com has compiled its own list of "Celebrity Real Estate Losers":
"Even Hollywood's rich and famous can't avoid the housing downturn that's sweeping the nation. ... Realtor Barry Sloane of Sotheby's International Realty says it's the owners trying to sell homes in the $3 million to $6 million range that are having the most trouble."
Among the celebrities mentioned: Brad Garrett, who, according to Forbes, paid $9.75 million for his Hidden Hills home (pictured), and now has it listed for $8.8 million; Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who paid $6.25 million for a Hollywood Hills home and sold it for $5.7 million; and Ed McMahon, who first listed his Mulholland Drive estate for $7 million, but has cut the asking price to $5.75 million.
Photo credit: L.A. Times
 Somebody back in Michelle Branch's hometown of Sedona, Ariz., is going to read this and say: That girl's got a good head on her shoulders. The singer/guitarist sold her big Calabasas home in November for a slight profit, and has now downsized into a smaller home in Nashville, according to the reliable Tom Wood of the Nashville Post.
What she sold: A five-bedroom, 5,296-square-foot house in the Oaks, a gated development in Calabasas. She bought the house in 2005 for $2.88 million, listed it for $3.3 million, and wisely accepted $2.94 million for it in November.
What she bought: For $1.35 million, a custom-built 3,706-square-foot home in Nashville's tony Belle Meade neighborhood. Four bedrooms, four baths, vaulted ceilings. Writes Tom Wood, "1.35 mil won't sound like much where you are, but it buys a lot of house in Nashville."
Old neighbor: Angelo Mozilo
New neighbor: Al Gore
Thanks, Tom.
Now, the fun part. Who wants to write a little country music ditty about the girl singer who sold her place in Calabasas and gave up the the bright lights of L.A. for a cozy cottage in Tennessee?
Photo credit: Getty Images via L.A. Times
 Frivolous interlude: The ever-resourceful Real Estalker has photos and analysis of Conan O'Brien's new, $10 million plus Brentwood home, which was featured this week in Ruth Ryon's "Hot Property" column in the L.A. Times.
Real Estalker deems the ginormous house "classy," "dignified" and "restrained," which is high praise given the blog's generally picky standards.
That's Conan's new dining room pictured on the left. On the right? That would be Graceland. Yes, Conan appears to have purchased a house with an Elvis-inspired dining room. I know what you're thinking: who has time to think of bizarre coincidences like this, and hunt down the pictures on the web, and then place them side by side? That person would be Tony Pierce, author of busblog, and the boss of blogs at LATimes.com.
There is a sliver of news in this item: Real Estalker reports O'Brien paid slightly more than the asking price for the house -- she says the house listed for $10.495 million, and sold for $10.75 million: "Perhaps the sagging market has
yet to affect the small pool of buyers lucky enough to have seriously
deep pockets."
Photo Credit: busblog
 Insert your favorite football cliche here: Former USC football star Matt Leinart ...
A) Has been sacked by the housing bubble in Phoenix.
B) Made a poor play selection in the real estate market.
C) Threw away half a million bucks.
Here's the news item from the Arizona Republic: "Phoenix Suns star Amaré Stoudemire has purchased Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart's Ahwatukee home for $1.9 million. That's about $500,000 less than what Leinart paid for it last year."
More: "Leinart put the 6,800-square-foot home on the market in June for $2.4 million after he moved to a $2.3 million home in a gated community that real-estate agents have nicknamed 'the Beverly Hills of Chandler.' But the real-estate slowdown has hit everyone, and the home sat on the market."
Matt makes slightly more than the median income in Phoenix: The Republic reports Leinart "could make $50.8 million on his six-year contract."
Your thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com.
Hat tip: FD in TO
Photo Credit: AP
 While the rest of Southern California is being buffeted by the Santa Ana winds of the housing downturn, the luxury end of the market is blissfully humming along.
Sorry for the turgidly mixed metaphors. But I just received the latest sales numbers for the Westside and it appears that sales of multimillion-dollar homes are outpacing last year's stats by a tad.
Year to date, 206 sales closed at $5 million or more, compared to 211 for all of 2006. What's more, 50 of those sales were for more than $10 million, the same as for all of last year.
So far, the biggest sale this year was to actor Tom Cruise, who paid $35 million for a Beverly Hills estate last spring. Joining him in the cavalcade of multi-multimillion-dollar deals this year was Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com and, if you haven't heard, the Beckhams, who paid about $22 million for the former mansion of Northrop Grumman chief Kent Kresa, according to county records. "Looks like the sub-prime debacle has not hurt the high end yet," says Cecelia Kennelly-Waeschle, a Sotheby's International Realty agent in Malibu, who is the keeper of "the list."
For the last decade or so, Kennelly-Waeschle has been keeping track of high-end sales stretching from Bel-Air to Malibu to Marina del Rey. Her list is often more thorough than what's available from DataQuick Information Systems, because she can get her Realtor buddies to reveal the sales prices on deals that they successfully keep out of the public record.
A couple of the latest transactions included one for $27 million in the exclusive gated community of Beverly Park and four deals in the double-digit millions in Brentwood Country Estates, the area's other exclusive gated community. Also, the late Johnny Carson's estate in Malibu sold earlier this year for a cool $33 million.
But these deals would pale in comparison to a couple of current listings that are striving for the mantle of biggest residential deal in U.S. history. The big Hot Property news this year was the listing of the former Hearst mansion at $165 million (pictured above) by the brokerage Westside Estate Agency. The 6.5-acre compound known as Beverly House was featured in the famous horse head scene from "The Godfather."
And then there's Fleur de Lys, the Holmby Hills estate as ornate as its name on sale for a mere $125 million. Coldwell Banker top producer Joyce Rey and Windermere Properties agent Robert Kass shared the listing.
Word has it that there's been at least a dozen showings, which is saying something because no one gets in the front door without proof they have the means to buy it.
-- Posted by guest blogger Annette Haddad
Photo credit: Westside Estate Agency
 A tawdry excuse to run a photo of Britney, or a legitimate real estate item? You decide. Here goes: the normally welcome wagon-y blog Manhattan Beach Confidential, hearing that Ms. Spears-Federline-Spears may be house-hunting in Manhattan Beach, encourages her to look elsewhere:
"If you go and snap up some majestic Strand house, or a garish Hill Section lair, you're going to ruin things for your neighbors – who, we might note, will be between 6 and 12 feet away from you. (We don't do "gated" or "estates.")
"Yes, we're sure you're a willing buyer with cash (albeit with an agenda, too), but we'd really ask that you look farther and wider."
For what it's worth, a commenter on the post reports Britney is also condo-hunting in Marina del Rey.
Thoughts? Comments? Insights? Email story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com.
Photo Credit: AP
 Good morning. Frank McCourt, who owns the Dodgers, has bought the Courteney Cox Arquette Malibu home designed by John Lautner for "close to $33.5 million."
Cox Arquette and husband David Arquette bought the 5,500-square-foot house six years ago for "nearly $10.2 million," so they made an excellent profit.
The house, glorious and famous as it is, sat on the market for more than six months -- the celebrity news site TMZ.com reported it was for sale back in January. It was originally listed at $33.5 million.
Thoughts? Comments?
Photo Credit: DupontRegistry.com
 We've been slacking off in the celebrity real estate department, in part because we're not crazy about the demi-celebrities (Nicky Hilton, etc.). But when an A-list, single-name celebrity does nearly $100 million in real estate deals on three coasts, we figure it's worth a link.
So here are Mel Gibson's recent moves, and there will be a short quiz to follow:
Sold his 7,000 SF beachfront Malibu home for "nearly $30 million," according to the LA Times.
Sold his 28-room, Tudor-style mansion in Greenwich, CT, for $39.5 million.
Bought a 400-acre ranch in Costa Rica for $25.8 million.
Our Quiz: Does this mean anything? We consider Gibson a shrewd businessman. Is he bailing on luxury U.S. real estate at the peak? Or, are we incorrect in viewing him as a smart businessman. Or, perhaps, his buyings and sellings have nothing to do with the real estate market. You tell us.
Photo Credit: AP
 Linked to this post, that is.
When we have a chance to put Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Real Estalker in the same item, we do it every time. Here goes: Real Estalker reports both are selling their homes.
Britney: Real Estalker reports Britney's 9,130-square foot Tuscan-style villa in Beverly Hills is back on the market, now listed at $7.495 million, up from $7.2 million in the spring, which is odd, because the $7.2 million represented a price reduction. We're confused, but that often happens.
Paris: The Paris item is thinner than Nicole Richie. Your Mama rose from her sickbed to type these words: "We hear that Paris "Pokey" Hilton will soon be putting her Hollywood Hills house on the market."
We wish Your Mama a speedy recovery, and thank her for keeping tabs on celebrities, which is not our strong suit.
Photo Credit: AP
 Coupla celebrity items that caught our eye: Big Time Listings notes that actor-writer John Stockwell scored a handsome profit on his Hancock Park house. Purchased for just $550,000 in 1995, the five-bedroom, 5,043 SF house sold in June for $3.55 million. By our math that is a return of 545% in 12 years. (Note: We originally referred to him as John "Rockwell," which proves we don't get out much. Of course, it's John Stockwell. Our bad.)
And who knew John Cleese had done so well for himself? Ruth Ryon reports he just put his Montecito horse ranch on the market for $28 million. The Cleeses are not leaving Montecito -- they own another home there.
Speaking of Montecito, The L.A. Times profiles the community today, and the historical chart showing median sales prices is worth a second look:
1990...$837,500
1995...$525,000
2000...$1,100,000
2006...$2,575,000
*2007...$2,900,000
A few headlines come to mind: The median price has shot up 453% since 1995, and 164% since 2000, making Montecito the seventh-highest-priced ZIP Code in the U.S., according to Forbes. Here's one more headline: Prices do fall in exclusive areas. Look at 1990 to 1995: Prices fell 37% over five years.
Photo Credit: Big Time Listings
 We've been slacking off on celebrity items. We have no excuse. We promise to try harder. So, here's a fun one from Real Estalker: Ted Danson and Mary Steenbergen have put their Malibu place on the market for $18.5 million.
Smallish (2,963 SF is small for $18.5 million) 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms,on Malibu Colony Road, aka "one of SoCal's most coveted beaches."
Real Estalker is not crazy about the Colony: "For those not familiar with the Colony, the houses are smashed up next to each other on narrow and tiny lots where windows sometimes look into the windows of the neighbors' houses. Think about it. Even with clever landscaping and hedging, living in the Colony means paying $18.5 million for a house that is so close to the next house that you might be able to see your middle-aged neighbor with a hairy back...." (You can guess what comes next).
Comments? Thoughts?
Photo Credit: RealEstalker
A  Common thread in a bunch of celebrity items we saw this weekend: In what's supposed to be a soft market, these celeb sellers are hoping to walk away with decent -- in some cases indecent -- profits.
(Disclaimer: it wasn't the strongest weekend for celebrity items -- lots of B-list and below stuff.)
Sitcom actress ("'Til Death") Joely Fisher has listed her Encino Hills home for $4.295 million, Ruth Ryon reports in the L.A. Times. She bought it two years ago for $3.5 million. If she gets her price, that's 23% appreciation.
Local TV anchorman David Ono has listed his house in Toluca Lake (pictured) for $3.5 million. He bought it in 2005 for $2.2 million. If he gets his price, that's 59% appreciation in two years.
RealEstalker says actor Stacy Keach is looking to sell his Calabasas place for $2.295 million, having purchased it for $1.69 million a year ago. That would be 36% in a year.
And Nico Santucci isn't close to being a celebrity -- he's a Las Vegas character and a friend of Michael Jackson's, as RealEstalker explains.-- but he thinks he can flip like a celebrity. He bought in Beverly Hills 11 months ago for $2.78 million and, after some redo magic, is trying to sell same for $4.5 million, RealEstalker reports. That would be a 62% pop.
Photo Credit: L.A. Times
 Good morning. When we say "there goes the neighborhood," we mean, there go prices -- higher, if the governor buys a place up in Ojai.
The L.A. Times reported this weekend that the Schwarzeneggers have been house-hunting in Ojai, the artsy enclave (see below) 90 miles north of L.A.
The Ventura County Star had the story Friday, but apparently it's been bouncing around for a while -- The Sacramaento Bee reported that the Schwarzeneggers have already bid on a $6-million house.
We've wanted to visit Ojai ever since moving to L.A. three years ago. We've decided today is the day, so take this as a notice that comments will be slow to post today.
"Artsy enclave?" We think we can do better than that, with your help. Give us a pithy description of Ojai that encompasses the whole green dream-organic-yoga-liberal-artsy-outdoorsy vibe.
Comments? Insights? Thoughts on living in Ojai?
Photo Credit: Ojai Valley Inn & Spa
 OK, it's not just ANY comedy writer, it's Al Jean, who is looking for a new place to display the small army of Emmy Awards he has won as a writer/producer on "The Simpsons." RealEstalker has all the details on the property he is selling in the Beverly Hills post office area, but here's a cheat sheet:
--4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3,800 square feet, $3.595 million
--What he paid: $1.275 million in 2001
--Rate of appreciation: 182% in 6 years.
--Schuyler Road, Beverly Hills PO
--"Exquisitely renovated by preeminent designers," "blends old Hollywood glamor with modern luxury."
--What's So Funny? RealEstalker's Your Mama is disappointed that the house is not, well, funny. "We assume that Mister Jean has a wicked and biting sense of humor.... But strangely, this house doesn't reflect that at all."
--Where Does Beverly Hills PO rank? "We know some people prefer the P.O. because properties up in the hills are more likely to have staggering views. But trust us when we tell you that some people consider living in the Post Office far worse than living in the flats below Sunset. Seriously."
Comments? Thoughts? Insights?
Photo Credit: RealEstalker
 If you're going to run celebrity real estate items -- and we do -- you can't be too picky. That said, our first Paris Hilton Item: As Realestalker reports here, the house across the street from Paris Hilton's is for sale.
Details: "Magical 1920s Spanish," walled and gated, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms on N. Kings Road in West Hollywood, $2.3 million. Also for rent at $11,000/month.
Realestalker: "That's right children, 2.3 million smackers will get you Paris Hilton and her little dog Tinkerbell for neighbors. That and hordes of swarming paparazzi parked in front of your driveway firing their flashbulbs at all hours of the day and night."
Our Idea: A production company should rent this house and shoot a down and dirty reality TV show about a bunch of grungy paparazzi and their wacky adventures chasing Paris and Tinkerbell. I'm going to pitch this as ""Money Shot." If this blog disappears you will know I have found work as a producer.
Photo Credit: LATimes
 The real estate industry had to be overjoyed with the subplot in HBO's "Entourage" last night. It starts when the dim-witted but loveable Johnny "Drama" Chase puts down a lowball offer for a Beverly Hills condo ($950,000 for a 2-bedroom listed at $1.4 million), declaring "It's a buyer's market!" Hillarity ensues, as the listing agent doesn't budge and "Drama" bids higher and higher, eventually paying $1.5 million for the condo.
It's a comedy, but in all seriousness, we think these HBO shows tend to have good insights into the culture (Remember all the trouble Carmella had selling her spec house on "The Sopranos"?) Given his spotty employment history and the iffy future of his current job (he co-stars in a TV show that's been on for a week), it's a good bet "Drama" will had a hard time paying the mortgage on the new condo. Could there be a foreclosure in "Drama's" future? That would be rich.
More on "Entourage" here at TV Guide's blog.
Comments? Insights?
Photo Credit: HBO
 Did celebrities flip real estate back in the 1940s and 1950s? Who knows, but one of many themes of the recent housing boom has been the celebrity flipper (see Cox, Courtney).
Our personal favorites include Ellen Degeneres and Portia Di Rossi, for no real reason other than that we like them both. According to RealEstalker, which watches celebrity real estate dealings like a hawk, they are at it again:
"SELLER: Ellen Degeneres and Portia Di Rossi
LOCATION: Zorada Drive, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $2,300,000
SIZE: 2,755 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.75 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Classic 1956 post & beam. Exceptional mid-century modern home, constructed in a U-shape around a sun-drenched pool w mountain/city views."
Ellen & Portia backstory: "All the celebrity real estate nuts out there are well aware of the prolific buying and selling of this ... couple. Most recently they put their flaw-less weekend retreat in Montecito on the market for a blistering $24,000,000. Previous to that the couple had sold their ranch in the sticks of the Santa Ynez Valley, which is the same general vicinity of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch... And previous to that, Ellen sold off her compound of houses over on Woodrow Wilson Drive and Woodstock Road including a property called "The Treehouse" that was eventually purchased by actor Heath Ledger."
Photo Credit: www.realestalker.com
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By Ann Brenoff, Times Staff Writer 
