A lavish asking price for a former convent
Restaurateur who lost a feud with Katy Perry seeks $40 million for a storied Silver Lake estate
Restaurateur Dana Hollister is responsible for Silver Lake staples such as Cliff ’s Edge and 4100 Bar, as well as Brite Spot in nearby Echo Park and Villain’s Tavern in the Arts District. Her next big move is in real estate.
She listed the Paramour Estate, one of Silver Lake’s largest and most storied properties, for $40 million — a mammoth price tag that is leaps and bounds above the nearby homes nestled in the hills of the scenic neighborhood.
If she gets anywhere close to what she’s asking, it will be the priciest home sale Silver Lake has ever seen. The current crown belongs to Silvertop, a futuristic John Lautner masterpiece that sold to former Beats Electronics President Luke Wood for $8.55 million in 2014.
Like many of L.A.’s iconic homes, the nearly centuryold mansion boasts an ownership history as fascinating as the house itself.
Robert D. Farquhar built the lavish residence in 1923, and it sits on 4.3 acres atop the highest promontory in Silver Lake. Farquhar’s other works include Beverly Hills High School, Pasadena’s famed Fenyes Estate and the Owlwood Estate in Holmby Hills, which traded hands for $88 million late last year.
Known formally as the Canfield-Moreno Estate, it was commissioned by silent film star Antonio Moreno and his wife, oil heiress Daisy Canfield Moreno. During their stay, the 22,000-squarefoot mansion and its trio of guesthouses were used as a boarding school for orphaned girls during the Great Depression.
After Canfield Moreno died of injuries she sustained in a car accident on Mulholland Drive, the property was eventually sold to the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who used the residence as a convent for nuns and continued to house orphaned girls. After a few decades, they sold the home to Hollister in 1998 for $2.25 million, records show.
It wasn’t the only time Hollister’s ties to nuns made her a key player in a coveted piece of real estate. In 2015, she was locked in a bitter legal battle with pop star Katy Perry and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles over the right to buy a prized eight-acre convent in Los Feliz with 30,000 square feet of living space, a pool, tower and prayer house.
In 2014, the archdiocese agreed to sell the place to Perry for $14.5 million, but shortly afterward, Hollister struck a deal to buy the home for $15.5 million from the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who claimed they had the right to sell the property over the archdiocese.
After a years-long legal battle between the archdiocese and the sisters that saw one nun die in court during a post-judgment hearing, Hollister was forced to pay $6.5 million in damages, and the sale fell through. To date, it still hasn’t sold.
Hollister’s Silver Lake home rivals the Los Feliz convent with acres of gardens, lawns and landscaping surrounding the main house. During her stay, Hollister updated the estate to serve as a boutique rental space for weddings and parties.
“It was very fortunate that the property was a girls’ school and later a convent for so many decades because it was not subject to any dramatic alterations, which would have changed its intrinsic beauty,” Hollister said.
She ripped out the red carpeting to reveal floors of walnut, travertine and pink marble. In the kitchen, she replaced linoleum counters with wood and also swapped fluorescent lights for period chandeliers.
“The bold colors, opulent gilded mirrors, crystal chandeliers, allegorical artwork, taxidermy and silk upholstered settees that decorate the mansion set a feeling of environmental submersion or time travel,” she said. “A visitor can experience what it must have been like to visit the mansion in its glorious prime.”
She found a few secrets during her renovation, including hidden cabinets in the dining room that were used to hide alcohol during Prohibition.
In addition to 15 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, there’s a great room with stenciled beams and a lowerlevel lounge with French doors and a spiral staircase. Decks, patios and balconies survey the grounds outside, which include parking for 50 cars and a swimming pool overlooking the city.
Sally Forster Jones of Compass holds the listing.
Former Bryant home is flipped
A piece of the Kobe Bryant real estate portfolio is getting the fix-and-flip treatment in Irvine. Less than six months after the Lakers legend’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, sold the home for $2 million, it’s back on the market for $2.6 million.
The listing says that nearly $200,000 went toward remodeling the Tuscanstyle abode, which covers 2,400 square feet in the Summit at Turtle Ridge, a gated community a few miles from the Bryants’ longtime mansion in Newport Coast. The couple bought the Irvine home as an investment property for $1.3 million in 2013, records show.
The exterior looks about the same as it did when Vanessa Bryant sold it last year, with a clay tile roof and brick facade. Ivy tops the garage, and a gated courtyard approaches the single-story floor plan.
Living spaces look a bit more modern now: The hardwood floors are lighter, the beamed ceilings were whitewashed, and the chandeliers have been swapped for a more contemporary look.
Three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms complete the floor plan. There’s a private courtyard with a fountain off to the side, and out back, a patio adds a garden, hot tub and built-in grill.
Joele Romeo and Matt Marneau of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty hold the listing.
Vanessa Bryant had no trouble selling the property in October. She inked a deal two days after listing it and hauled in $5,000 more than her asking price.
Lakers GM Pelinka angling for a trade
The NBA trade deadline has passed, but Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka is trying to cut a deal of his own in Newport Beach. He listed his custom home of more than a decade for $3.95 million.
Pelinka, who worked as an NBA agent before joining the Lakers in 2017, paid $2 million for the property in 2009, records show. It’s a few miles from the Bryant family mansion; Kobe Bryant was a longtime client of Pelinka.
He made some aesthetic changes during his stay, turning the tan exterior white and adding modern lighting fixtures. Other features include distressed beams, limestone fireplaces, wrought-iron accents and floors of stone and pecan wood.
Throughout the main level, French doors open to outdoor spaces such as a landscaped courtyard, a covered patio with a fireplace, and a turf yard with a dining area. Upstairs, the primary suite has a private balcony. It’s one of five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in 3,500 square feet.
Pelinka, 51, played college basketball at Michigan, where he won an NCAA championship in 1989 before founding Landmark Sports Agency and representing players such as Bryant, Derek Fisher, James Harden and Andre Iguodala.
In 2017, he signed a fiveyear deal to join the Lakers as general manager, and he also serves as the team’s vice president of basketball operations.
Heather Kidder of Arbor Real Estate holds the listing.
KISS star wants $3 million more
KISS star Gene Simmons is looking to cash in on Southern California’s hot housing market, listing his Beverly Hills home for $25 million — $3 million more than he was asking late last year.
The boosted price is a result of some work Simmons did on the property over the last few months, including new landscaping, rain gutters, electrical work and earthquake protection measures.
He has owned the home for nearly four decades. Records show the 71-year-old rock veteran shelled out $1.34 million for it in 1984 and quickly replaced the existing 3,500-square-foot farmhouse with a 13,400-squarefoot showplace. But now, Simmons said he’s through with California.
“It’s time for a quieter lifestyle. No more tour buses or celebrity maps or fires or earthquakes,” said Simmons, who is relocating to Lake Tahoe. “We love the fans, but it’s time to get away from everyone.”
Simmons raised his family in the home, and it served as the primary setting for “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” the A&E reality series that followed the Simmons clan for seven seasons. His children now live in Hollywood Hills, and his wife, model-actress Shannon Tweed, recently picked up her own place overlooking the ocean in Malibu.
Spanning two acres, the gated estate includes a tennis court and swimming pool in addition to the twostory home. During his stay, Simmons added a pair of KISS-themed rooms to house his memorabilia — everything from condoms to caskets — but they’ve since been remodeled.
“A family wants to move into a house, not a KISS museum,” Simmons said.
Elsewhere are seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, an office, bonus room and bar. A patio with lounges and dining areas surround the swimming pool and spa fed by a waterfall.
A native of Israel, Simmons co-founded KISS in the early 1970s and serves as the band’s bassist and vocalist. Known for their overthe-top makeup and costumes, the New York-based group has released 20 studio albums and is one of the bestselling bands ever, with more than 75 million records sold.
Josh and Matt Altman of Douglas Elliman of California hold the listing.