Late November will mark 35 years since the Hot Property column started. We perused the archives with that in mind this week and found a gem from three decades ago: Western actor Chuck Connors was selling a Kern County ranch into which he had put considerable sweat equity. Among improvements, he had spent four years rebuilding the fence around the property, using telephone poles. “It’s been time-consuming but enjoyable,” he said. “You don’t find telephone poles in your local hardware store, you know.” For more of the actor’s quick wit, you’ll have to pick up the tale in the From the Archives section below.
Our Home of the Week is a Mediterranean Revival-style house built in 1928 by a developer who sought to re-create the French Riviera in Redondo Beach. The grand two-story features hand-painted beams, plaster walls that simulate cut stone and a turret with decorative Italian tile floors. The asking price is $11.995 million.
Once you’re done reading about these properties, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week.
– Neal Leitereg and Lauren Beale
Advertisement
A very “Brady” deal
“Brady Bunch” actor Barry Williams, who has been busy renovating his former TV home on “A Very Brady Renovation,” has sold his oceanfront home in Malibu for $5.82 million.
The two-story beach house features high ceilings and walls of windows that take in sweeping ocean views. Built in 1974, the home contains a little over 2,800 square feet, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. An ocean-facing terrace has stairs leading to the sandy beach below.
Williams, 65, is known for his role as the eldest Brady son, Greg, on the series “The Brady Bunch.” Recently, Williams and the other actors who played his siblings got together for HGTV’s “A Very Brady Renovation.”
Barry Williams of “The Brady Bunch” fame has sold his home in Malibu for $5.82 million.
(Simon Berlyn)
Advertisement
Guitarist swings a deal
James Valentine appears to have another hit on his hands. The guitarist of Maroon 5 fame has sold his longtime home in Los Feliz for $4.1 million.
Called the Steel House for its metal construction, the Midcentury Modern-style home was built in 1960. Some 2,100 square feet of interiors include a living room with a suspended fireplace, a garden-view dining room, an updated kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The landscaped grounds hold a swimming pool, patios, a cold plunge pool and a sauna. A carport sits below the house.
The 41-year-old musician was part of the musical trio Square and also played with the ska band Reel Big Fish before joining Kara’s Flowers, later renamed Maroon 5, in the early 2000s. The group is known for such hits as “Harder to Breathe,” “Makes Me Wonder” and “Moves Like Jagger.”
Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine extensively renovated the Midcentury Modern-style home in Los Feliz.
(Simon Berlyn)
In the game for a buyer
Singer-songwriter Martin Johnson of the new wave band the Night Game has put his home in Hollywood Hills up for sale at $2.295 million.
The multilevel home, described as a modern cabin and built in 1978, has a three-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom floor plan that includes a kitchen and dining area with access to a balcony. A sunken family room sits off the home’s library, which has a track ladder for reaching two custom bookshelves.
The master suite takes in views of the canyon area and the Hollywood sign.
Advertisement
Johnson, 34, also serves as the frontman for the pop-rock band Boys Like Girls. As a songwriter and producer, he has collaborated with artists such as Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne and Jason Derulo.
Wood ceilings and wide plank floors add to the modern cabin vibe of Martin Johnson’s house.
(Charmaine David for Sotheby’s International Realty)
You could say it’s in reruns
Celebrated television producer Norman Lear recently relisted his estate in Brentwood for sale at $39.995 million, just slightly above the $39.95 million price he was asking roughly three years ago.
The site encompasses about 8 acres of landscaped grounds containing a 14,000-square-foot main house, a guest house, staff quarters, security offices, a tennis court and a gym. A covered patio opens to a swimming pool and spa.
An entry hall, two-story library, screening room, office, seven bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and four powder rooms are among the living spaces. All that and parking for 35 cars.
The 97-year-old Lear won multiple Emmy Awards for the groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family” and has scores of credits, including “The Jeffersons,” “One Day at a Time” and “Good Times.” He continues to work and is writing, appearing in and executive producer for the upcoming documentary “Rita Moreno: The Girl Who Decided to Go for It.”
Norman Lear’s gated estate in Brentwood is listed at $39.995 million.
(Redfin.com)
Steve McQueen’s old haunt
A Hollywood Hills compound once owned by tough guy actor Steve McQueen and later horror filmmaker Wes Craven has sold for $4,242,500.
Advertisement
Walls of glass frame the open-plan design of the 3,594-square-foot Midcentury Modern post-and-beam. There are four bedrooms and four bathrooms in the main house and another bedroom and bath in a detached guest house, set beside a saltwater swimming pool with a spa.
McQueen, who died in 1980 at 50, is known for such films as “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Great Escape” and “The Thomas Crown Affair.” He was nominated for a best actor Oscar for the movie “The Sand Pebbles.”
Craven, who died in 2015 at 76, made such memorable films as “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the “Scream” series. He was so successful in the slasher genre that he became known as a “master of horror.”
The post-and-beam Midcentury Modern was once home to actor Steve McQueen and, later, filmmaker Wes Craven.
(Redfin.com)
Her favorite room
Producer and songwriter Antonina Armato finds optimum creativity in Room A of her whimsical music studio in Santa Monica. Armato, who co-wrote the song “Haunted Heart,” sung by Christina Aguilera for Universal’s animated movie “The Addams Family,” describes the space as “witch-like and magical, but also maternal.” Dimly lit, with deep tones of red and orange and a twinkle of Christmas lights, the room features an impressive collection of crystals — including eight skulls made of various minerals.
Songwriter and producer Antonina Armato holds a crystal skull inside her recording studio.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
From the archives
Ten years ago, Lakers forward Lamar Odom listed his Manhattan Beach home for $2.399 million. Custom-built in 2002, the 4,181-square-foot Mediterranean had five bedrooms — some of which he used as closet space.
Twenty years ago, actor James Woods put his Beverly Hills-area home on the market at $8.75 million. He was then spending at least half of his time on the East Coast and didn’t want the 6,000-square-foot house to go unused.
Thirty years ago, “Rifleman” actor Chuck Connors put his ranch near Tehachapi up for sale at $730,000. “I love the ranch and really don’t like the idea of selling it, but I’m away so much, and I like to keep it spotless,” he said. The 8.5-acre property included a 3,000-square-foot ranch house, a guest/caretaker cottage and a barn with three stables. “It all has to be taken care of,” he said, “and I don’t believe in a weed. There are seven out there that I can see right now.”
What we’re reading
A Scottish firm is turning waste plastic into paved roads. The driveway at Christopher Boyle’s 17th-century English estate looks and feels like regular asphalt, but it’s made with 21st-century trash, reports CBSNews.com. Still unknown: just how much micro-plastic such surfaces might shed.
How many of us have ever stopped by to get a glimpse of our childhood homes? Curbed.com published one woman’s tale of growing up in a house that her disabled father built by hand over a decade. She recently visited the home and was greeted with thoughts of what might have been had he never been injured.