We don’t always get to walk the halls of L.A.’s mega-mansions. But sometimes we do.
A small entourage from The Times was fortunate enough to get inside the Bel-Air new build that recently sold for $94 million. What impressed nearly as much as the luxury bells and whistles was that the owner-developer took us around himself. One caveat: We had to leave our bags at the door. An unusual request, but we complied. As he handed them back to us at the end of the tour his gaze lingered over our pedestrian purses, perhaps with a look of pity in his eyes. This man, after all, made his fortune selling handbags.
Our Home of the Week, set above the Sunset Strip in Hollywood Hills West, makes room for art display with its high ceilings, ample natural light and an abundance of gallery-like walls. The dramatic contemporary is priced at $9.995 million. You bring the paintings.
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– Neal Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale
$94 million is in the bag
After testing the waters two years ago with an asking price of $250 million, developer and handbag magnate Bruce Makowsky has sold his grand mansion in Bel-Air for $94 million.
The 38,000-square-foot monument to opulence contains 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms and luxury goodies galore. It’s L.A. County’s third most expensive home sale this year.
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In addition to three kitchens and five bars, the residence has a Louis Vuitton-appointed bowling alley, a 40-seat movie theater, a massage studio, a fitness center and a candy room with dozens of sweets-filled cylinders. Two wine cellars are stocked with hundreds of bottles of Champagne and other fine wine.
Outside, more than 17,000 square feet of entertainment decks overlook Los Angeles. The back patio is anchored by an 85-foot infinity pool with a swim-up bar.
A custom floating staircase connects the second and third floors at the Bel-Air mansion, which sold for $94 million.
(Berlyn Photography)
Actor’s lair is expendable
Action-thriller actor Jason Statham and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley have listed their Malibu beach house for sale at $19.95 million.
The black-shingled contemporary contains 3,909 square feet of sexy interiors that look out on a horizon of ocean. Among the living spaces are the main living area with a brick fireplace, the dining area, a den, a family room, four bedrooms and four bathrooms. A guest house has its own kitchen and bathroom.
Statham, 52, has been in the “Fast & Furious,” “Expendables” and “Transporter” films, including this year’s “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.”
Huntington-Whiteley, 32, is known for her modeling work for Victoria’s Secret and the British fashion house Burberry.
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A brick fireplace and stacked logs create a statement wall at Jason Statham’s Malibu home.
(Shade Degges)
Checking out of Los Feliz
Billionaire Ron Burkle has sold the Ennis House, a Mayan Revival-style home in Los Feliz designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, for $18 million.
The temple-like home’s exotic look has made it a filming location for movies such as “Blade Runner,” “Rush Hour,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “The Karate Kid Part III.”
Wright designed the house in the 1920s using thousands of precast concrete blocks. Marble floors, ornate chandeliers, beamed ceilings, concrete columns, leaded glass windows and mosaic-tile finishes grace the two-story floor plan.
A guesthouse and swimming pool complete the 0.84-acre grounds.
Burkle, 66, built his fortune buying and selling supermarket chains such as Ralphs, Fred Meyer Inc. and Food4Less. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.6 billion. He bought the property for $4.5 million in 2011 and oversaw a significant restoration.
The living room of the Ennis House. At the far right is the glass-tile mosaic fireplace that has been restored.
(Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
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He voices his price opinion
“Family Guy” voice actor Ralph Garman has listed his Studio City house for sale at $2.595 million.
The Spanish home, built in 2007, has the requisite red-tile roof, arched doorways and wrought ironwork in keeping with the style. A two-story entry, a formal living room, a formal dining room and an eat-in kitchen with a butler’s pantry, a walk-in pantry and a center island occupy the ground level. The great room opens to the backyard.
A one-bedroom suite with a separate entrance sits on the first floor, while there are four upstairs suites, including a master bedroom with a covered patio and a walk-in closet. Wood floors, beamed ceilings and three fireplaces are among details within the nearly 4,300 square feet of living space.
Outside, there’s a swimming pool with an elevated spa.
Garman, 54, starred as the host of Spike’s “The Joe Schmo Show.” The comedian, radio host and podcaster has also done voice work for the series “Robot Chicken” and “American Dad!”
Ralph Garman’s two-story house in Studio City has a tile roof, arched front door and wrought ironwork in keeping with its Spanish style.
(Redfin.com)
The talk of the town
A contemporary showplace in Hollywood Hills West linked through records to radio personality Larry Elder is back on the market at $5.2 million. It’s also available for lease, furnished, at $25,000 a month.
The updated home, built in 1959 and set on two acres, centers on an open-plan two-story family room with a fireplace and bar. The formal dining room includes a wine refrigerator. High ceilings and walls of glass add to the expansive feel of the 4,690 square feet of living space.
The detached one-bedroom guest house has a bathroom and a kitchen for a total of four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Views take in the cityscape and an infinity-edge lap pool and spa.
Elder, 67, is an attorney, an author and longtime radio talk show host. His “The Larry Elder Show” was also a television series from 2004 to 2005. In recent years, he has made appearances on “Fox and Friends,” “Hannity” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Expanses of windows take in hillside views from Larry Elder’s house.
(Redfin.com)
Her favorite room
Actress Jane Seymour’s favorite room — her bedroom in her modern, 6,300-square-foot Tudor-style home in Malibu — reflects her skills and interests. “There’s art nouveau, there’s Hollywood glam, there’s beach house, there’s modern art. I wanted the room to be a mixture of everything I love,” said Seymour, 68, who co-stars in the newly released second season of “The Kominsky Method,” on Netflix.
Actress Jane Seymour in her favorite room — her bedroom in her modern, 6,300-square-foot Tudor-style home, perched on a coastal hill in Malibu.
(Jesse Goddard / For The Times)
From the archives
Ten years ago, singer Melanie Brown, also known as Scary Spice from her days with the Spice Girls, purchased a gated home in the San Fernando Valley area for about $3.15 million. The country French-style house had five bedrooms and eight bathrooms in more than 8,000 square feet of living space. The chateau, its 1,352-square-foot detached media house and a swimming pool sat on more than half an acre.
Twenty years ago, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea sold his Los Feliz home for about $3.5 million to John Getty, a son of Getty Oil heir Gordon Getty and a grandson of the late Jean Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world. The Moorish-style house, known for years as the Castle, contained 5,500 square feet of living space.
Thirty years ago, actor Lou Diamond Phillips became a first-time home buyer spending $1 million on a house in the Hollywood Hills. The 1920s home had three bedrooms, maid’s quarters and a den in about 4,500 square feet.
What we’re reading
Basketball great Shaquille O’Neal has donated housing to 12-year-old Isaiah Payton and his family. The boy was shot and paralyzed while leaving a high school football game in Atlanta in August. When O’Neal learned that Payton couldn’t be released from the hospital because his home was not equipped to accommodate his disability, the onetime Lakers center offered up a year’s rent plus some furniture, according to 11Alive.com.
Ready to escape the city? Curbed.com spotted a mini-compound near Guerneville, Calif., for sale at $299,000. The 6.7-acre Russian River Valley property includes a 320-square-foot main cabin and a detached 144-square-foot sleeping cabin.