CelebrityRealEstate

It might be tempting to think that Scarlett Johansson has it all. She's gorgeous, has a big career, a funny and handsome Hollywood husband in Ryan Reynolds and the world is at her feet. One thing our heroine won't have it seems is a profit on her Los Angeles home. The Real Estalker reveals that while Miss Scarlett bought her home in the Outpost Estates area of Los Angeles for an even $7 million in 2007 she seems willing to take a deep loss on the home. The home is now listed at just $4.995 million with Brett Lawyer of Sotheby's.

The home is a Spanish style estate built in 1931. The gated home has been restored and updated with upgrades that include solar electric. The first floor has rooms that open to a giant center atrium with a glass ceiling and tiled floor. The home's charms include a chef's kitchen with a colorful "period-style" kitchen featuring retro-styled appliances. The home also includes a media room, gym or maids room with full bath, extensive basement areas. It's a gorgeous colorful home with Southern California details like arched windows, beamed ceilings and wood floors. It also has the requisite lap pool and spa with a tranquil hillside view. Hard to say why she's moving on and willing to take such a big price hit but someone should be willing to snap up the home in this celeb-friendly neighborhood, which has been home to Charlize Theron, Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy, Orlando Bloom, Ben Stiller and director David Lynch.

The former Mrs. Bundy lives quite well indeed. The Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column led me to the lovely Hollywood Hills home of actress Katey Sagal and her husband writer-actor Kurt Sutter. Sagal is best known as the Peggy Bundy on the sitcom "Married With Children" although a whole new group of people have fallen in love with her for her turn on "Sons of Anarchy."

The couple bought this home in 2005 and spent $1 million renovating and adding the basketball court. The property includes an infinity pool with a view and a guest house with a studio, office and gym. The main four-bedroom home was built in 1937 and has a charming country style enlivened with some very colorful art. The blue and white tiled kitchen complete with fireplace is particularly cute and adds to the home's casual appeal. This home is listed at $4.975 million.

James Franco seems to have been everywhere lately, Sundance, a soap opera, Saturday Night Live. One place we won't be seeing the popular actor is in his Sunset-Strip area home. Franco has sold the home which was listed last October for $3.695 million. The Spanish-style villa located very near eternal Hollywood hotspot Chateau Marmont was built in 1923 and has three bedrooms. The home, which has vaulted and beamed ceilings and an open floor plan, has had a major renovation. The home was bought through a trust in 2006 for $2.325 million. The MLS shows that the home sold for $3.3 million.

The comedian Sinbad, who has been in the news for his financial failings recently, is giving up his luxury home. In December, we picked up on a story our sister blog Walletpop wrote about the comedian Sinbad who had filed for bankruptcy after the IRS filed $8.15 million in tax liens. His Chapter 7 bankruptcy claim listed $10 million and $50 million in liabilities but less than $50,000 in assets even though he had a $1.5 million home in the celebrity-friendly enclave of Hidden Hills. The home was reporedly owned by his brother, Michael Adkins. But court documents seeking seizure of the house alleged that the arrangement was a sham pointing out that Michael Adkins works for his brother's production company and that the expenses for the property including mortgage payments were paid from the production company account.

Now the LA Times Hot Property column reports that the home has hit the market for $3 million. The home was bought in 2007 for $1.5 million. The five-bedroom home sits on 2.4 acres that include a guest house, recording studio, pool and a barn. Listing pictures show a home with plenty of space but the look of a place that has not been happily inhabited for a while. The property website from Teles Properties is here.

The upcoming Super Bowl had me curious about the real estate doings of New Orleans Saints star Reggie Bush and his main squeeze Kim Kardashian. Last time we checked in with the on-again, off-again couple both had their homes on the market. Perhaps it is time they move into together because they may have both sold their homes. Bush's Hollywood Hills home, which was listed for $5.099 million has disappeared off the MLS. Property records don't indicate a sale however so I'm not sure if maybe he didn't just change his mind.

Kardashian on the other hand, has managed to unload her three-bedroom apartment in West Hollywood. The reality star's glamour girl inspired beige apartment was once listed at $1.099 million but appears to have sold for just $885,000, a number that she said was more than she bought it for. The main Kardashian clan home in Hidden Hills which has lingered on the market for over a year is still listed at $2.995 million.

The always hilarious Tracey Ullman and her husband Allan McKeown might be downsizing. The pair have listed their classic 1920s Mediterranean home in the Pacific Palisades area of Southern California. The Real Estalker reveals that they bought the home for a pricey $1.8 million way back in 1988. The home has five bedrooms and is located in the Riviera section of Pacific Palisades which is home to the Riviera Country Club, a very nice part of town to be in.

The home opens with a grand foyer and a small rotunda but the large arched window is unfortunately blocked by the huge split staircase. The large white eat-in kitchen includes a center island with chairs. The bedrooms are relatively small but charming and the master bedroom has many windows and lots of wide open space. Like the Real Estalker Mama, I'm charmed by the vintage bathroom tiles in the bathrooms. Outside there is a swimming pool with a guesthouse and and indoor spa room with a lounger and window-surrounded spa. The property is walled and gated for added security. This home is listed at $5.35 million. See more at the property website.

Today's estate belongs to Diandra Douglas, the former wife of Michael Douglas. The former Mrs. Douglas owns an enviable spread in Montecito, the ultra-pricey enclave that is home to Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and others. The Tuscan villa is on over seven acres which is actually divided into two lots. It is rumored that she got a $45 million settlement in the divorce as well as the home that is our estate of the day.

The Real Estalker says that the home was purchased way back in 1979 by the Douglases for just $275,000. This is way before Montecito became the fashionable area it is today. The 1920s Mediterranean has large iron gates and a motor court leading up to the grand home. The home has been recently updated and has a 75' pool, guesthouse, tennis court, Japanese water garden and green lawns from which to take in the ocean views. Tile floors, dark wood beams, vaulted ceilings and arched French doors all add to the feeling of classic Californian Mediterranean style. The pool/guest house offers another living room and kitchen. The home is listed at $29 million, hugely expensive but par for the course in Montecito.

Much of the time when we talk about celebrity homes in Los Angeles we are looking at homes in Beverly Hills or Hollywood but today's home brings us to my part of town, Silver Lake. Silver Lake is full of interesting modern homes perched in the hills around the reservoir and this one is inhabited by singer Kevin Griffin of the band Better Than Ezra. Griffin and his wife bought the home in 2006 for $1.595 million, moving to Los Angeles after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The three bedroom home is a 1950s post and beam house which went through a major renovation to turn it into a 2,900 square foot home. Large porches offer views from the hillside perch. The LA Times Hot Property column quotes Griffin as saying that he now that he and his wife have twins they need a bit more space but that they will miss the house and the area. This home is listed at $1.65 million.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--The Bel-Air home of director and artist Stephen Verona is for sale $4.395 million. The red tile-roofed villa, shown above, includes gardens and a gazebo. The property website is here.
--Television writer Daniel Freudenberger has listed his historic Cheviot Hills home for $3.695 million. The listing is with Ben Lee Properties.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has paid $19.5 million for a Tuscan-style home in the Hollywood Hills.
--George Stephanopoulos, co-host of ABC's "Good Morning America" show and a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, has bought a home in East Hampton, N.Y., for $3.5 million.
--Interior designer Cindy Rinfret, whose clients other local residents Tommy Hilfiger and television personality Regis Philbin, has put her Greenwich, Connecticut home on the market for $14.5 million.



From the NY Post:
--Katie Lee, the cookbook author and ex-wife of Billy Joel is said to be selling her 23 Perry Street that she and Joel once shared and that she bought from Joel for $3 million after their split last year. It is expected to be listed with Dolly Lenz for $12.9 million.
--Jeffrey Loria, the art-dealing owner of the Florida Marlins, has picked up part of the Howard Gittis' Southampton estate on Ox Pasture Lane. The estate was divided into three portions and sold for a combined $38.5 million to Loria and designer Tory Burch.
--Someone wants in at the Trump International Hotel and Tower. A Russian family walked away from a deal to buy an $18.5 million, 5,500-square-foot penthouse at the tower but it was auctioned off for more than $31 million. It is reportedly gutted and a renovation could cost $10 million.
--Julianne Moore was spotted checking out the Soho Mews development looking at two townhouse units priced around $5 million to $5.5 million. Her townhouse remains on the market for $11.995 million.


From the Real Estalker:
--Billionaire Jerry Perenchio has added to his huge Bel Air estate by picking up a $9.2 million property across the street from his home.
--The seven-bedroom home that Michael Jackson rented in las Vegas for around six months has sold for $3.1 million. The home in Las Vegas he was interested in buying remains on the market at $16.5 million.


From Zillow Blog:
--Sean Penn and Robin Wright have sold their Marin County home. The price was not revealed but the home was first listed their home for sale in August 2008 for $15 million.

From the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street:
--Charlotte Bobcats and former Chicago Bulls center Tyson Chandler has listed his six-bedroom mansion for $3.395 million. He bought the home for $4 million and in the past he tried to sell it for as much as $4.9 million. The listing is here.

--Former Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman has sold his 36th-floor condominium in Chicago's Trump International Hotel & Tower for $2 million.
--Chicago sportscaster Steve Kashul has sold his three-bedroom, ranch-style house in Naperville, complete with a basement bowling alley, for $475,000.

We've been tracking this one for a while. Christina Aguilera has been struggling to sell her home in the Hollywood Hills for several years. Aguilera first put her architecturally splendid West Hollywood home in April 2008 after she and her husband bought the Beverly Hills home of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. The four-bedroom home was listed for $7.995 million but then in October 2008 she cut a quick million off the property reducing it to $6.995 million. It popped off the MLS for a while but the LA Times Hot Property column reports that the property is back with a low price of $6.25 million. Aguilera bought the home in 2003 for $5 million from Steve Hermann who gave the home its gorgeous remodel. The home includes a sumptuous theater room, shiny stainless steel kitchen, beautiful pool area and great space for entertaining. The 1,200-square-foot master bedroom suite has a marble bathroom that includes a tub with a view. The listing is with Hilton & Hyland.

From Chicago Breaking News:
A 26-room, 27,000-square-foot mansion in Winnetka has hit the market for $28 million, making it the top listing in the Chicago area. Le Grand Reve (the big dream) is owned by commercial real estate executive Sherwin Jarol and his wife, Deborah and was designed by architect Richard Landry. The six-bedroom home includes a two-story rotunda and Tiffany dome. To check out images see Landry's portfolio on the home.

From the Washington Post:
--Ethel Kennedy's Hickory Hill estate in McLean, Virginia has finally sold after a whopping seven years on the market. It was first listed at $25 million but sold for just $8.25 million.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Lenny Kravitz might finally be unloading his Crosby Street loft after more than six years on-and-off the market. The five-bedroom duplex went into contract late last week. It was most recently listed at $14.995 million.

--Andrew Guff, a managing director at the private equity firm Siguler, Guff & Company, and his wife Jessica Stedman Guff, the executive producer of ABC News Now, have sold their five-bedroom apartment at 333 West End Avenue for $5.27 million.
-- via bigdeal_nyc, Ryan Pedlow, a managing director at Ziff Brothers Investments, has paid $5.2 million for a 6th-floor apartment at 166 Perry Street.
--via the NY Post, real estate developer Louis Cappelli has sold his 13-room duplex at 515 Park Avenue to Swedish lingerie manufacturer Eric Ryd for $24 million.
--via the NY Observer, art dealer Christophe Van de Weghe has sold his loft at 77 Mercer Street for $2.8 million, or $1.2 million more than what he paid for it back in 2004.
--via the NY Mag, Real Deal, an eight-bedroom "Nantucket-style cottage" in Sag Harbor, New York sold for $14 million setting a new record in the community. The buyers may be hedge funder Charles Ray Langston and his wife Casey.
--Shire Realty CEO Rena Shulsky has cut $1 million off the price of her penthouse co-op at 812 Fifth Avenue. It is now listed for $10.75 million.
--via Newsday, James Seuss, the former CEO of Cole Haan who is set to become the chief executive at Tourneau in March, has sold his house on Shelter Island for $985,000.
--via the Real Deal, filmmaker Danny Boyle is the new owner of an apartment in Chelsea. He paid $1.7 million for a tri-level co-op at 334 West 19th Street for the apartment for his youngest daughter who is attending Parsons.
--Personal injury lawyer Eleanor P. Vale has dropped the price of her penthouse at Hampshire House. It is now listed for $9.9 million.
--via the NY Observer, author Caitlin Macy and her husband Jeremy Barnum, an executive at JPMorgan Chase, have paid $3.5 million for a duplex apartment at 1 Lexington Avenue. It's not their first time in the building.
--via Curbed, New York City's narrowest townhouse has to an unidentified buyer for $2.175 million.
--via the NY Observer, Philip Galanes, author, attorney, decorator, and Sunday Times etiquette columnist and his partner, architect Michael Haverland, have paid $2 million for a duplex apartment at 29 East 9th Street. The seller was Charles Gandee, a former editor at Vogue.
--via Curbed, Britney Spears' former penthouse at 14 East 4th Street has had another price cut. The three-bedroom apartment which Spears sold in 2006, is up for sale for $4.999 million, down from the $6.595 million it was listed at when it hit the market in 2008.
--via Curbed, the Greenwich Village townhouse that belonged to late party planner Robert Isabell is up for sale again. Four months it was purchased for $2.1 million, the building at 16 Minetta Lane is now back on the market with a $3.5 million price tag. The listing is here.
-- Barry Liben, the CEO of Travel Leaders Group, has paid $4.806 million for an apartment at 235 West 71st Street.
--via Curbed, the home of late abstract painter Judith Rothschild which was listed for rent for $18,000 a month has gone into foreclosure and will be auctioned off in February.

From the NY Post:
--Paul Greenwood, the former New York Islanders co-owner who has been accused of securities fraud,has listed his estate in North Salem, New York. The three properties are listed for $10 million and sit on just under 16 acres. The main house, is listed for $8 million and sits on 9.1 acres. It includes a spiral staircase that leads to a collector's display case where Greenwood showcased his collection of antique Teddy bears.
--Alvin Rosenthal, the late Leona Helmsley's brother, is selling his home on East 83rd Street. The one-bedroom co-op o went for just under $600,000. He and his wife are moving into a $1.9 million two-bedroom co-op with a balcony at 1025 Fifth Ave.
--Technology entrepreneur/investor Yigal Lichtman has closed on a $10 million unit at One Madison Park.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Reinout Oerlemans, the former Dutch soap star who founded the Eyeworks television production company, has listed a Beverly Hills contemporary for $14.9 million.
--An equestrian property in Brentwood's Sullivan Canyon that was once the home of actress and activist Maxine Cooper Gomberg has sold for $4.4 million.
--from The Envelope, the latest celebrity spotted checking out apartments at The Carlyle on Wilshire in Los Angeles is rapper Akon. Larry King and Bruce Willis own units in the building.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Joss Whedon, who created TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has sold his four-bedroom, 4,064-square-foot house in Los Angeles' Brentwood area. It was once listed as high at $3.695 million but was most recently on the market for $2.47 million.

--Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have increased the size of their Los Feliz compound, paying $1.1 million to buy a property that his accumulated estate mostly had surrounded.

From the Real Estalker:
--Jared Followill of the bank Kings of Leon has picked up a home in Nashville, Tennessee for $1.825 million.
--Vidal and Rhonda Sassoon have listed another mid-century modern house in Beverly Hills for $17.5 million.
--Susan and Robert Downey, Jr. have picked up a rustic home in Malibu for $13,334,800. They've also bought a modern three-story live-work residence in Venice beach for $5.6 million. The building was recently used to film the reality television series Chef Academy.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Papa John's pizza-chain founder John Schnatter has bought three units in a new condominium-and-residence complex in the St. Regis Deer Crest Resort in Utah for about $23 million. He bought two penthouse residences with five bedrooms each plus a unit on the floor below with four bedrooms.
--The 780-acre Yale Farm in Norfolk and North Canaan, Connecticut is on the market for $24 million. The listing is here.
--The River Stone estate, a 1,500-acre riverfront property that is one of the largest private estates in Pennsylvania, is on the market with an asking price of $24 million. The listing is here.
--from the Home Front section, Detroit Pistons owner Karen Davidson is selling her estate in Snowmass Village, Colorado for $47 million. The property is ten acres and has multiple structures offering a total of 16,000 square feet of living space.



From ShelterPop:
Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen Find Their Suburban Dream Home

Live at P. Diddy's Former Pad

A Pillow That Fights Wrinkles?

Milan's Most Fashionable Bed?

Are JLo and Marc Anthony Heading for the Hills?

Tavern on the Green Auctions Treasures for the Home

Kardashian Sisters Launch Home Fragrance Line

It's been nearly a year since he first listed it and Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge is eager to unload his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The five-bedroom home was listed last year for $6.25 million. DeLonge is quite the buyer and seller in the San Diego county area. He has picked up a number of homes, renovated them well with the help of his interior designer wife Jennifer, and then sold them. But he's hit a snag on this one. He bought the home for $5.5 million in 2005. It has 6,500 square feet of space on 1.1 acre and is nicely situated for mountain views. The grounds include a vanishing edge pool and an attached guest home with a den and kitchenette. The home has a surround sound system, gourmet kitchen, large master suite with spa bath, an office suite with elaborate seamless glass doors and a separate craft room. The Wall Street Journal reports that the home is now listed at $4.995 million with Laura Barry Luxury Estates meaning that DeLonge will be taking a loss on this one.

Actor David Boreanaz has been a television heartthrob for many years, first as the brooding vampire Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Angel spin-off and now as Special Agent Seeley Booth on the popular television show Bones. But Boreanaz has been in the news for a different reason recently. He's been linked with Tiger Woods mistress Rachel Uchitel. Now the Real Estalker reveals that he and his beautiful blonde wife Jaime Bergman have listed their Los Angeles home for sale.

The pair own a low key three-bedroom home in the hills above the Sunset Strip. The gated and private home includes wood-beamed ceilings in the living room and gourmet kitchen. The property includes a separate guest house which has been turned into a media room with a dark-wood and leather bar. The home has a pool with an outdoor kitchen including a refrigerator, grill and beer tap and there is a beautiful outdoor fireplace with seating. The home also features views from the second floor master suite's balcony. It is listed at $3.249 million.

We first looked at this home over a year ago but Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October are trying again to sell their Manhattan Beach, California home. Last year the home was listed at $3.999 million but now it's on the market for $3.6 million and Gonzalez has sweetened the deal by adding a new Porsche 911 Cabriolet within 10 days of the close of escrow if he receives a full-price offer.

Gonzalez bought the four-bedroom home in 2003 for $1.575 million. He tells the LA Times that he gutted the house when he bought it and fully renovated. The home's best selling feature is a huge roof deck with a barbecue area, shaded lounger and a hot tub. The home is a couple blocks from the ocean and so the deck has some truly fantastic views. Inside the home there are two living rooms, dining room, a bar and a master bedroom suite with a fireplace and patio. There is a four-car garage, the home of your new Porsche.

The listing calls it the "most stunning renovation you have ever seen." I'm not sure I'd go quite that far but a four-bedroom loft in New York City belonging to David Tutera is certainly done up within an inch of its life. The Real Estalker reveals that the ultra-popular wedding planner who has a show called My Fair Wedding appears to have picked up this loft in 2007 for $4,312,500. Tutera has clearly put a team of decorators to work on the look of this home. It's a vivid one. The kitchen has red lacquered walls, the living room includes a gold leafed stone fireplace with golden walls and the media room has an Asian cabinet wet bar, Chinese lacquer details and a screen and speakers installed on an hydraulic lift. The most colorful room might just be the master bedroom. It features a variety of colorful purple patterns including a glittery mosaic-look lavender and silver ceiling and a cushy eggplant couch. This home is listed at $5.675 million.