Californication house sets Venice record
LOS ANGELES — A compound in Venice, Los Angeles, that was used in the TV series Californication has sold for $14.6 million US, a record for the beachfront neighbourhood, public records show.
The home, which sits on a lot measuring 7,500 square feet, consists of four permanent structures connected by three bridges that surround a swimming pool.
The compound has a combined 5,000 square feet of living space that includes seven bedrooms, a media room and a pool house.
An outdoor kitchen, a fire pit, a rooftop deck and a basketball area make up the grounds.
The seller was architect and environmentalist David Hertz, who designed the home in 1995 and describes it as “somewhat of a living laboratory.”
“The house might look contemporary, but imagine it back in ’95,” said Hertz, a pioneer in sustainable design.
“Nobody really had solarthermal systems and natural ventilation, and certainly not of that period.”
A building material called Syndecrete Surfaces, which Hertz invented and later sold, was used to create the countertops, sinks and floor tiles. Polished concrete, recycled and sustainable wood and expanses of glass speak to the home’s eclectic style, which draws from Bali, Craftsman and modern styles.
Already a local landmark, the home gained a worldwide following in 2007 after it was used as a primary filming location for Californication.
Promotional events, photo shoots and scenes from the film Adaptation were also filmed at the property.
Hertz identified the buyer as a real estate investment group led by Venice-based sustainable builder Nick Valencia.
The two are collaborating on other ecological homes, said Hertz, who will also oversee a restoration of the house he just sold. His architecture company will remain in Venice.
“It’s the end of this chapter, but it’s also the start of the new one,” Hertz said.
The sale, which closed offmarket, beats the previous price record for a single-family home in Venice, which was set by the former home of sculptor Robert Graham and actor Anjelica Huston, which sold three years ago for $11.15 million. Actor and environmentalist Jane Fonda has paid $5.45 million cash for the last remaining home at a new enclave in Century City, in Los Angeles’ Westside.
“We had multiple offers,” listing agent Susan Smith, of Hilton & Hyland, said. The home is one of 10 in the gated development. Fonda’s new neighbours include comedian Bob Newhart.
The residence has 5,730 square feet of living space that includes an office and a private elevator.
There are four bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms, including staff/guest quarters.
Topping the residence is a rooftop terrace with a gas fireplace and city-lights views.
Fonda, 79, an Oscar winner for Klute and Coming Home, is a co-star of the TV series Grace and Frankie. Actors Michael Biehn and Jennifer BlancBiehn have bought a home in Woodland Hills for about $580,000.
The home, described in the listing as a “Venice-style bungalow retreat,” sits behind a wooden fence and has a bamboo-lined walkway leading up to the front door.
Inside, the 1,150 square feet of contemporary living space features concrete floors, modern fixtures, an openplan kitchen, two bedrooms and 1.75 bathrooms.
French and sliding doors lead to a backyard with a covered patio.
Biehn, 60, gained fame in the sci-fi blockbusters The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986). He has a part in the upcoming action thriller The Shadow Effect.
Forty-three-year-old Blanc-Biehn has TV credits that include Party of Five and Dark Angel. A Pacific Palisades home that Cameron Strang, chairman and president of Warner Bros. Records, bought six months ago for $6.5 million has traded in an off-market deal for $9.3 million.
The buyer, by way of a limited liability company, is Riot Games co-founder and president Marc Merrill.
Encompassing two acres of park-like grounds, the property was the site of a post and beam designed by architects Buff, Straub & Hensman.
We write “was” because a permit to demolish the home, a detached garage, a swimming pool and hardscaping was issued in November, city records show.
It is unclear what remains of the home, which had been owned by the same family for about seven decades before it sold last year.
Strang previously founded New West Records, DMZ Records and Southside Independent Music Publishing.
Merrill co-founded Los Angeles-based Riot Games in 2006 with Brandon Beck. The Brentwood home where Marilyn Monroe died has gone on to market for $6.9 million.
The hacienda-style house on a leafy half-acre of grounds was bought by Monroe in the early 1960s following the end of her third marriage, to playwright Arthur Miller. After the film star’s death in 1962, the Los Angeles Times reported that she had paid $75,000 for the house, which came partially furnished. Her mortgage payments were $320 a month.
More recently, the property changed hands for $5.1 million in 2012.
Built in 1929, the one-storey house contains a formal living room, a family room, an office, four bedrooms and three bathrooms in 2,624 square feet of living space. Appointments include arched doorways, Saltillo tile floors and cathedral ceilings with exposed beams.
A fireplace in the living room draws the eye with a Mexican tile surround.
Mature trees, a guesthouse, a citrus grove and a kidney-shaped swimming pool fill the grounds. Model-turned-professional-matchmaker Melanie Mar has listed an underway spec house in lower Bel-Air for $25 million.
The half-acre corner lot can also be purchased with plans and permits for $12.5 million.
The home, to be completed next year, will have three floors, several terraces and a two-storey waterfall feature that pours into the swimming pool.
A gym, a pool house, a theatre and an elevator are among the planned features. The master suite, one of seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, will have a sauna and a private study.