Flashy Billionaire loses top spot in U.S.
House back on the market with 25 per cent price reduction; another Los Angeles-area house is most expensive
LOS ANGELES — The most expensive home for sale in America is still found in Los Angeles, but it’s no longer the larger-than-life mansion that debuted a year ago in Bel-Air at $250 million.
That speculative wonder of owner-developer Bruce Makowsky has returned to the Multiple Listing Service at $188 million.
That’s a price cut of $62 million for the flashy contemporary referred to as Billionaire, or a roughly 25 per cent reduction off the original sticker price.
Now atop the upper crust in real estate is Los Angeles County’s largest single-family home, the Manor in Holmby Hills, which has spent 17 months on the market with an asking price of $200 million.
At that price, it is the most expensive home publicly listed for sale in the U.S., according to Realtor.com.
And although Billionaire has lost certain bragging rights, it’s still the second-priciest coast to coast.
For the sake of comparison, here’s how the mega-mansions stack up.
The Manor has 56,500 square feet of living space — 1,500 square feet more than the White House. Billionaire has 38,000 square feet of interiors.
The Manor has 14 bedrooms; Billionaire has a dozen. There are 20-plus bathrooms — 10 times the prototypical American home — in each mansion, but the Manor has a slight edge, with 27 to Billionaire’s 21.
For entertaining, the Manor has a bar and a wine cellar with a tasting room. Billionaire comes with five bars and two fully stocked Champagne rooms.
The Manor has a two-lane bowling alley. Billionaire’s bowling alley, which adjoins an auto museum, has four lanes.
For a movie in, the Manor has a screening room. Billionaire is outfitted with a 40-seat, 4K Dolby Atmos home theatre.
The Manor has two swimming pools and a tennis court.
Billionaire has one 26-metre infinity-edge pool and an ornamental rooftop helicopter.
The girl with the Midcentury home
Academy Award-nominated actor Rooney Mara has her sleek midcentury-modern-style home in Los Feliz back on the market for $3.45 million, a $350,000 reduction in price from when it was first offered for sale last year.
Records show that the Carol star picked up the 1960s residence through a trust three years ago for $2.9 million.
Steel and glass combine to fill the open floor plan, which holds a wall of windows that draws in city and ocean views. The kitchen features teal-hued cabinetry and an island topped with stainless steel. Clerestory windows further the clean, modernist vibe.
Sliding glass doors open to a spacious terrace that overlooks the tiered backyard.
The 2,340-square-foot floor plan is completed by two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Mara, 32, received Oscar nominations for her roles in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Carol (2015). Later this year, she’s set to star in the biblical drama Mary Magdalene alongside her boyfriend, Joaquin Phoenix.
Wings actor prepares for takeoff from Malibu
Actor Steven Weber of Wings fame and his former wife, realestate agent Juliette Hohnen, have listed a mobile home they own in Malibu for sale at $1.975 million.
The three-bedroom house is in the Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, a bluff-top community where lavish prefab homes can run upward of $5 million and residents include such Hollywood types as Minnie Driver, Rupert Sanders and Sam Mendes.
Built in 2007, the corner-lot home has been updated and features hardwood floors, sliding barn doors and modern fixtures. High ceilings, white walls and picture windows keep the vibe light and airy.
Living spaces include an updated kitchen with a breakfast bar, a dining nook and a large living room. Each of the two bathrooms is lined in artistic tile.
The property, which takes in partial ocean and canyon views, also comes with two parking spaces and, like the 200-plus residences in the community, access to the beaches of Paradise Cove and Point Dume.
Weber, 57, currently appears in the shows Mom and NCIS: New
Orleans. His scores of television credits also include Brothers and Sisters, Once and Again and iZombie.
Bel-Air estate has stars in its past
A Bel-Air estate that was once the home of actors Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe is on the market for $13.95 million.
The handsome brick and halftimbered Tudor was designed by architect Gerard R. Colcord for a prominent insurance executive. Completed in 1969, the home was so beloved by the businessman and his wife that they had it replicated in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after relocating to the area, according to Colcord Home author Bret Parsons.
Set amid mature oaks and sycamores, the two-storey house takes its cues from the medieval halls and churches of England. Pitched and beamed cathedral ceilings, oak plank floors and detailed woodwork are among details of note. Picture windows with square and diamond bevels take in leafy views.
Within nearly 8,650 square feet of interior space is a living room with an oversized fireplace, a formal dining room, a modernized kitchen and a media room with a wet bar. The master suite has an updated bathroom and a sitting room for a total of five bedrooms and 5.75 bathrooms.
The roughly one acre of grounds includes a guesthouse and a structure that holds a wine cellar. Elsewhere is a swimming pool.
Witherspoon and Phillippe bought the house in 2001 for $3.3 million and owned it for about three years, records show.
Kardashians personality moves into new estate
A traditional-style home has caught Scott Disick’s eye in Hidden Hills, the guard-gated community where the Keeping Up With the Kardashians personality and many in the reality-TV family have plenty of real-estate history.
Disick bought the recently renovated estate for $3.235 million, or $140,000 less than the asking price, records show.
Wrought-iron work, hardwood floors and crown molding fill the nearly 5,000-square-foot floor plan. A dual-sided, floor-to-ceiling fireplace is the star of the show on the main floor, connecting the living and family rooms. Vaulted ceilings give the living areas a voluminous feel.
Other highlights include a billiards room and a wet bar. The master suite, one of five bedrooms, features a stone fireplace and built-in wine refrigerator.
A spacious patio surrounds a pool and spa. The one-acre grounds are completed by a sports court.
Disick, 34, owns another home in the area that has been up for sale or lease in recent years.