Tycoon buys another Hope estate
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles-based businessman Ron Burkle has doubled down on Bob Hope estates, buying the late comic’s longtime Toluca Lake compound for $15 million US.
Two years ago, the billionaire paid $13 million for a modernist home in Palm Springs that was designed and built by architect John Lautner for Hope and his wife, Dolores.
The Toluca Lake home was designed for the Hopes in the English traditional style by architect Robert Finkelhor. In the mid1950s, the couple wanted a more contemporary style and commissioned John Elgin Woolf to remodel and update the 1939 house.
The property is composed of parcels totalling a little more than five acres.
The 14,876-square-foot house, which Burkle intends to restore, is accompanied by a two-bedroom guesthouse and separate staff quarters and offices.
The structures combine to offer eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
A swimming pool, a one-hole golf course, mature trees, rose gardens and a large expanse of grass also lie within the grounds. An indoor swimming pool and spa sit adjacent to the guesthouse.
Bob Hope, who died in 2003 at 100, had a prolific career as a comic actor, singer and dancer, appearing in scores of films that included the Road series with Bing Crosby.
He won five honorary Oscars and one humanitarian award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Burkle, 65, built his fortune buying and selling supermarket chains such as Ralphs, Fred Meyer Inc. and Food4Less. He has an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion, according to Forbes.
An architectural connoisseur, he also owns the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House in Los Feliz, which he purchased in 2011 for about $4.5 million. Supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband, businessman Rande Gerber, have sold their renovated compound in Malibu’s Encinal Bluffs for $45 million, records show.
The couple bought the threeacre estate and an adjacent parcel of about 2.75 acres in 2015 for a total of $50.5 million.
Set behind walls and gates, the bluff-top residence features four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms in 5,300 square feet of living space. Interior details include custom built-ins, natural materials and white walls that make for a casual beach esthetic. Oversized windows and pocketing doors are centred toward the ocean.
Wraparound decking and terraces create additional living space outdoors. The scenic property also includes a tennis court and a swimming pool. At the edge of the property is a path that leads to the beach below.
Crawford, 52, took to modelling in her teens and has appeared on hundreds of magazine covers.
Gerber, 56, is a former model and a nightlife-industry businessman. He co-founded the tequila brand Casamigos with actor George Clooney.
The couple put the compound up for sale in 2016 for $60 million before dropping the price last year by $10 million. They own other property in Los Angeles, including a Beverly Hills home they bought last year from OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Dustin Brown has wrapped up some business away from the ice, selling his home in Los Angeles County’s Manhattan Beach for $6.9 million.
Custom-built by Matt Morris Development for Brown and his wife, Nicole, the traditional-style house weds California casual and East Coast flair. Set behind a white fence, the two-storey home opens to a covered and heated patio with a fireplace. An infrared sauna sits near a saltwater swimming pool.
Inside, the 6,450-square-foot home displays a range of character. Styled by interior design company Lucas Studio, the home features bright wall coverings, detailed millwork and built-ins in the living room and den. On the basement floor, there are movie and game rooms, plus a custom bunk room.
The six-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom house hit the market in April for a dollar shy of $7 million.
Brown, 33, has spent his 11-year professional career with the Los Angeles Kings, joining the team as a first-round draft pick in 2003. The all-star scored a careerhigh 61 points in 81 games played this season. Russell Weiner, creator of the Rockstar energy drink, has put a Beverly Hills mansion that once belonged to pop icon Madonna back on the market for $35 million. The French country-style estate was offered last year for as much as $49 million.
A 150-metre, tree-lined driveway enters the gated compound, which spans 1.25 acres of manicured grounds. In addition to the main house — an opulent space filled with cathedral-style ceilings and stylish chandeliers — there are two guesthouses, a tennis court and an 18-metre swimming pool.
Within 17,000 square feet of living space are nine bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and seven fireplaces. Highlights include a woodbeamed living room with a wet bar and a two-storey dining room lined with French doors. The gourmet kitchen boasts custom cabinetry and a long centre island. There is a theatre room, as well as a gym and an art studio.
Madonna owned the home from 2003 to 2013, records show, and Weiner picked it up two years later for $19 million.
Weiner, son of radio host Michael Savage, created Rockstar in 1998. Forbes puts his net worth at $4.4 billion.
No stranger to the real estate game, Weiner bought NBA star Carlos Boozer’s Sunset Strip estate in 2006 and sold a concrete megalith in the Hollywood Hills for $8 million in 2009. Nickelback bassist Mike Kroeger’s new haunt in the Outpost Estates section of the Hollywood Hills has an eerie past.
The two-storey home, which Kroeger bought for $3.795 million, first belonged to Bela Lugosi, the actor famous for playing Dracula in the 1931 film.
Built in 1935 by Charles E. Toberman, the Mediterraneanstyle estate is reminiscent of a bygone time. A pair of gargoyles frame the entry. It is said that Lugosi used to let his pet panther roam the half-acre grounds.
Past the ivy-draped facade, there are 4,568 square feet of hardwood-lined interiors. The kitchen features booth seating and a brick fireplace. Other spaces include a living and dining room topped with chandeliers and a study atop the staircase. Four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms fill out the rest of the floor plan.
The house was also once home to Ed Limato, the late talent agent who represented such clients as Nicolas Cage, Mel Gibson, Steve Martin and Denzel Washington.
Kroeger, who founded the Canadian rock band in 1995 with his brother Chad, is trading in one set of palm trees for another. His coastal retreat in Maui is on the market for $4.88 million.