Bel-Air

Bel-Air Architectural Home with $17.5 million Price Tag, Estate of the Day

If Modern estates are your thing, get your drool-wiping cloths ready. Located in a Bel-Air guard-gated community of just 11 houses, this 12,000-square-foot totally remodeled home is listed at $17.5 million. What's nice about this modern manse is that it's actually got a warm feeling to it, yet you recognize it for what it is: a piece of art that you happen to live in.

There's tons of light, city lights view, a pool with two infinity edges and an impressive entry gallery with a bar. There's an open floor plan with a large kitchen with a 20-foot eat-in island, tons of skylights, and formal living and dining rooms with 13-foot ceilings. The home has a lounge; a gym with a marble-walled bathroom with a sink carved from a chunk of mesquite; a walk-in wine room and a home theater with three tiers of leather seats. In addition to the 2,100-square-foot master suite, which has a sitting room with a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, two bathrooms and two closets, there are five additional bedroom suites. Since we all know that first impressions count, the home is entered through a 9-foot-square pivoting oak door. The guest apartment has private entrance.

The remodeled home is the work of architect David Thompson of Assembledge+ in Los Angeles, with interior spaces designed by the listing agent, Billy Rose of Prudential California Realty.

The exterior of the two-story home is brick with steel gray stucco and lots of glass. It sits on a bluff top and has views of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Fernando Valley. We are especially pleased that the architect left the mature Chinese elm trees in place when creating the granite motor court.

There is a glass-tiled infinity pool and terraced orchards on the 1.5 acre property. Being a smart house, wall keypads control the home's climate and electronics.

Gallery: Stone Ridge Lane

Tags: Bel Air, bel air real estate, bel-air, california real estate, estate of the day

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Nicolas Cage's Former Home Sells For $10.5 Million

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The LA Times reports on another twist in the saga of Nicolas Cage's former Bel-Air estate. Cage had bought the Tudor-style home in 1998 from Tom Jones for $6.469 million and it was also owned by Dean Martin. While it was once listed at high as $35 million several years ago, Cage was unable to sell at an acceptable price and ended up losing the property to foreclosure earlier this year. An auction at the county courthouse in Pomona, California back in April failed to bring out any bidders and went back on the market for $12.75 million.

Now a new owner picked up the mansion for $10.5 million. The buyer was identified as a limited liability company so there is always the possibility that the 1940 Tudor is once again in celebrity hands. The property entered escrow at the end of July but didn't close until this week because the IRS had 120 days to decide if they wanted to buy it. There's good news for fans of the house, the owner has hired a restoration architect to restore the home which was designed by architect Gerard R. Colcord. The home is on an acre of land and has six bedrooms, a lavish movie theater, stained glass, carved woodwork and other classic details.

Tags: bel air, bel-air, dean martin, los angeles real estate, nicolas cage, tom jones

The Classicist: Rash of New World Records Says "The Rich Are Back"

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Timepieces / Watches, Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions, Art, The Classicist, Wealth

Following an incredible number of record-breaking sales of some of the world's most expensive items, from cars to art to watches, diamonds and estates, that have taken place just in the past two weeks, we are hereby making an official declaration: The Rich Are Back. While the economic recovery has been slow to materialize in some quarters, those with the money to make multimillion-dollar purchases are suddenly not shy about dropping the coin. The megabucks deals mean an optimistic outlook has finally taken a firm hold, and the wealthy no longer feel the need to pinch their pennies in the fear that more hard times could be lurking right around the corner. We say it's about time too.

In one hectic twelve-day period, from May 3 to May 14, we saw the record-breaking sales of a $106 million Picasso painting; a $50 million mansion in Bel-Air; a $46 million ranch in Colorado; a $40 million Bugatti; a $32 million Warhol self-portrait; a $26 million Jasper Johns painting; an $18 million Ferrari; an $8 million blue diamond; and a $5 million Patek Philippe chronograph – about $330 million worth of the world's most expensive possessions. The astonishing sales have given an immediate boost to the art, classic cars, real estate and collector's timepieces markets, many of which faltered in the wake of the economic downturn, losing billions of dollars in value. Here's a rundown of the nine history-making deals as they unfolded over the twelve-day whirlwind of wealth disbursement; see the gallery for images:

Gallery: The Return of the Rich

Picasso, <i>Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust</i>

Tags: Andy Warhol, art, auction, Bel-Air, Bootjack Ranch, Bugatti, Chris Evans, Christies, chronograph, classic cars, Colorado, contemporary art, diamond, estates, Ferrari, Ferrari 250 GTO, Jasper Johns, Michael Crichton, Pablo Picasso, Patek Philippe, Picasso, ranch, real estate, The Rich, world record, worlds most expensive

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Nic Cage Faces Huge Tax Bill, Sells In Bel Air

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping, Wealth

For Nicolas Cage the internet seems to full of some good news and some bad news today. First the bad, TMZ has documents that show that Nicolas Cage's current total owed to the IRS is now a steep $6,257,005. But here's the good, he may have finally unloaded his Bel-Air Tudor home. The home which once belonged to singer Tom Jones and to Dean Martin was for sale for as high as $35 million back in 2006. A sealed bid auction was scheduled for September 24 with the minimum opening offer set at $9.95 million. The MLS now has the home as "looking for backup" which means an offer has been made, and hopefully will stick. Cage paid around $6.5 million for the home in 1998. Cage also recently sold his New York City apartment which had been listed at $9.75 million.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage In Bel Air, Part 2

He still has four homes on the market in the U.S.:
His Las Vegas home is listed at $9.49 million.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in Las Vegas

His Rhode Island home sits at $12 million.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage at Gray Craig

One of his New Orleans homes is listed for $3.45 million.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage in New Orleans

The other, the haunted LaLaurie mansion is still listed for $3.55 million.

Gallery: Another Nicolas Cage Home In New Orleans

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Tags: bel air, bel-air, BelAir, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, irs, los angeles, LosAngeles, nicolas cage, NicolasCage, taxes

Meg Ryan Re-Lists Her Bel-Air Home

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Actress Meg Ryan is testing the real estate waters once again, putting her Bel-Air home back on the market. Ryan had first put her Spanish-style home on the market a year ago for $19.5 million. Finding no takers she withdrew it from the market in February. But as the LA Times Hot Property column reports it's back again and with a lower price. The six-bedroom home was purchased for $8.995 million in 2000 and is now listed at $14.2 million.

Listing information says that the home, which was built in 1931 has had a "museum-quality" restoration that includes wood floors and ceilings, elegant tilework and graceful curved arches. Covered outdoor seating offers views of Los Angeles in the distance. It's been moderately well-staged but there are a few off notes including the placement of large photos on the kitchen counter. The property includes a pool and guest house.

Gallery: Meg Ryan in Bel Air

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Tags: bel air, bel-air, BelAir, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, los angeles, LosAngeles, meg ryan, MegRyan

Nicolas Cage's Bel-Air Home Scheduled For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Nic Cage really wants to unload his Bel-Air home. The LA Times reports that home, which was most recently listed at $17.5 million will be auctioned in a sealed-bid sale scheduled for September 24. The house, which was once listed as high as $35 million can be had for as low as the minimum bid of $9.95 million. Cage bought the home over 10 years ago for around $7 milllion.

There's lots to love about this home. The 1940 mansion is Old Hollywood at it's most grandiose and has also been owned by Tom Jones and Dean Martin. It has six bedrooms, a theater, wine cellar and library. An acre of grounds includes a swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen with a brick oven.

Gallery: Nicolas Cage In Bel Air, Part 2

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Tags: bel-air, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, nicolas cage, NicolasCage

Sandy Gallin Lists Bel-Air Mansion for $32 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

L.A. talent manager Sandy Gallin, who has represented divas like Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand and Michael Jackson, has listed his mansion in Bel-Air (above) for $32 million. Gallin, a serial property flipper, intended for this, his 42nd house project, to be "a place to wind up and stay," but found the estate "too big and too lavish for me," he tells the Wall St. Journal. The mansion was built in 1936 by architect Paul Williams, and Gallin purchased from the estate of award-winning actress Jane Wyatt two years ago for $8 million.

He planned to tear it down and build a modern monstrosity but the city refused to grant permission. Instead Gallin restored and enlarged the existing house boosting the square footage to 12,000 with seven bedrooms and 12 baths. The Real Estalker adds that there's an entire wing devoted to a master suite with dual baths, and the living room opens onto a "living lounge" with a covered porch, cobblestone floor and fireplace. Also inside are a billiards pub, a glass-encased wine room, a media room, a gym, a yoga studio, steam room and a swimming pool.

Tags: Barbra Streisand, BarbraStreisand, Bel-Air, celebrity, Los Angeles, LosAngeles, mansion, Sandy Gallin, SandyGallin

The Classicist: Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Books, The Classicist, Wealth

Times being a trifle tough these days, that $100 million mansion in Beverly Hills may be a bit beyond your reach. The next best thing has got to be Jeffrey Hyland's new 400-page volume The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills, a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated history of 50 magnificent estates in three world-famous enclaves of the ultra-wealthy - Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. The $250 tome is a definitive history of the area's most famous estates - "the architecturally spectacular homes and lavish grounds that have been home to countless celebrities and the world's richest families for almost a century."

Aside from the purely visual pleasure of the photographs both old and new, Hyland explains the history and architectural importance of each estate, and tells the fascinating stories of the many famed owners, from their "passionate involvement in the design of these costly properties, to their intrigues, triumphs, calamities, and romances." The estates run the gamut from historic Beverly House, the sprawling 1920s Mediterranean estate inhabited by William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies and briefly listed a while back at $165 million, to modern classics like the notorious Fleur de Lys in Holmby Hills (above).

The 15-bedroom Fleur de Lys, which is currently on the market for $125 million, was built by Texan billionaire David Saperstein and is now owned by his ex-wife Suzanne - whom he ditched for the childrens' hot Swedish nanny. The five-acre estate is home to a 41,000-square foot French limestone mansion inspired by France's magnificent Vaux le Vicomte palace outside Paris. Surrounding the mansion are rolling lawns, ornamental gardens and mature trees, a 3,000-square-foot manager's house, staff quarters for ten people, a spa and pool with a pavilion and its own kitchen, a championship tennis court, and a lavish garden folly.

Gallery: Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills

Also featured in the book: Bellagio Road in Bel-Air, built for studio mogul Sol Wurtzel in the 1930s along the lines of the villas found on the hillsides near Florence, Italy; Casa Encantada in Bel-Air, a "modern Georgian with Grecian influences" built in the 1930s by a former nurse from New York who married a much-older multimillionaire glass manufacturer, then took up with her chauffeur after he died; and the storied St. Cloud Road estate which was owned by a string of luminaries including It Happened One Night director Frank Capra, Warner Bros. stars Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, director / producer Mervyn LeRoy, and MGM founder Louis B. Mayer. See the gallery for pix.

Tags: Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, BeverlyHills, Fleur de Lys, FleurDeLys, Frank Capra, FrankCapra, Holmby Hills, HolmbyHills, Suzanne Saperstein, SuzanneSaperstein, William Randolph Hearst, WilliamRandolphHearst

Roscomare Road, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

It seems that in Southern California saying a home was inspired by Richard Neutra is becoming the equivalent of saying a home is Frank Lloyd Wright influenced in other parts of the country. The LA Times Hot Property column brought my attention to this Bel-Air homed which was once owned by Irene Kassorla,"the psychologist and author once described by Merv Griffin as the 'shrink to the stars'" and is currently owned by another student of the mind, Dr. William Bondareff, a professor of psychiatry at USC's Keck School of Medicine. Bondareff and his wife Rita are headed up the coast to Carmel so this Neutra-inspired three-bedroom home is on the market. The home has beautiful outdoor space including a custom pool with a "wall of stone and water" which helps create a tranquil garden setting. The home's rich wood interior includes a study/library. I like that it has maintained its 1960s-1970s sensibilities and it seems a lot cozier than most Neutras I've seen. It is listed at $2.195 million.

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Tags: bel-air, california, estate of the day, richard neutra

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