Self-help guru James Arthur Ray lists Beverly Hills house

Motivational speaker and author James Arthur Ray, the subject of the L.A. Times article "Sweat lodge deaths a new test for self-help guru," has put his Beverly Hills home on the market for $5,495,000. From the report last month:

Three people collapsed in a sweat lodge during one of his $9,695-a-person "Spiritual Warrior" retreats outside Sedona, Ariz., and later died. The sheriff considers it a homicide investigation; no one has been charged.

Ray originally bought the 7,234-square-foot contemporary Mediterranean for $4 million in March, according to public records. Purchase details were reported in Hot Property. 

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Hot Property: Award show director lists Beverly Hills-area home

 

Jeff Margolis, the Emmy-winning director of the Academy Awards among other televised award shows, has listed his longtime Beverly Hills Post Office-area home at $3,495,000.

The 1927 Spanish-style house has arched passageways, open-beam ceilings, a step-down living room with a fireplace and an office-library-media room with a projection and sound system. There are five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 5,234 square feet. The one-third acre property is gated and includes a swimming pool and a sports court.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The listing agents are Drew Mandile and Brooke Knapp of Sotheby's International Realty, Beverly Hills. Credit: Everett Fenton Gidley

 

Hot Property: Producer Jon Peters sells Beverly Hills-area site for $12 million

Film producer Jon Peters ("Superman Returns," "Batman Returns") has sold a 6.5-acre residential lot in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for $12 million.

The site of the former estate of director King Vidor included house plans by architect Richard Landry. A 14-car underground garage and office are already on the three-parcel property, which sits behind gates. There are city and ocean views.
 
Peters sold to move to his ranch outside Santa Barbara.

The property came on the market in March at $19,995,000 with Jeffrey Hyland, Brooke Kaufman and Chad Rogers of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, sharing the listing.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Hot Property: Phoenix Pictures head buys in Beverly Hills

Phoenix Pictures Chairman and co-founder Mike Medavoy and his wife, Irena, have purchased a Beverly Hills home for $5.85 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows.

The contemporary Mediterranean, built in 1965, has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms in about 6,200 square feet. The one-story house has views of the city beyond the grassy backyard, which has a swimming pool and spa. There is a gated motor court and a four-car garage.

The property previously sold for $5.6 million in 2008 and had come on the market in February at $7.99 million.

More details are available at latimes.com.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Hot Property: Jimmy Durante's Beverly Hills home sells

The longtime Beverly Hills home of singer, pianist and comic actor Jimmy Durante has sold for $3.2 million.

Durante bought the property in 1944 and had the house remodeled into a contemporary in 1963. The main residence has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in 3,944 square feet. There is a two-story guesthouse with a one-bedroom apartment upstairs where the songwriter rehearsed, and maid’s quarters and storage on the ground floor.

The widower married his second wife, Marjorie Little, on Christmas Day 1960, and they raised their daughter Cecelia in the house.

The cigar-smoking vaudevillian with the prominent proboscis had his own radio show in the ’40s and television show in the ’50s. He also appeared on the big screen in scores of movies including "Palooka" (1934), "You’re in the Army Now" (1941) and "It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (1963).

Durante died in 1980 at age 86. His wife died in June. 

The house came on the market in July at $3,395,000 and drew the interest of fans and bidders worldwide, according to listing agent David Yocum of the Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills North office. Yocum was a William Morris talent agent for 14 years before going into real estate. (This is Los Angeles, after all.)

There are more photosat latimes.com.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The swimming pool area includes a pool house with a bathroom and a dry sauna for a total of about 5,200 square feet of living space on the site. Credit: Jeffrey Ong / PostRain Productions

 

Hot Property: NFL's Chris McAlister lists his Beverly Hills mansion

 

Former Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister has listed his Beverly Hills Post Office area home at $7.9 million.
 
The gated, French Normandy-style estate, with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 9,375 square feet, has been his home during the off-season. He said he plans to move to Maryland.

The house, built in 1990, has a two-bathroom master suite, a two-level living room and four fireplaces.

The Ravens released McAlister in February. But, he said, “I will be back in full force on Sept. 15. I can’t say what team yet, but I will be playing again.”

There are more photos at latimes.com.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: There is a koi pond, a putting green and a swimming pool with a spa. The listing agent is Kofi Natei Nartey of Sotalot Realty Group, Los Angeles. Credit: Shaun Dixon

 

Hot Property: Milla Jovovich sells BHPO home for $2.75 million

Newlywed actress Milla Jovovich ("Resident Evil") has sold a Beverly Hills Post Office-area home for $2.75 million.

Although she lived in the John Woolf-designed, Hollywood Regency-style home for a couple of years after her 2001 purchase, the Ukraine-born cover girl more recently had been renting it out.

The 3,582-square-foot home, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, sits on about 1.2 acres at the end of a cul-de-sac. At the back of the house, glass doors face a clover-shaped pool with a spa and provide canyon and city views.

Public records show she paid $1.8 million for the house, built in 1975. The listing agent was Galina Blackman of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills.

More details on the house are at latimes.com.  

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Hot Property: Former Groucho Marx home in Beverly Hills is rebuilt and listed at $12.9 million

A Beverly Hills house originally designed in 1956 by architect Wallace Neff for comic actor Groucho Marx has come on the market at $12.9 million.

The Trousdale Estates home, which has been redesigned and updated but maintains Neff’s original footprint, sits on a gated lot of three-quarters of an acre with downtown L.A. and canyon views. The one-story contemporary has five bedrooms and six bathrooms in slightly more than 6,000 square feet.

The original home was built for Marx and his third wife, actress Eden Hartford. He lived there until his death in 1977 at the age of 86.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The pool, with spa, was relocated on the site. Listing agents are Jeeb O’Reilly of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, and Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills. Credit: Everett Fenton Gidley

Hot Property: Composer sells Beverly Hills Tudor in downsizing move

Emmy-winning composer Lee Holdridge ("One Life to Live," "Brothers at War")  has sold his Beverly Hills home for $2.175 million.

The English Tudor-style house, built in 1926, retains much of its ’20s ambiance with a turret-like brick entry, a circular stairway off the foyer, hardwood floors on the ground floor and two fireplaces. The two-story home, with five bedrooms and four bathrooms in 4,774 square feet, has a swimming pool. 

The composer, 65, is downsizing to a contemporary rental in Brentwood with studio space.

The property, which Holdridge had owned for two decades, came on the market in late September at $3.2 million.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The living room, where Holdridge played his grand piano, overlooks the backyard.

Credit: Nick Springett

Hot Property: David Ladd and Dey Young list BHPO home at $5,995,000

 

The Beverly Hills Post Office area home of producer David Ladd and his wife, actress Dey Young, is on the market at $5,995,000.

The gated house sits on a wooded 1.1 acres with a tennis court, swimming pool, a tennis court and a guesthouse. The two-story home, built in 1937, has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 5,536 square feet. 

The property has been listed alternately for sale or lease since 2007, when it was listed at $7,850,000.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: There is a library pub, a sun room, staff quarters for two, French doors and hardwood floors.