Lenny Dykstra

At long last the saga of Lenny Dykstra's former mansion in Thousand Oaks, California is over. We've been following this once for what seems like eons. It all began back in 2007 when the former Mets player nicknamed "Nails" bought the luxurious home from Wayne Gretzky for $18.5 million. At this point, Dykstra was on top of the world. Om 2008, the New Yorker featured an article on his new luxury magazine, The Players Club, aimed at professional athletes. The magazine was created to show the pros not just how to spend the massive amounts of money they earn but also how to keep their wealth and make smart decisions so they don't join the ranks of players who earn millions and wind up in financial trouble just a few years later. Sadly, Dykstra's own fortunes soon quickly unravelled amid lawsuits and feuds as he was chased by creditors and writers alike. The magazine folded and Dykstra's home hit the market in June 2008 for $24.95 million.

From there it only got worse. The six-bedroom home didn't sell, Dykstra's Gulfstream II was impounded, and the home was scheduled for a foreclosure auction which Dykstra averted by filing Chapter 11. Later the case was change to a Chapter 7 liquidation after Dykstra's plans to reorganize and regroup fell through. Jeff Smith of Index Investors, the second lienholder, bought the country club estate out of foreclosure last fall and now he has finally sold the home. It had been most recently on the market for $10.5 million. According to CNBC, Jeff Smith's attorney has said he will be working with Chase, which held Dykstra's mortgage, to split the proceeds.

The neo-Georgian home in the Lake Sherwood area was designed by architect Richard Landry. The lavish property also has a guest house, carriage house, tennis courts, pool, spa and gym on 6.69 acres.

It was back in April 2009, that we first learned that the home belonging to former baseball player Lenny Dykstra was facing foreclosure. Now, over a year later, the home in Thousand Oaks, California which Dykstra bought from Wayne Gretzky, has been foreclosed on. Dykstra bought the mansion from Gretzky in 2007 for for $18.5 million (a price that included some of the furnishings) and first put it on the market in 2008 for $24.95 million.

CNBC reports that the winning bid came from Index Investors the lender which once loaned Dykstra around $600,000 before his financial collapse. The home was originally scheduled for a real estate auction last year but that was canceled after Dykstra filed for bankruptcy protection. At that point he listed less than $50,000 in assets with debts totaling between $10 million and $50 million.The lavish, Richard Landry-designed home has over 6.5 acres of space that includes three guest houses, formal gardens, tennis courts, pool, spa and gym. The neo-Georgian main house has six bedrooms. Before his financial downfall, Dykstra showed off the home in a New Yorker article in which he discussed the plans for his magazine, The Players Club, which would help sports players manage their investments.

Index Investors, which is run by Jeff Smith, bought the home for far less than Dykstra spent. Smith paid close to around the amount of money Dykstra owed Index, plus interest, between $600,000 and $700,000. CNBC reports that Chase still has a lien on the property for its $12 million first mortgage and Smith is working with Chase to come to an agreement that would have Smith fixing up the mansion and selling it with both parties sharing the profits. The home has suffered some damage in involved with Dkystra's exit. He removed fixtures and flooring to show water damage to the property seeking payment from Fireman's Fund. The insurer has agreed to repair damage in this mansion and another that Dykstra owns in the area. That home was on the market last year for $4.7 million.

The Gretzky mansion had a most recent asking price of around $10 million, after renovations it should be back on the market for around $10.5 million which is still quite the deal considering previous prices.

While browsing through listings this afternoon, the words "price reduced" on a familiar home caught my eye. The Thousand Oaks, California estate that once belonged to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, the same one he sold to Lenny Dykstra, has had yet another price cut. The lavish, Richard Landry-designed home has over 6.5 acres of space that includes three guest houses, formal gardens, tennis courts, pool, spa and gym. The neo-Georgian main house has six bedrooms. Dykstra bought the home from Gretzky in 2007 for $18.5 million and Dykstra put the home on the market for $24.5 million. When Dykstra's financial empire began to unravel, the home later had a price cut to $16.5 million and at one point we heard the home might be up for auction. It went off the market for a while but was listed at the start of 2010 for $14.9 million. That price wasn't tempting enough, it's now been pared to under $10 million; the latest listing shows a more buyer-friendly price of $9.999 million.

If at first you don't succeed, list, list again. The former Thousand Oaks, California estate of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, the same one he sold to Lenny Dykstra, has popped onto the market again at a new low price. The lavish, Richard Landry-designed home has over 6.5 acres of space that includes three guest houses, formal gardens, tennis courts, pool, spa and gym. The neo-Georgian main house has six bedroom done up in lavish style. The listing pictures appear to be similar to the ones used the when Dykstra put the home on the market for $24.5 million. He had bought the home from Gretsky, for $18.5 million in 2007.

A year later Dykstra's financial empire began to unravel. The home later had a price cut to $16.5 million (and was listed for rent for $55,000 a month). Dykstra's financial worries deepened. At one point we heard the home might be up for auction. Meanwhile Dykstra, in the serious weeds over the disintegration of his Players Club magazine has been fighting with the courts to have control over his Chapter 11 reorganization. Last we heard, an outside trustee was going to handle the financial management. Dykstra has sold off a variety of sports memorabilia and other valuable possessions to help satisfy his debts. The listing agents Nicki LaPorta and Karen Crystal of Ewing Sotheby's Realty say that the listing is a Trustee Bankruptcy court approval sale. The home has a new low price, $14.9 million, which might finally help it attract a buyer.

My colleague Deirdre Woollard has been entertainingly chronicling former baseball star Lenny Dykstra's travails in bankruptcy court. Now it seems the hard-charging athlete-turned-entrepreneur is trying to raise a little ready money by selling off some of his prized possessions. Among the lots at Patrizzi & Co.'s Dec. 14th Exceptional Watchmaking Masterpieces auction in NYC is Dykstra's 18K white gold Patek Philippe (above) made in 2004. The fine and rare annual calendar timepiece shows the phases of the moon and has a power reserve indication. Estimated at $28,000 - $ 35,000, it comes accompanied by a photograph of Dykstra playing with the New York Mets. Also included in the sale are two major pieces of Dykstra sporting memorabilia: a 1986 New York Mets World Series trophy and plaque, estimated at $18,000 - $25,000; and a Silver Slugger Award from 1993 with a Louisville Slugger bat and National League Player of the Week 1990 plaque, estimated at $12,000 - $16,000.

UPDATE: Dykstra's Patek sold for $28,000, on the low end of the estimate.

As I mentioned the other day when discussing his ongoing Chapter 11 saga, Lenny Dykstra's other Southern California home (not the one he bought from Wayne Gretzky which is no longer listed) is now on the market. The LA Times Hot Property column led us to the listing of the five-bedroom home in Thousand Oaks which is now priced at $4.7 million. The listing says that a renovation has been started that the new owner can complete. Current listing pics reveal a dead lawn and not much else but an old listing from when the home was listed at $6.5 million gives a look at what the house must have looked like before Dykstra's latest renovation.

You've got to hand it to Lenny Dykstra, the former baseball player is a fighter. But Dykstra lost a major battle this week when a bankruptcy judge ruled that he lose control of his Chapter 11 bankruptcy and turn over management of his financial affairs to a court-appointed trustee.

Judge Geraldine Mund had told Dykstra last month that if he wanted to be in charge of his own reorg he had to come to court showing that both of his homes were insured and listed for sale and to provide a business plan showing how he would manage his Chapter 11 reorganization. Dyktstra's home in Thousand Oaks, California is not insured because he is still battling with Fireman's Fund. Dykstra said he has a $12 million offer for the home, which he bought from Wayne Gretzky, from someone who "runs a hedge fund." He had no proof to this effect. He also said that Louis Vuitton had promised $10 million for a 49 percent stake in relaunching his Players Club magazine and expanding it in Europe. The only evidence he had was an email signed Bernard referring to Bernard Vuitton Juhen. Bernard Arnault is the chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. Bernard Vuitton Juhen appears to be a Vuitton family member. The email gave no specifics as to when or if $10 million would be paid although Dykstra said he'd get the money when the magazine published. How he would raise the money to publish in the first place wasn't clear. Judge Mund decided that an outside trustee is in "the interest of creditors and Mr. Dykstra, even if he doesn't think so."

The slow decline of Lenny Dykstra, the baseball player turned investor turned magazine publisher has taken a new turn as he filed for bankruptcy protection today. What's astounding is the depth of his debt: he has listed less than $50,000 in assets with debts totaling between $10 million and $50 million. Just a few months ago he told ESPN.com that he was worth $60 million and more recently took TMZ to task when they reported on the repossession of his Rolls.

The petition shows he owes JPMorgan Chase & Co. $12.9 million and Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide and credit-card units $4.2 million. Other debts include nearly $1 million to jet charter services as well as hundreds of thousands to his lawyer and literary agent. The filing comes the day before a planned auction of the home in Lake Sherwood which Dykstra bought from Wayne Gretsky for $18.5 million.

I've got a major update on the Lenny Dykstra situation. According to legal documentation filed at the Ventura County Recorders Office, on July 9 at the Ventura County Courthouse the trustee will hold an auction on the courthouse steps for the baseball-player-turned-almost-mogul's home in the Lake Sherwood area of Westlake Village. As you may recall when this was our estate of the day, this home was originally owned by hockey god Wayne Gretzky who reportedly spent $30 million creating the home. Bidders at the auction will need to match the money the Dykstras owe Index Investors in the approximate amount of $900,000 (in certified funds naturally).

There are two other smaller lien holders who have first right of refusal to bid on the $900,000 and there is also a mortgage of around $13.1 million with Washington Mutual. If these loans are paid then the new owner would be subject to the first mortgage loan from Washington Mutual (now Chase) and unpaid property taxes of around $275,000. This way the owner might be able to avoid obtaining a new loan (no easy feat in the current lending climate which tends to frown on jumbo loans).

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Facing 100 mph fastballs and diving for screaming line drives couldn't have been this hard. In his latest tumble, former baseball star Lenny Dykstra is being sued in federal court in Manhattan for allegedly failing to pay five people a combined $183,000 for helping launch The Players Club, his ill-fated magazine about the extravagant lifestyles of pro athletes. The plaintiffs include, the New York Post reports, Time magazine art director Arthur Hochstein and Mary Anne Gordon, a former head of photography at Time, as well as Marco Canora, a celebrated chef Dykstra hired for the magazine's $400,000 launch party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York.

Dykstra's recent troubles are well-chronicled. As Luxist reported last month, he reportedly faces foreclosure on his home, a six-bedroom mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., that he bought from Wayne Gretzky, and had his private jet impounded. TheStreet.com dropped Dykstra's investment-advice column in April. The Players Club, meanwhile, has been the subject of various lawsuits for months.

Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra has been trying to sell his Thousand Oaks, California home for a while now but apparently things are more serious than we realized. He could be facing foreclosure. Private equity firm Index Investors gave Dykstra a $850,000 bridge loan in November which was secured by the home. They have filed foreclosure papers on the home as has Washington Mutual which says Dykstra defaulted on his $12 million mortgage.

Dykstra bought the home from hockey Wayne Gretsky for $18.5 million in 2007 and put it on the market last year for $24.95 million. The six-bedroom home didn't sell and in February it showed a price reduction down to $16.5 million. All of a sudden, the list price has been pushed back up to $25 million. It is still however listed at the same rental price it was in February, $55,000 a month.

Dealbreaker also says that Dykstra's Gulfstream II was impounded on February 12. It's a dramatic turn from a year ago when the New Yorker did a profile of Dykstra and his magazine, The Players Club which was going to show professional athletes how to keep their wealth and not join the ranks of players who earn millions and wind up in financial trouble just a few years later. Since then, Dykstra has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and creditors in relation to the magazine. As investments, magazines are like restaurants, glamorous, but highly profitable only for the lucky few.

Add another to our list of celebrity slow sellers. Move Trends reports that Lenny Dykstra's home has had a steep discount since it first hit the market last June for $24.95 million. The retired baseball player bought the Thousand Oaks, California home from another retired player, Wayne Gretsky, for $18.5 million in 2007. The six-bedroom neo-Georgian home in the Lake Sherwood area has a guest house, carriage house, tennis courts, pool, spa and gym on 6.69 acres. The home was designed by architect Richard Landry and has a home theater, billiards room and an elaborate slightly fussy decor. The home is now listed at just $16.5 million (or for rent for $55,000). I wonder if the deep discount has anything to do with the rumors of trouble about Dykstra's magazine, The Players Club.

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Last March, the New Yorker featured an article on ex-baseball player Lenny Dykstra's luxury magazine, The Players Club, aimed at professional athletes. The magazine was created to show the pros not just how to spend the massive amounts of money they earn but also how to keep their wealth and make smart decisions so they don't join the ranks of players who earn millions and wind up in financial trouble just a few years later. It sounded like things were going great for Dykstra. Now it seems that The Players Club is in a little trouble of its own. The NY Post reports that acting editor Chris Frankie recently resigned and says he is owed back pay. Meanwhile Dykstra says Frankie owes him money. So far the magazine has had four different printers and three different editors and the word on the street is that Dykstra doesn't pay his bills on time, if at all. As a consequence of the turmoil, last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue which hasn't shown up yet even though we are more than halfway through December. Rumors that the magazine will fold have been floating around for the last month or so. Given the grim climate for luxury magazines and shrinking advertiser dollars, he's certainly in the bottom of the ninth with a couple of outs.

From Celebrity Big Time Listings:
--Retired major league baseball player Lenny Dykstra has placed his eight-bedroom mansion in the Lake Sherwood area of Thousand Oaks, Calif. on the market for $24.95 million. Dykstra bought the home less than a year ago from Wayne Gretsky for $18.5 million.
--One of my all-time favorite estate of the day properties, makeup artist Stan Winston's Malibu pad, has sold for an undisclosed price (it was listed at $11.95 million). It may have been bought by a CBS head honcho Les Moonves or a member of his family.
--Chad Sexton, the drummer for the band 311, has sold his Hollywood Hills home for $1.7 million.
--Actor Matthew Rhys has paid $1,262,500 for a house in Los Angeles, near the Melrose Shopping District.
--Actor Shawn Hatosy has sold his Hollywood Hills home for $1.485 million.
--The star of "Rob and Big" reality TV star Rob Dyrdek has bought a house in the Hollywood Hills for $2.459 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--via the San Diego Tribune, Mitt and Ann Romney have picked up a place in La Jolla, California for $12 million.
--Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance have lowered the price on their Hancock Park home again, it started at almost $6 million but can now be picked up for $3.9 million. The listing is here.
--The parents of Lauren Conrad of The Hills have put their Laguna Beach home on the market for $17.9 million. The listing is here.
--Tea Leoni and David Duchovy have put their Malibu home on the market for $12 million. The listing for the five-bedroom home is here.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Target fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli and his wife, actress Lori Laughlin, have put their Laguna Beach home on the market for $12.995 million. It's our estate of the day later today.
A home in Rancho Santa Fe home once owned by former Blink-182 lead guitarist and perennial houseflipper Tom DeLonge is on the market for $5.6 million. The listing is here.
--"Eli Stone" producer Greg Berlanti has listed this Palm Springs second home for $1.949 million. It's a charming three-bedroom getaway with a swim-up pool. The listing is here.
--Actor Nick Zano has listed his West Hollywood home for $1.050 million. The property website is here.
-- L.A. Lakers' assistant coach Jim Cleamons has listed his Manhattan Beach home for sale at $1.399 million.
--Ryan Phillippe, recently bought a home in the Hollywood Hills for $7.175 million.
--Joely Fisher has relisted her Encino home for $3.295 million. It was listed at $4.75 million when it was our estate of the day last June.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--The Colorado home of the late singer Dan Fogelberg, Mountain Bird Ranch, has gone to contract. The most recent asking price was $15 million but it was listed for $17.5 million when we first checked it out in 2005.
--The former Hamptons home of "From Here to Eternity" author James Jones is being renovated and a developer plans to put it up for sale for $12 million to $14 million. It is listed as a "modern green home" and has solar panels and a geothermal heating system. The listing is here.
--Casa de la Paz, the La Jolla beachfront estate owned for four decades by actor Cliff Robertson has sold for $16.5 million. It was first listed for $28 million but was down to $22.5 million in September 2007 when we checked it out as an estate of the day. It is next door to the new home that Mitt Romney bought and the buyers of the Robertson home are John and Victoria Miller, the former national-finance heads of Mr. Romney's presidential campaign.

From the NY Times Big Deal:
--Mariska Hargitay and her husband Peter Hermann have put their Chelsea penthouse on the market for $8.25 million. The 4,900 square foot penthouse has more than 2,500 square feet of outdoor space and is built around a 16 ½-foot gold dome atop the O'Neill Building at 655 Avenue of the Americas. The listing is here.
--A New York apartment once owned by Britney Spears is back on the market. It was our estate of the day on Saturday.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Heidi Klum has sold her West Village penthouse for $5.35 million.
--Warner Music Group chairman Lyor Cohen is spending $6.8 million for a teardown in the Hamptons, which was listed at $5.5 million. Cohen has taken his Bridgehampton estate, wich was listed at $9.5 million, back off the market.
--Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi paid $2.74 million for a second-floor flat with three bedrooms and 2½ baths at 136 E. 79th St.
--The Park Avenue apartments of former Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal and his late next-door neighbor,fashionista Diana Vreeland which were listed at $24 million are being purchased by Phyllis Mack, the wife of real-estate mogul William Mack.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Paul Risoli, the former Bank of America broker sentenced to seven months in prison this February for taking $12,500 in bribes, just sold his apartment to New York University's School of Law for $2.745 million.
--Sherman Cohen who bought the red-brick mansion at 603 Park Avenue nearly 20 years ago has reportedly never spent a night there. It's been on and off the market for years and is now listed at $35 million. It was our estate of the day on Friday.
--Goldman Sachs' senior strategist Abby Joseph Cohen has picked up an apartment at the Majestic on Central Park West sold by Michelle Grabanski and Bill Pohlad, the son of a Minnesota billionaire and a producer of Brokeback Mountain, for $7.5 million.

This week's New Yorker features an article about ex-baseball player Lenny Dykstra and his new luxury magazine aimed at professional athletes. The Players Club is being published by Doubledown Media which does other niche luxury mags such as Dealmaker and Private Air. The magazine isn't just to show the players how to spend the massive amounts of money they earn but also how to keep their wealth and make smart decisions so they don't join the ranks of players who earn millions and wind up in financial trouble just a few years later. The case of Latrell Sprewell springs immediately to mind but there are many other instances of athletes who have earned enough money to be set for life but end up in financial trouble.

Dykstra's magazine will have articles by past players as well as professional journalists (former Mets player Keith Hernandez will serve as food critic). The Players Club will have a circulation of 20,000 and will be spent to athletes in major sports leagues, soccer, professional tennis, the PGA, NASCAR, Formula I and others. Agents, team management, team offices and financial advisors will also receive the magazine. The circulation may be small but luxury advertisers have already committed to the magazine because of the audience. The Players Club will debut in April.