September 25, 2008
Britney Spears does it again
Little miss Britney Spears is selling her Beverly Hills home after having it less than two years. This gurl has been in the news a lot the last two years. Many of us wondered if she was losing her ever-lovin’ mind. And really, shame on those around her who tried to exploit her during that time (yes, mr. paparazzo, we’re looking at you).
The things Ms. Spears did during that time was a tabloid’s dream. But so many of us just thought it was sad. And strange. And just a bit surreal. So even though we’re not really fans of her music, we’re still glad that she seems to have moved on from “teh crazy” and into a bit more stability.
This home, located in a gated community called The Summit, has 6 bedrooms and 6 1/2 baths according to listing information. Additionally, it has a wet bar, library, den, and grand foyer. It boasts around 7,500 square feet with high ceilings, millwork, and stone and mosaic tile floors. In fact, the $7,900,000 listing includes select furnishings, accessories and art work. We guess Miss Britney doesn’t want to take along all of her baggage. Ahem.
And who can resist a chef’s kitchen with Viking appliances and a breakfast nook that’s open to the great room? It has a huge island, too, which is a great feature. The pictures only showed a part of the kitchen, so it appears that there may not be a lot of cabinets, which kind of surprises us. But it’s also possible the storage is just out of the frame.
We initially didn’t like the grand foyer pictures, until we saw a shot from the 2nd floor. All you see are the bookshelves on all walls, and a massive chandelier dropping through a cutout in the middle to hover above the foyer.
Take a look at the rest of the pictures for views of the patio and pool, and the rest of the house.
No real word yet where she plans to go, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Maybe she’s looking for a bit of quiet stability. Lord knows her children could probably use summa that.
[source]
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts by Becky Scott
September 16, 2008
Brad Pitt quietly expands his Los Feliz compound

Photo by Ryan Fuertes/BuzzFoto.com
Well, darlings, of course Brad Pitt can’t stay out of the news for very long. This time he bought a 1,534-square-foot home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. It’s adjacent to several properties that Pitt already owns.
This 1932 two bedroom, one bath home has just a small 0.15 acre lot. And now his total properties in that vicinity is up to four, on just a little over 1 1/2 acres.
We guess that Pitt is doing just what Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi are doing: buying up property around their home in order to increase the amount of privacy that they have.
Big Time Listings broke the Pitt story, and they list the other Pitt properties as well:
- A 5-bedroom, 1915 craftsman-style house with 5,338 square feet (bought in 1994)
- A 2,454-square-foot home adjoining the first (bought in 1996)
- A 1,653-square-foot home, also adjoining (bought in 1998)
Rumor has it that the newest purchase had a view into Pitt’s original property, so it’s possible that he bought it for privacy concerns. Brad Pitt also owns a couple more homes in California (Malibu and Santa Barbara), one in Nawlins, and possibly a home near his parents in Missouri.
Of course, the biggest news most recently relating to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or Brangelina as so many of the gossip rags call them) was their rental of Chateau Miraval in France. At the time, rumors flew that the jet-setting couple had paid $60 million for the 1,000+ acre estate and vineyard. Instead, the couple actually leased the the property for three years so Jolie could give birth to their twins in France, in honor of her French grandmother.
You can see more pictures of the French property on the next page.
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts by Becky Scott
September 8, 2008
Nicholas Cage re-lists Bel Air mansion
Nicholas Cage recently re-listed his 11,800-square-foot Bel Air mansion for just under $30 million. Cage had pulled the 9-bedroom, 9-bath home’s listing in December of last year. It had been for sale for $35 million.
Big Time Listings reports the house came back on the market September 3rd at $29,999,000. It has approximately 1 acre of land according to the listing, a large lot these days for anywhere in Los Angeles. The 1940 mansion features a breakfast area and dining area, den, family and living rooms, an office, and a library/study.
It also includes high ceilings (which we love, except for when it’s time to change a light bulb), a theater, a custom wine cellar, game room, and an Olympic size pool. Hey, maybe Michael Phelps should take a good look at this place.
Cage isn’t the first celebrity to own this amazing property. Dean Martin once owned the place, as did Tom Jones (who had it for over 20 years). But don’t think you can go wonder through the home on a whim, darlings. The listing states it will only be shown to pre-qualified buyers. No lookey-loos allowed.
In July, we mentioned another property that Cage had listed in Las Vegas for $9,950,000. Sounds like Nicholas is clearing out some of his property holdings.
*We seem to have most of our internet issues worked out, so we’ll be back to a regular posting schedule. We’ll even see if we can give you a few bonus shots to make up for missing some days last week.*
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts by Becky Scott
August 6, 2008
Michelle Forbes lists Hollywood Dell home for $1,150,000
Actress Michelle Forbes has listed her Hollywood Dell 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home for sale at $1,150,000. The home is a secluded mid-century turnkey with the aforementioned beds, baths, and a bonus room according to the listing.
The home does feature some nice (but small) gardens, including a cute little bamboo fountain. It is definitely secluded though, with walls all around, gates at the front, and tall trees surrounding the property.
The living room features beamed vaulted ceilings with a nice fireplace at the end. The room reminds us a bit of a country church we knew growing up. Maybe a nice rug (a bit away from the fire, of course) could warm it up and give it a bit more definition? The bamboo floors are nice - you know how we love hardwood.
The kitchen is small, with white cabinets and walls throughout. The breakfast nook has a small table for two tucked under the window. We would knock out that center bar with the stovetop and expand the kitchen into the rest of the space, especially since there’s already a big dining room. However, someone who has been in the kitchen told us that it is quite lovely and the perfect size for the home.
The master bedroom also has a vaulted ceiling. And here, it works much better. The floor to ceiling windows let in a lot of light. And the doors open straight onto the patio. The room could do without that blinding white, though. The walls, the curtains, the couch, the bedspread. It’s a bit too much white for our tastes (our dislike of all white is well-documented). A nice throw over the bed would add just a splash of color. The other bedrooms seem to be of a decent size. One of the rooms has been used as a workout area.
We love the abundance of bookshelves, but think it’s a bit odd to have them in the dining room. That may just be us, but it seems like the room can’t decide if it’s a library or a place to eat. It also might be the best (or only) place to showcase the dramatic shelves, but it’s just not where we’d personally put them.
Overall it’s not a bad sort of house. We do like the spiral staircase, although personally we’d have to wait to navigate it after coffee. (Fortunately for that, the master suite is on the ground floor.)
It’s on a tiny lot, though, just 1/10 of an acre according to Mr. Big Time.
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts, Luxury Lifestyle, Press Releases by Becky Scott
Molly Sims, best known for her role in “Las Vegas” or maybe swimsuit modeling for Sports Illustrated, listed her Hollywood Hills home for $2,999,000. The 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath house is 3,100 square-feet and is built with a 1930s Spanish style (with Hollywood flair, according to the listing).
Both Ann Breoff of the LA Times and the Real Estalker wrote of this, so we’re not sure who got the scoop on this one.
The listing highlights a newer kitchen with carrera marble, Viking appliances, a Sub Zero and a wine fridge. We might just be in love already. The kitchen does look quite nice, even with the white-on-white of most everything. Can we just mention that the perspective in these pictures is killing us? Can someone please hire a damn professional photographer or even a competent amateur to take these pics? Although in this case, it looks like the post-processing is what skewed the proportions. C’mon real estate agents, let us properly drool over the homes, will you? We’ll say “pretty please” if it will help.
Can we just stop for a moment and talk about the master bath? Love. Huge shower, and what looks like a fair-sized tub as well. While we’re not exhibitionist enough to have a big window like that in the shower (not to mention at least a door or curtain to keep the steam in), we love it anyway. But we’d have to put something on the window to keep the gardener from getting more of a view than either one of us would like. Now the sinks on the other hand, we’re not as wild about. The countertop just doesn’t quite match and we’re not a fan of the sinks. But those are minor points on our list, anyway.
We’re not sure what the deal is with the wallpaper and shag carpet in the den, or sitting room, or office, whichever it is. But again, that’s something that can (usually) be fairly easily remedied. We do like the collection of mirrors and frames on the wall, though. Nicely arranged.
Take look at the patio with ceiling fan and tons of seating space. That is absolutely a perfect place for entertaining on a nice summer night. And the area by the pool isn’t so bad, either. Overall, it seems to be quite a lovely abode, with lots of greenery and shade. We wouldn’t turn it down, is what we’re saying.
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts by Becky Scott
August 4, 2008
Dylan McDermott selling out of Brentwood
Dylan McDermott has put his Brentwood home on the market for $11 million. What is it with some of the hottest actors getting divorces and selling their homes? There have been several, including Kiefer Sutherland. We remember McDermott all the way back in Steel Magnolias (which starred Julia Roberts, who was once engaged to Kiefer), and have enjoyed gazing on his dreamy likeness any chance we get, especially during the 7-year run of “The Practice“.
The Spanish-style house (listed as Hacienda, but reminding us more of the old Spanish missions than the Spanish homes) has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths and sits on about 30,000-square-feet (or just under 3/4 of an acre) of beautiful park-like grounds.
Mr. Big Time got the scoop on this deal, and he reports that McDermott bought the home through a trust for just over $3.9 million in 1999 — from Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, no less. The listing boasts a courtyard and fountain, a pool and spa area overlooking the hills, and a 2nd-story ‘muse’ room.
The living room has vaulted, 2-story ceilings with a carved balcony overlooking. We just love the exposed beams against the textured walls — even if the walls are white. It works here with the dark wood beams and floors. The room would be too dark otherwise. There are lots of doors and windows down the hallway that appear to open up into the courtyard.
There’s lots of wood and tile and area rugs. No carpet in sight. Our tendency toward allergies would be quite happy not to have any carpet. Rugs can be taken out and cleaned, thankyouverymuch.
The formal living room is quite nice, although we’re not too big on the two gold-toned chairs in there. The fireplace almost makes up for them. And then there are the bedrooms. The setups aren’t too bad if you ignore the decor and concentrate on the basic room design. There’s something about the nursery that just bugs us a little, although we haven’t put our finger on it yet. And the little girl’s room is well, quite pink. But that’s nothing a bit of paint can’t cure and the shelving all the way around the perimeter is great for stuffed animals, books, or knick-knacks (but not so great for earthquakes).
The kitchen is actually larger than we expected. The pale green cabinets really aren’t that bad. We’d like a slightly longer island in the middle, but can’t tell if that would cramp the space based on the pictures we saw. Not sure we like the apron sink, but that’s just us.
Overall, we really, really like this house. Yes, there may be a few decorating hiccups, but we absolutely adore the Spanish/ hacienda/ mission look. Especially when done this well.
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts by Becky Scott
Kiefer Sutherland, son of noted actor Donald Sutherland but certainly quite famous in his own right, just recently listed his warehouse, which is a combined living and commercial building. It has a 6,000-square-foot loft and a recording studio. The price? A cool $4,895,000.
Sutherland has owned this Silver Lake residence for about 6 years. Mr. Big Time reports that Kiefer bought the 1928 warehouse for $700,000. It has three bedrooms, four baths, and is definitely warehouse/ industrial in style. All of the rooms open into one another.
We’re not so sure about such an open floor plan. Although it’s nice to have a lot of space, it seems like the place would be way too echo-y for our taste. The rooms are simply defined by furniture groupings or, as in the case of the living ‘room’, a big area rug.
The listing calls the kitchen a ‘cooks kitchen.’ It does appear to have a fair number of cabinets, nice big refrigerator unit, and a center island with seating for at least four. But with this kind of floor plan, we think so much more could be done.
In the dining room/corner, there’s a long, dark table and high-backed chairs. Leftovers from the Three Mustketeers movie?
The pictures are from across the room, as if the agent was trying to convey how much space there is. But really, all it does is make it hard to tell how the place is broken up.
Interestingly, the real estate agent is Sutherland’s ex-wife Kelly.
We’ve been big fans of Sutherland from waaaaay back in the day of Lost Boys and Flatliners. You know, when Julia Roberts left him (practically at the altar) for Jason Patric? We’re certainly glad to see the success he has had with “24″ (even though we don’t watch it or anything that requires such religious viewing) and how handsomely he has matured. Some things really do get better with age.
Filed under Celebrity Property, For Enthusiasts by Becky Scott



