Hot Property: Los Feliz villa with a star-studded past hits the market

A 1929 Los Feliz home once owned by actor Cary Grant and, later, drummer Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has come on the market at $3,495,000.

The Spanish Colonial Revival-style villa has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a media room in 6,727 square feet. Details include original stained glass, period tiles and intricate moldings. The rooms have city-lights and ocean views.

The walled property last sold in 2006 for $3.2 million, public records show.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

--Lauren Beale

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Photo: There are gardens, terraces and a swimming pool. An attached guest apartment has a bedroom and a bathroom. The listing agents are Mimi Starrett and Aaron Kirman of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills. Credit: Michael McCreary

 

Hot Property: Le Palais Gourmet co-owner sells Sunset Strip house

Randy Lee Arnold, co-owner and co-founder of Le Palais Gourmet tea emporium in Beverly Hills, has sold his newly built minimalist home in the Sunset Strip area for $3.8 million.

He designed and built the modern-style house of three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms from the ground up over a four-year period. The 4,000-square-foot home has a two-story entry, cantilevered roof lines, an open floor plan and walls of glass revealing city-to-mountain views.
 
Arnold, whose tea shop has become been a popular haunt with Hollywood stars since opening in 2003, said he took on the house “as creative therapy; realizing a vision inspired by Pierre Koenig and the vintage modern homes forever captured by architectural master photographer Julius Shulman.”

His goal was to build a home that epitomized the relaxed indoor-outdoor California lifestyle.

Now that he has accomplished his dream, he said he is ready for his next project, although it won’t necessarily be a home.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

-- Lauren Beale

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Photo:  A wrap-around pool was built into the home’s foundation. Bennett Carr with Sotheby’s International Realty, Beverly Hills, had the listing. Susan Dishell-Abbott of Prudential California Realty’s Brentwood office represented the buyer. Credit: William McCollum

 

Hot Property: Screenwriters' Hollywood Hills home has a starry past

A 1938 Spanish-style house in the Hollywood Hills owned by screenwriters Roger Simon ("The Big Fix") and Sheryl Longin ("Dick") is listed at $2,295,000.

The restored house of 3,335 square feet has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, two offices and a large loft. Vibrant tile work embellishes the kitchen and bathrooms. The living room opens to an outdoor living and entertainment space.

Among the home’s former occupants was Marilyn Monroe, according to the Movieland Directory.

Simon and Longin, who have used the property as their home and a place to write, are selling because they are relocating to Bainbridge Island, Wash.

The property previously had been listed at $2,625,000 last fall.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

--Lauren Beale

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Photo: The house looks out on a black-bottom pool with spa. There also are canyon and mountain views. The listing agent is Ginger Glass of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills. Credit: Adrian Tiemens

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

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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: 'Highlander' actor Peter Wingfield sells

Actor Peter Wingfield ("24," "Highlander") has sold a Studio City home for $1,707,500.

The two-story home has six bedrooms and five bathrooms in 5,473 square feet. An office has a separate entrance, and a maid’s or music room has a full bathroom. The master bedroom suite features a fireplace and spa tub. Glass doors open to a saltwater pool and spa.

The property was purchased in 2005 for $935,000, according to public records. The current house was built in 2008.

Moe Abourched of ReMax OTB Estates had the listing, and Jonathan Fronen of Keller Williams Realty, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

--Lauren Beale

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Hot Property: Steve McQueen ranch for sale

A Santa Paula ranch once owned by actor Steve McQueen ("The Great Escape," "Papillon") and his third wife, Barbara Minty, has come on the market for $1.95 million.

The pair moved to the 15.5-acre ranch in 1979 and were married in the living room of its 1892 Victorian house, which has antique stained-glass windows.

The ranch includes 3 acres of Syrah vineyards, fruit trees, a 3-acre equestrian facility and a 4,500-square-foot airplane hangar where McQueen kept his car and motorcycle collection.

There are more photos at latimes.com.

--Lauren Beale

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Photo: The working ranch has an organic vegetable and flower garden and the vineyard have been used to produce wine. The listing agents are David Kean and John Aaroe of the John Aaroe Group, Los Angeles. Credit: Jeffrey Ong / PostRain Productions

Hot Property: Actor D.W. Moffett sells Beachwood Canyon house

Actor D.W. Moffett ("Friday Night Lights") and his wife, Kristal, have sold their longtime Beachwood Canyon home for $1.75 million.

The 1926 Mediterranean, designed by architect John DeLario, has four bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms in 2,506 square feet. 
 
The home came on the market in April at $1,895,000. According to public records, they purchased the property in 1998 for $775,000.

-- Lauren Beale

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Photo: The house sits on one-third of an acre lot with a heated swimming pool and a walled garden. Rose Ware and Terry Canfield, both of Prudential California Realty’s West Hollywood office, represented the sellers and the buyers. Credit: Rose Ware

Hot Property: Silver Lake duplex bid up 18% above asking

Actor Mark Saul ("Grey's Anatomy") and his sister, costume designer Deanna Saul, have purchased a duplex in Silver Lake for $585,000.

The 5,200-square-foot property came on the market at $495,000 in late July, was bid up by multiple bidders -- it was not a foreclosure -- and sold quickly.

Each unit has one bedroom and one bathroom for a total of about 1,600 square feet of living space. There are lake and city views. The siblings plan to update and renovate the units.

The 90039 ZIP Code had 21 existing home sales in July at a median price of $600,000, according to MDA DataQuick. That's an increase of 24.4% from July 2008.

The 90039 ZIP Code had 77 existing home sales in the first half of the year at a median price of $583,000, according to MDA DataQuick. That's a drop of 7.2% from the first half of 2008.

August home and condo data will be out later this week.

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Once the new owners trim back the foliage they will have lake and city views. Credit: Michael McNamara

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

 

[UPDATED] Hot Property: Nicolas Cage estate, once listed at $35 million, looking for offers from $9.95 million

For the record: An earlier version of this story used the word bid, which might seem to indicate the house is being auctioned. The sale is not an auction.

The price on Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage’s Bel-Air Tudor has been reduced to $9.95 million on the Multiple Listing Service, but read the fine print. A sealed-offer sale is scheduled to take place Sept. 24, and it's the minimum opening offer that is $9.95 million.

The estate has been on and off the market since October 2006, when Cage listed it for $35 million. It had been priced this year at $17.5 million. He bought the property in 1998 for less than $7 million.

With hidden rooms and staircases and a tower, the 1940 baronial mansion sounds as if it’s straight out of a movie. The 11,817-square-foot home has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, five fireplaces, a theater, a library, a 1,800-bottle wine cellar and a swimming pool on about an acre.

The MLS shows that Stephen Shapiro of Westside Estate Agency has the current listing. Its website features recent photos of the home.

-- Lauren Beale

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Photo: An early photo of the home. Owners have included Tom Jones and Dean Martin. Credit: Maynard Parker

Hot Property: Bing Crosby's old stomping grounds for sale in Toluca Lake

A Toluca Lake home referred to as the Bing Crosby Estate is listed at $10 million.

The singer and actor lived on the property from 1936 until early January 1943, when the 20-room house was gutted in a Christmas tree fire, according to news reports from the L.A. Times archives. The damage to the structure and its contents was estimated at $200,000, and the family’s cocker spaniel, a complete collection of Crosby’s recordings, his golf trophies and his pipe collection were lost.

Crosby, who was golfing at the time of the fire, said he felt fortunate that his wife, Dixie Lee, and their four sons escaped injury.

His film stand-in Leo Lynn and his brother Larry Crosby helped sift through the ruins and found $2,000 in the pocket of one of Bing Crosby’s coats.

The rebuilt Southern Colonial that stands on the site today has six bedrooms, 5 1/2 bathrooms and five fireplaces in 7,132 square feet. There is a living room with a marble fireplace, a billiards room and a den with a wet bar.

The 2 acres of gated grounds include rose gardens; fruit trees; a tennis court with grandstands; an Olympic-size swimming pool; a 2 1/2-bathroom cabana with changing rooms, sitting area and a kitchen; and a two-bedroom, two-bathroom guesthouse with a kitchen.

There are more photos.

-- Lauren Beale

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Photo: Archival photos of the house after it was gutted by fire show the same exterior details, such as the oval windows flanking the entrance. The listing agents are Shirley Duenckel and Jon Molin of Ramsey-Shilling Associates, Toluca Lake. Credit: Sevan Masehian / Optimage Photography