tyler perry

The Real Estalker brings my attention to another celebrity willing to take a price cut in order to say farewell to a home. The multi-talented actor/writer/director Tyler Perry bought a home high above the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles for $9.6 million back in 2006. Perry, who raised eyebrows last year when he bought the Dean Gardens estate in Georgia with plans to tear it down and build a new mega mansion, had listed his chic four-bedroom contemporary for $13.25 million in June 2010. Flash forward to now and Perry seems to be in a selling state of mind, paring down the price to $11.595 million.

There is now also a property website for the home full of jaw-dropping images of the ultra-glam lair which includes movie-star touches like a mirrored alcove in the billiards room that is actually a window into the swimming pool and a glass floor of a catwalk that is also the ceiling of the wine cellar. The home also has a gym, screening room and fully-equipped nightclub.

Even a gritty film that offers viewers several full-force emotional kicks in the stomach deserves a glamorous movie premiere.

"For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" is a play, built from 20 poems, that first opened at a woman's bar in Berkeley, California, and won a Tony Award on Broadway in 1976. While director Tyler Perry has frequently worked with all-star, mainly female African-American casts, he has never attempted such challenging material--long, poetic speeches punctuated at times by eye-shielding violence.

Perry, right, wearing a distinct three-piece suit with broad pin stripes, said he didn't originally jump at the project. "I got a phone call about five years ago, he mentioned at the Ziegfeld in New York on Monday. "Somebody said, 'What about "Colored Girls"?'

"Whoopi Goldberg, who is in the cast, called him "a couple of years after that . . . somebody else called, somebody else called. . . . and I don't need a brick to fall on me," he indicated.

"I saw the original Broadway production," Phylicia Rashad, who plays a central character, told RSVIP. "It was disturbing. I'd never seen anything quite so raw."

And does Rashad, who was wearing a sparkling tunic, and bejeweled shoes by Beverly Feldman, think that Perry did a good job translating the landmark work to the big screen? Yes . . . and the poetry hasn't been sacrificed. He opens things up, so you can see as you listen and hear."

Macy Gray, who plays a role in one of the more disturbing scenes in the film, also performs one of the songs on the all-star soundtrack. "Tyler liked my song "Stand Up," which summarizes the film. 'No matter what happens, get back up on your feet and live and survive.'"

"I've already seen the film. And I thought it was fascinating . . . very heavy," said Gray who accented her eyebrows with small crystals. "But it's definitely a movie you should see. It's well-crafted, well-acted, and important."

"Janet makes me schvitz," offered fellow cast-member Kerry Washington, patting her face with a white handkerchief as she stood next to Janet Jackson.

You may have gone to a yard sale over the weekend but it was likely nothing like this, Dean Gardens, the massive 32,000-square-foot estate in Johns Creek, Georgia had a huge sale. Software entrepreneur Larry Dean basically priced everything in the home that wasn't nailed down. CNN reports that even parts of the home's architecture, including the rotunda in the foyer inspired by the dome of the Brunelleschi Cathedral in Florence, Italy, were up for sale.

Why the fire sale? The new owner, said to be director Tyler Perry, plans to tear down the home and build his own monument to ego on the 58-acre spread. Perry has his studios in Atlanta and owns several other mansions in the area. He bought the home for a song, just $7.6 million far below the most recent listing price of $13.9 million and previous prices of as much as $40 million.

Dean teamed up with Luminocity, an Atlanta group that runs light and dance shows to create one last big spectacle. Luminocity will run 12 performance art light parade events in downtown Atlanta starting in November. The group is also planning cultural arts programs for children. The weekend's events include a Friday night gala for $100 a ticket and Saturday's closing event with wine, food and music for $35. In both cases ticket prices were waived for sales over $1,500.

It's a bit of a sad ending for a home that Dean spent $25 million creating. The property also includes landscaped gardens, an 18-hole golf course, grass tennis courts, an amphitheater and a conservatory. The CNN report says that Perry's new home will be more energy efficient and sustainable.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--The St. Lucia home of Oscar-winning screenwriter Nancy Dowd, Belmont, is on the market for $1.995 million.
--When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. In 2008 I predicted that a Hollywood Hills home belonging to former L.A. Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit would go fast at $4.25 million. Two years later and it is still on the market, now for $3.65 million.

--Cameron Diaz has picked up a Beverly Hills Post Office Spanish hacienda owned by Candice Bergen. Bergen bought the property from Moore in 1996 for $3.4 million and renovated it. it was most recently listed at $10.25 million.
--Actor Greg Germann has leased a home in Santa Monica that had been listed for sale at $1.7 million.
--Actress Jane Kaczmarek and actor Bradley Whitford have sold their Italian Renaissance Revival villa in San Marino for $6.2 million and Whitford has bought a house in Pasadena for $3.1 million. Their home had been listed at $6.7 million.

--The site of the former Malibu Lodge has been purchased by international cellphone magnate Sebastian Harrison and his wife, actress Linda Gucciardo, for $2.4 million.
--A four-bedroom home owned by the family of the late Albert Heschong, the Emmy-winning production designer for television, film and theater who headed the art department at CBS for more than two decades, is for sale in Encino at $1.15 million. The listing is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--Tyler Perry is the new owner of Dean Gardens in Johns Creek, Georgia. He purchased the 58-acre estate for $7.6 million (far below the original asking of $40 million) and plans to tear down the huge 36,000 square foot main house.


From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Media mogul John Malone is the mystery buyer behind the sale of Bell Ranch. Malone is the Liberty Media chairman and he purchased the ranch through a limited-liability company he formed with his wife, Leslie.

--A modern home designed by Marcel Breuer in Litchfield, Connecticut is on the market for $3.8 million. The listing is here.
--Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse has sold his Midtown Manhattan loft for $4.6 million, according to broker records. It was initially listed in 2009 for $7.65 million and he bought the property in 2005 for about $5.8 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--Actor Anthony Clark has put two homes on the market. The first is a three-bedroom Robert Byrd-designed home in the Outpost Estates area of Los Angeles which is listed at $2.495 million. Clark picked up the home, shown above, in 2006 for $1.59 million. The listing is here. The second, a Laguna Beach home will be our estate of the day on Monday.
--Donna Summer and her husband Bruce Sudano are rumored to selling their Brentwood, Tennessee mansion. No listing info has turned up yet.
--Lance Armstrong has put his Texas ranch on the market. It's our estate of the day later today.
--Writer, director and actor Tyler Perry seems to have put his Georgia home, Avec Chateau on the market for $3.695 million. A property website was briefly online but has been removed, you can catch a cached copy here.
--Singer Sinitta's townhouse in London is on the market. We'll check it out as an estate of the day on Tuesday.
--Britney Spears has cut the price of her home in the Summit community in the Beverly Hills Post Office area from $7.9 million to $7.195 million.
--Ed McMahon is still fighting foreclosure.
--Beverly Hills builder John Bersci has cut the price on the Harvey Mudd estate to $8.995 million. It was listed at $11.495 million when it was our estate of the day.
--Lance Armstrong has reportedly picked up a $9 million home in Aspen, Colorado.
--Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez have recently picked up a pair of penthouse condos in San Juan, Perto Rico with the plan to turn them into one big unit.

From the International Herald Tribune's Raising the Roof:
--Shaquille O'Neal's battle to sell his Miami estate continues. The home is back on the market after a deal in the $19 million range reportedly fell through. The home was listed at $29 million when it was our estate of the day, down from a price of $32 million. He paid $18.2 million for the home in 2004. it is now back on the market for $25 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Last week we saw that husband-and-wife actor-directors Vondie Curtis-Hall and Kasi Lemmons had reduced the asking price of their Hollywood Hills home from $3.595 million to $2.669 million, now it's at $2.295 million. The listing is here.
--Cheech Marin has reduced the price on his Malibu home to $2.95 million. It was originally listed at $3.9 million. The listing is here.
--Director Walter Donigher has listed his Italian Renaissance style in Hancock Park for $3.999 million. The listing is here.
--Brad O'Leary, former talk show host and author of "The Audacity of Deceit," has listed his Beverly Hills-area for $5.499 million. The listing is here.
Psychologist Toni Grant has listed er West Hollywood penthouse for $3.495 million. The listing for the lavish penthouse is here.
--Olivia Newton-John has finally closed escrow on Malibu home for more than $10 million. The buyer is a trust representing Patrick Kevin Morris and his wife, Gaby Morgerman, Morris is an entertainment lawyer and Morgerman is a senior vice president at William Morris Agency.
--Richard and Marianne Kay, who hold the patent for Cleatskins, a rubberized covering for shoes with cleats, just sold their Pacific Palisades home for $14.5 million.
--Actor Miguel Ferrer and his wife, Lori Weintraub have listed their Hidden Hills home at $4,999,999. The listing is here.
The Hollywood Hills home of the late Milton Katselas, the founder of the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school, has been listed for $2.6 million. The listing is here.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Buy this six-bedroom home in Nissequogue, New York listed for $2.499 million and they'll throw in tickets to the Super Bowl.
--Fitness studio owner Lydia Bach has sold her home in Southampton for $6.5 million.
-Dick Cavett has closed on the sale of 76.8 acres on DeForest Road in Montauk for $18 million. He paid $540,000 for the land in 1973.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Troy Roberts, a correspondent on CBS's 48 Hours, has paid $2.275 million for a two-bedroom apartment in the Tribeca area of New York City.
--Marquis Jets co-founder Jesse Itzler and his wife, Spanx CEO Sara Blakely, have closed on the sale of their apartment at 15 Central Park West for $8.7 million.
--Leo Tilman, Bear Stearns' chief institutional strategist before starting up his own firm, has paid $3.5 million for a condo at Tribeca's 101 Warren Street.
--50 Cent has dropped the price of his 19-bedroom, 51,000-square-foot Farmington, Connecticut mansion by $4 million. The home, Mike Tyson's former home, was listed at $18.5 million when it was our estate of the day in 2007.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--The Hollywood Hills home of late photographer Wallace Seawell Hollywood Hills is on the market for $2.069 million. The listing is here.
--"CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker paid $9.35 million for celebrity manager Rick Yorn's Brentwood home.
--David Hasselhoff and his former wife, Pamela Bach have put their Encino home on the market for $5.95 million.
-A five-bedroom house in Los Angeles' Bel-Air area that Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal once owned has cut its asking price from $9.5 million to $6.995 million.
--A house in Studio City that once was owned by the late actor Hal Buckley and may have been lived in by Timothy Leary has come off the market after having been listed most recently for $1,999,999.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Baseball player Alex Rodriguez has dropped the price on his Coral Gables, Florida home to $12.3 million. We checked out the home in October as an estate of the day when it was listed at $14.876 million.
--Don King has put his oceanfront estate in Manalapan, Florida on the market for $27.5 million.
--The estate of Andrew McKelvey, who founded Monster.com, has listed his New York City midtown apartment for $7.9 million.
--Cole Porter's former apartment at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is available for rent for $140,000 a month.


From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--The late Araxia M. Buckhantz's two-bedroom unit at 834 Fifth Avenue will be put on the market for around $30 million.
--Lehman's former head of mortgage banking, Kurt A. Locher, recently spent $5.25 million on a West End Avenue apartment.
--Ex-AIG executive vice president Robert M. Sandler spent $3.45 million at the Hampshire House the day after the F.B.I. announced its investigation into his old firm's collapse.
--Rosemary T. Berkery, the former vice chairman, general c
ounsel and senior vice president at Merrill Lynch, has bought a $5.2 million apartment at 975 Park Avenue. She and her husband, attorney Robert Hausen, already have a co-op five floors down in the building.
--Jeff Zavattero, a Bear Stevens senior managing director recently sold his apartment at 530 East 76th St. for $4.2 million for his apartment.
--A former Lehman Brothers vice chairman Kunho Cho sold his One Beacon Court condo for $10 million. Mr. Cho and his wife, Tay, paid only $5.975 million when they bought the apartment in June 2005.
--Yankees player Hideki Matsuihas paid $10.5 million for a penthouse at the Heritage, one of the high-rises in the Trump Place development on Riverside Boulevard. He still owns a 52nd-floor apartment at Trump World Tower which he bought for $3,157,900 in 2005.
--Carren and Jeffrey Hendren have sold their townhouse at 45 East 74th Street for $10 million, $2.25 million more than they paid in June 2007. The house was bought by a limited liability corporation called Antarctica, whose manager is listed in records as Valerio Morabito, an Italian film producer. The multi-unit building will be transformed into a single-family house.

From the Detroit Free Press:
--Fire has severely damaged the Crantzdorf estate in Tennessee, a castle-like home which was our estate of the day last month and was listed for $28.5 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Marilyn Manson has put his five-bedroom Mediterranean-style home in Chatsworth on the market at $1.1 million. A bedroom is shown above. The home is relatively bland on the outside but inside it looks like an antique store met a flophouse. The listing includes pics of the recording studio with a bright purple rug.
--L.A. Clippers star Cuttino Mobley has pulled his home off the market. It was our estate of the day last month.
--Actor/director/real estate investor Vincent Gallo has purchased two units at the Biscuit Company Lofts in downtown L.A He bought the lofts for nearly $2.2 million and plans to use one as an office and another as living quarters.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez has reportedly been in talks with the owner of a seven-bedroom townhouse on the block between Madison and Fifth avenues. The home has no official sales listing but an insider says the price is between $39 million and $41 million. It all depends on whether or not A-Rod stays a Yankee.
--Kelsey Grammer is already looking for a buyer for his Hamptons home. It is our estate of the day later today.
--The co-op apartment that served as the office of late historian and author Arthur Schlesinger has just gone on the market for $1.5 million. The two-bedroom unit is located across a courtyard from Schlesinger's main residence, where his wife, Alexandra, still lives. The listing is here.
--Both Tyra Banks and Halle Berry have been spotted looking at a $8.5 million apartment in the 40 Mercer condo building in SoHo.

From Berg Properties Celebrity Big Time Listings:
--Johnny Damon has signed an $8 million contract to sell his three-bedroom apartment on the 39th floor of One Beacon Court. It was an estate of the day this summer.
--A 10,276-square-foot mansion in Bel-Air enclave that was owned until 2005 by St. Louis Rams co-owner Georgia Frontiere has been completely rebuilt and has just come on the market for $29,975,000. The listing is here, no interior pics unfortunately.
--Clay Aiken has sold his condominium unit in Charlotte, N.C. for just $71,000.
--Public records reveal that manager and producer Sandy Galin sold his Beverly Hills home to movie producer Roger Birnbaum for $16,500,000.
--Public records reveal that Tommy Lee paid $5,850,000 for a house in Calabasas.
--Public records reveal that Matt LeBlanc sold his house in Hidden Hills, California for $9,139,000.
--Chicago sports broadcaster and former NFL player Mark Malone has paid $700,000 for a Chicago loft unit that is in the same building as David Schwimmer.
--Chicago chef Charlie Trotter has paid $2.425 million for a Chicago condo.
--A Studio City home that once belonged to "Frasier" actress Jane Leeves is on the market for $2,995,000. The property website is here.
--a Hollywood Hills home that once was owned by Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli and that later was owned by Sammy Davis Jr. has sold for $2,793,500.
-The official sale price on Melanie 'Scary Spice' Brown's home in Los Feliz is $1,810,000.
--The exact price for basketball star Chris Webber's three-bedroom home in Malibu was $3,750,000.
–Public records confirm that 'Grey's Anatomy' actress Kate Walsh paid $4,750,000 for her new Los Feliz home.
--The sale price for Natalie Portman's house in Sea Cliff, NY was $1,750,000.
--Leeza Gibbons may have finally sold her home which was on the market for for $7,995,000.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder has sold one of his many Hamptons holdings: three acres in Sagaponack, N.Y., for about $3.74 million.
--Jane Magazine founder Jane Pratt has sold her Manhattan townhouse for more than its $3.65 million asking price
--The owner of Buffalo Bill's 492-acre onetime hunting camp in Cody, Wyo., has cut its price to $9.75 million after it failed to sell for about two years at $12 million. The listing is here.
--California Rep. Ellen Tauscher has put her Bay Area home on the market for $1.6 million, a $50,000 reduction from the last time she listed it. The listing is here.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Francois Pinault, who owns Christie's plus Gucci and is the future father-in-law of Salma Hayek, has just paid $16.9 million for the top penthouse at Barbizon/63 on East 63rd Street, the 80-year-old neo-Gothic women's hotel that has just been turned into superluxury condos. The home will be an over 5,000 square foot one bedroom sprawl.
--Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill has bought a two-bedroom apartment near Columbus Circle through the Lucille Ball Morton Trust for $1.15 million. The apartment is an investment and she is renovating it herself.
--Iinvestor Lily Lee Lee Wong paid $12.1 million for a 15-room, 115-year-old townhouse at 21 East 84th Street in June, and by the end of July she had listed the place for $24.5 million, more than twice what she paid. The house spent four years on the market before this summer's sale but was designed by Grant's Tomb architect John Duncan, and has original stained lead glass windows, six wood-burning fireplaces, and more than a half-dozen crystal chandeliers.

From The Real Estalker:
--Nicole Richie has put her West Hollywood condo on the market for $2.3 million. You can check out pics here.
--Kanye West was recently spotted checking out Tyler Perry's nearly undeveloped 22-acre property in the super luxe guard gatef Beverly Ridge Estates that is on the market for $15,000,000.
--It turns out that Britney Spears has not purchased a new house in Malibu but is renting for $35,000 a month with an option to purchase.
--"Lost" actress Cynthia Watros Gilliland and her restauranteur husband have put their Hancock Park home on the market for $3,799,000. The listing is here and on the realtor's main website it says it has already been reduced to $3,650,000.
--Producer Dawn Parouse and Jonathan Feldman are also selling in Hancock Park. Their lovely home is listed at $3,395,000 and you can check out the listing, with many pics here.
--Melissa McCarthy who played Sookie on the Gilmore Girls has listed her West Hollywood home For $1,515,000. The listing is here.