david geffen

Music mogul David Geffen is now the sole owner of Rising Sun (above), the world's sixth largest yacht, having seized control from co-owner Larry Ellison. Originally commissioned by the Oracle billionaire from Germany's Lürssen shipyard in 2004, the 456 ft. megayacht cost about $250 million to build. After gaining possession of the craft – the terms of the deal have not been disclosed – Geffen has sent the boat back to Lurssen for some much-needed modifications while Ellison prepares to take delivery of a much smaller 298-ft. superyacht. Considerably bigger than other billionaire boats like Paul Allen's Octopus, the Rising Sun features luxe accommodations for 12 people in addition to 30 crew members and boasts a total of 82 rooms on five decks. Onyx countertops, a gymnasium, spa, sauna, wine cellar, private cinema and basketball court that converts to a helipad are some of the over-the-top touches onboard. Four MTU 20V 8000 M90 diesel engines with a combined output of 50,000 hp move the massive yacht along at up to 28 knots.

[via JamesList]

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Al Jean, an executive producer of "The Simpsons" has listed his home in Beverly Hills for $2.95 million. The four-bedroom house was built in 1933 and once belonged to actress Carroll Baker. It's even listed by a celebrity turned real estate agent, actress Leah Lail of the Brill Group. The listing is here.
--The Beverly Hills site of a home designed by John Woolf for Lauritz Melchior, a renowned Wagnerian tenor, has been sold for $9 million. The Woolf house was also home to actress Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan, and novelist Judith Krantz. A newer home was built on the site in 1988.
--A hilltop site once owned by Merv Griffin may be snapped up by a group of developers who will pay more than $100 million for the property and then resell it in smaller parcels.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--A fashion change-up, Pierre Berge, the longtime partner of Yves Saint-Laurent, has sold his Fifth Avenue apartment to Valentino's lifetime partner, Giancarlo Giametti, for a $7.5 million. it was our estate of the day in December last year, check out pictures here.
--Heather Mills rented Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi's six-bedroom home in Georgica Pond area of East Hampton in August for $200,000.
--Greg Norman's estranged wife, Laura, has closed on a recently built two-story home on Moses Lane in Southampton with a $4.35 million asking price.
--Mark Messier, sold his Upper West Side apartment for just more than $3 million last year and has just sold a one-bedroom apartment at the venerable Osborne building at 205 W. 57th St. for $580,000.

Also from Braden Keil of the NY Post:
--Tony Randall's co-op home has found a buyer. The home, which was listed for $17.5 million was bought by the late Mr. Randall in the '80s for less than $900,000.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Whitney Houston has sold her five-bedroom, 8,022-square-foot house in Alpharetta, Ga. for $1,190,000, just months after it was headed for foreclosure.
CNN's Miles O'Brien sold a 1,975-square-foot unit at 222 Riverside Drive in New York, for $3.7 million (which was $200,000 above the asking price). He bought the unit in 2005 for $3,200,000 from actor Chris Meloni.
--The official sale price for Jason Priestley's Hollywood Hills home was $1.902 million.
--Actor Gary Anthony Williams of "Boston Legal" has sold his house in North Hollywood for $578,000 and purchased a home in Sherman Oaks for $1.4 million.
--TV director James Burrows has sold his Georgian-style mansion in Los Angeles' Bel-Air area for $10,500,000.
--Actress Anne Heche's Tudor-style house in Hancock Park area appears to have gone to contract after having been listed for $3,795,000.
--Matt LeBlanc has sold his six-bedroom mansion in Hidden Hills. for an undisclosed price after it had been on the market for $10,295,000.
--Actress Linda Fiorentino has sold her one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West side for her $1,225,000 asking price.


From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--The father of the governor of New York, Bernard Spitzer donated 11 apartments to the American Museum of Natural History in 2004 and 2005, many of the apartments have been flipped and have yielded $6,255,000 for the natural historians.
--New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has paid around $40 million for 1014 Madison Avenue, next to a home he bought last year for $45 million for his foundation. The two buildings can be combines as long as the facades remain the same.
--CNN talking head Nancy Grace has bought a third apartment on a high floor of The Revere condo on East 54th Street for $925,000. She needs the room, she recently married and is expecting twins.
--Actress and Hyatt heiress Liesel Pritzker, who sued her father and other powerful family members over pillaged trust funds in 2002 and won a reported $500 million settlement has spent $6.2 million on a 4,146-square-foot apartment at 455 Central Park West.

From the Real Estalker:
--Is Faye Dunaway renting her two-bedroom Hollywood home on Craigslist?
--Rumors are flying that David Geffen has been quietly shopping his famous 9.4-acre Los Angeles estate for $100 million.
--Usher has listed his home in Alpharetta, Georgia for $1.95 million. We will be looking at this home later as our estate of the day.
--Newly married Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Meyer have bought a stately brick home in Hancock Park for $11 million.
--Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips are renting a home in Beverly Hills for $14 million.
--Another person related to "The Simpsons," Dan Castellanata, the voice of Homer Simpson is selling his Santa Monica house. It is listed at $3.295 million. Explore the gorgeousness at the property website here.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--It's official, Paris Hilton has bought a nearly 7,500-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion in Mulholland Estates for $5.9 million. According to her uncle and broker, Mauricio Umansky of Hilton & Hyland she plans to convert the fitness room into a shoe closet.
--Former Arizona Diamondback player Matt Williams and his wife are asking $12.7 million for a not-yet-completed eight-bedroom home in the Phoenix area. They decided that the over 15,000 square foot home would be too large. The listing is with Walt Danley and can be found here (it is listed at $12.6 million). The purchase price includes the cost of finishing the home.
--A trust of the family of Los Angeles developer Richard Meruelo paid $18 million for a 1.6-acre oceanfront parcel listed at $24.9 million in Golden Beach, Florida in what is believed to be the biggest sale in the Miami area this year. The property was first listed for $26.6 million just over a year ago.

Soon it will officially be summer, when homes in Malibu, California rent deep into the tens of thousands per month. Now there is another place to stay, the Malibu Beach Inn on prized Carbon Beach has had a glamorous revamp thanks to entertainment mogul David Geffen. The inn is home to 47 rooms and a fine dining restaurant open only to guests. The rooms have fireplaces, tile showers, flat screen televisions, wenge wood furnishings, stocked in-room wine racks and snacks from Dean and Deluca.

The Malibu Beach Inn is also home to a private club, the Carbon Beach Club at Malibu Beach Inn. The limited membership club gives access to the hotel's private beach, teak lounge chairs and the services of a wait staff who provide drinks and beach snacks. The beach concierge can also arrange surfing lessons and other classes. Annual memberships include a signature towel, hat, robe and t-shirt, a Carbon Beach Club charge account and exclusive monthly member-only events on the beach and Carbon Beach Club Dining Room, such as cocktail receptions, barbecues and California winemaker dinners.

Rates start in the $400 per night range and the hot spot is booked up until mid-August already.

From the LA Times Hot Property;
--Cher becomes the latest celeb to take up residence in the  32-story Sierra Towers purchasing a $4.5 million unit in the West Hollywood building. The unit belonged to David Geffen a while back and currently belongs to Vincent Gallo. Cher has wisely decided to gut the unit.
--An eight-acre piece of land in Beverly Hills has been sold  for $33.6 million to Tom Gores, chairman and chief executive of Platinum Equity. The land sits behind David Geffen's Beverly Hills home.
--As we previously mentioned Justin Berfield from "Malcolm in the Middle," is set to buy the "Newlyweds" house. He has put his Studio City home on the market for $1.989 million. The listing is here.
--Fashion designer Cesar De La Parra has sold his South Pasadena home for just under $1.9 million after listing it in 2004 for nearly $3.2 million.

From the NY Post Gimme Shelter:
--Donald Trump is working on a new project, a hotel/residential complex of approximately 50 stories, located a short distance from the Holland Tunnel.
--The penthouse apartment of the late philanthropist Enid Haupt will be sold for its asking price of $27.5 million, with two backup bids.
--Another unit for sale at 30 Crosby St. This time Royal Shakespeare Company chairman Laurence Isaacson has put his three-bedroom duplex for sale for $6.45 million asking price. Pictures of the very contemporary and sleek duplex can be found at the listing.
--The former Hamptons estate of the late Warner LeRoy is being divided up. More than half of the land has been scooped up by the buyer of LeRoy's original house and the Town of East Hampton for conservation purposes. The rest of the land (around 20 acres) will be divided into eight lots for spec houses averaging around $5 million each.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--New Yankee Johnny Damon has picked up a  $5.9 million apartment on the 39th floor of the Cesar Pelli–designed Bloomberg tower.
 --Bob Guccione's mansion  is on the market. The 48-foot-wide Beaux-Arts mansion is listed at an eye-popping $99,999,99. You can find the listing for the palace of opulent tackiness here.

From Forbes Movers & Shakers:

--A Beverly Hills estate on land once owned by the late actor Charles Boyer, Herb Alpert and David Geffen has gone on the market for $28 million. The mansion has four bedroom suites, a media room, swimming pool, sunken tennis court and lots of flat land. The listing is here.
Elaine Orbach, widow of actor Jerry Orbach, has purchased an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, for $2.2 million.