Raphael Stevens
More stories
- in Luxury
Ryan Murphy Just Sold His Spanish Colonial Revival-Style Home in Beverly Hills for $16.5 Million
Though it took about a year and a half, and he was compelled to come down a considerable amount off its original price of nearly $18 million, film and television dynamo Ryan Murphy has sold his celeb-pedigreed Beverly Hills mansion for its full $16.25 million final asking price.
The six-time Emmy winner, whose full slate of projects is hardly limited to “Ratched,” Lone Star” and “Pose,” bought the encyclopedically refurbished and fastidiously maintained, Ralph Flewelling-designed 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival-style residence more than 11 years ago for $10 million from famously architecture and design savvy Oscar-winning actor Diane Keaton. However, he hasn’t lived there—at least not full time—since he and his growing family moved to an even bigger spread in nearby Brentwood a couple of years ago.
Initially restored by Keaton, after which it was featured Architectural Digest, the nearly 8,500-square-foot home is uniquely entered through a combination foyer/library under a soaring groin-vaulted ceiling and showcases dark wood and glossy terra-cotta tile floors, numerous arched fireplaces, hand-forged wrought iron accents, exposed wood ceiling and period light fixtures.
Plush and refined with a total of seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms (plus two powder rooms), the home’s main living spaces include ample formal living and dining rooms, a gourmet kitchen and a den that doubles as a media room. Many rooms open through French doors to the backyard and/or to an arched colonnade that wraps around a bricked courtyard that’s shaded by a couple of pepper trees with a fountain at its center.
Two of the main-house’s six bedrooms are on the main floor and suitable for guests or staff, while the sprawling owner’s suite offers a fireplace, two bathrooms and two balconies, one that overlooks the courtyard and the other with a view over the backyard. The house also includes a study, a fitness room and a multi-room guesthouse.
Strands of light that span the backyard are reflected in the simply rectangular, ever-so-slightly above-ground swimming pool, and towering cacti make a prickly fence around a large patio between the main house and guest house.
The one-of-a-kind property was jointly listed with Kevin Augunas and Chris Cortazzo at Compass, while the buyer was repped in the deal by Crosby Doe at Crosby Doe Associates.Last year Murphy and his husband, photographer David Miller, sold a Laguna Beach, Calif., compound for $10.65 million, while at the same time two of their homes, the aforementioned Brentwood spread and a bespoke New York City townhouse, were featured in an Architectural Digest article penned by Murphy with photos by Miller.
See more images of the mansion below:Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
Realtor.com More
- in Luxury
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Just Gave Their Beverly Hills Mansion a $6 Million Price Cut
You may already recognize this house from Chrissy Teigen’s social media posts and her cooking demos. But you might not have seen the entire spectacular eight-bedroom, nine-bath home. The place is nothing short of a design masterpiece, with only the best finishes and incredible attention to detail. This all makes sense, considering it’s owned by such stylish stars: Teigen and her musician husband, John Legend.
The property was originally developed in 1966, but that first house is long gone, replaced by a more contemporary structure built by a developer before Rihanna purchased the estate. When Legend and Teigen took it over in 2016, they redid every bit of the interior with the help of designer Don Stewart, never cutting corners and always opting for top-of-the-line finishes. Take the solid brass doors to the dining room, which echo the stunning brass surrounds used on the fireplaces in the living room and the primary bedroom suite. Then there’s the teak ceiling they imported from Thailand and the marble Teuco soaking tub brought in from Italy.
When the couple originally put the house up for sale last fall—they needed a home with more space for their growing family—it was listed for $23.95 million. They’ve since dropped the price to $17.95 million. Now, says broker Marshall Peck with Douglas Elliman, “This is the best deal in Beverly Hills. The finishes are just mind-blowing. And people are also blown away by the ceiling heights—33 feet in the living room—and 22 feet high in the master bedroom on the second floor. That’s just unheard of.”
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s former Beverly Hills home.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The kitchen, naturally, is a showpiece, as it served as Teigen’s studio, with its blond wood cabinetry and unique waterfall-style marble countertops (a design mimicked for the vanity countertops in the primary suite’s bathroom). The oak floors were given a ceruse treatment (essentially a lime wash that brings out the wood’s grain). The cinema room has an incredible sound system and projector, and its cozy style will make you want to stay for a double feature. A home gym, a safe room and a massive playroom with ocean views round out some of the other special spaces within the house, each lovingly designed.
But perhaps the most special space of all is the primary bedroom suite, with pocket doors that open wide to a private balcony that looks over the pool as well as Coldwater Canyon, all the way to downtown Los Angeles. “The view of the sunset from the master and from the living room at night is just magical,” says Peck. While the bedroom feels like a serene but stylish oasis—that fireplace!—its extra rooms really put it over the top in a good way. The “glam room” is perfect for hair and makeup to get camera ready, and a lovely place to relax in the massage chair. The bathroom has that incredible black marble tub with a view as well as a spacious double shower. But the piece de resistance within this suite are the substantial dual closets with their glass doors and lit display shelves. They look better than those in a Rodeo Drive boutique and, according to Peck, they took many months to get just right.The grand entryway with Legend’s piano on display.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The outdoors got a similarly luxe treatment. The couple spared no expense in building the heated saltwater pool, hot tub and wood deck, as well as an outdoor kitchen with a stunning shaded pavilion draped with grapevines. “It feels like you’re in Napa Valley” when you’re out there, says Peck. Lush plantings add to the feeling of a sanctuary. Located at the end of a lane, gated with security, the entire 0.84-acre estate feels private and far from the bustle of LA and the commercial district of Beverly Hills, though it’s just minutes away.
The living room.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo
The formal dining room has dramatic finishes.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The remodeled kitchen that starred in Teigen’s cooking demos.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The TV room, just off the kitchen.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The primary bedroom with a brass-fronted fireplace.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The primary suite’s bathroom with the marble tub imported from Italy.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo
The walk-in closet.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
Plenty of room for shoes.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
Teigen’s walk-in closet.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The “glam” room for hair and makeup includes massage chairs.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo
The kids’ playroom.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The screening room.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The personal fitness studio.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The outdoor terrace.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman
The pool.
Photo: Anthony Barcelo/Douglas Elliman More
- in Luxury
A Ukrainian Billionaire’s Incredible Mega Estate
Take a look at this incredible mega estate in Ukraine owned by Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov, who is a Ukrainian billionaire businessman and oligarch. Known as the richest man in the Ukraine (with a net worth of $7.6 billion USD), Rinat also bought the world’s most expensive flat in London in 2011 for $221 million and […] More
- in Luxury
Madonna Just Bought This $19.3 Million Hidden Hills Mansion From The Weeknd
She’s back! After a dozen years hopping around between New York City, the Hamptons and Lisbon, Portugal, Madonna has decided to set down some multimillion-dollar roots in Los Angeles.
Though she’s recently been on the East Coast, where she celebrated Easter in the Hamptons, the shape-shifting pop star returned to the City of Angels last year amid the Covid-19 quarantines, and while in town as been holed up in a lavish rented estate in the Coldwater Canyon area of Beverly Hills. Her decision to stay a while just might have something to do with the biopic about her life that she’s slated to direct and that she has co-written with Diablo Cody.
The mononymous “Like A Virgin” singer, now 62, social media savvy and still pushing sociocultural buttons, turning out fashion trends and making hit records— her 14th studio album, “Madame X,” released in 2019, was her ninth to debut at the top of the Billboard 200, looked far and wide for a suitable mansion to call home. In the end she eschewed her former real estate stomping grounds of Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills, where she’s owned homes in decades past, and instead headed for the suburbs, dropping $19.3 million on The Weeknd’s mansion in guard-gated and celeb-filled Hidden Hills.
Entrance of the gated home featuring a large motor court.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The Weeknd purchased the then-brand-new mansion almost four years ago for $18.2 million and initially put it on the market amid piles of publicity with a much-too-optimistic ask of not quite $25 million. The price eventually dipped to almost $22 million before Madge came along and bargained another $2.7 million off the price. With nine bedrooms and nine full and two half bathrooms spread over about 12,500 square feet between the seven-bedroom main house and two-bedroom guest house, there’s plenty of room for the gap-toothed OG Material Girl, who rolls deep with four of her six children along with a retinue of assistants, nannies and security personnel.
The Weeknd was represented by Angel Salvador at The Agency while Madonna was represented in the deal by Trevor Wright at The Beverly Hills Estates.
A gated drive rolls down to a large motor court, while the double-height foyer sets the stage for the clean-lined contemporary opulence found throughout the property.The bright interior of the home’s entrance space.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The stair gallery next to the foyer is plenty capacious enough that a baby grand piano can comfortably be nipped under the floating staircase.
The wooden staircase next to the home gallery.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The formal living room spills out to the backyard, while the formal dining room includes an eye-catching nearby walk-in wine room with custom LED lighting.
The formal living room.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The colossal kitchen is chock-a-block with premium quality culinary accouterment and has not just one but two huge islands with stone counters that waterfall off the ends. Adjoining the kitchen is a breakfast nook and a huge family room where a wall of glass disappears into the walls to seamlessly unite the room with a heated loggia.
The spacious kitchen with two large islands.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
In addition to a staff wing off the kitchen and family room, the main floor includes a spacious guest suite, a gym, a media lounge and an office with a black marble fireplace.
The cozy office space with a black marble fireplace.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The primary bedroom presides over a wing of its own on the second floor and includes a fireplace set into a polished stone wall between LED-lit display shelves and a private balcony with a view over the backyard. There are also two fitted walk-in closets and a lavishly appointed bath.
The primary bedroom with a private balcony and expansive view.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Between the main house and an open-air pavilion, complete with fireplace and outdoor kitchen, are a velvety expanse of evenly mown lawn and a zero-edge swimming pool and spa.
The zero-edge pool and spa on the property.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The horse barn has been converted to additional flexible living space, while the five-car garage easily doubles as an at-home disco with custom violet-colored LED lighting.
The futuristic five-car garage with LED lighting.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Tucked up into the hillside behind the pool house, there’s a shaded viewing terrace alongside the full-sized outdoor basketball court.
The shaded terrace and full-size basketball court.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
A few of Madonna’s new neighbors in Hidden Hills include Lil Wayne, who just spent $15.4 million on his big ol’ Hidden Hills manse, Drake, John Stamos, Dwyane Wade, Jeffree Star, Lori Loughlin and several members of the Kardashian clan.
Madge’s former house in Beverly Hills, which she bought in 2003 for $12.5 million from Sela Ward and sold a decade later for $19.5 million, is now owned by Rockstar energy drink mogul Russ Weiner who scooped it up in 2015 for $19 million and has had it on and off the market more times over the last four years than anyone would ever bother to count at a variety of prices that soared as high as $49 million and dipped briefly in late 2020 and early 2021 to $29.995 million. It is currently listed at $35 million.The globe-trotting diva’s stateside holdings include a massive triple-wide townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side she bought almost a dozen years ago for $32 million and a 30-ish-acre horse farm in the Hamptons. And, about 3.5 years ago she was widely reported to have spent about $9 million for an 18th-century Moorish Revival mansion near Lisbon, in Portugal.
Check out more images of the estate below.Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com More
- in Luxury
Twice KISS’d: Gene Simmons Just Relisted His Beverly Hills Mansion for $25 Million
Usually when a home is taken off the market and then relisted, the price gets a shave. Not in this case. Gene Simmons of KISS gave the asking price on his Beverly Hills mansion a $3 million hike, raising it from $22 million in October 2020 to $25 million this week.
The property still has a house with over 13,000 square feet, seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, formal and informal dining rooms, office, bar and bonus room. Plus, the full-sized tennis court, parking for 30 cars and a pool with a 60-foot waterslide. So what’s changed?
The estate got a few upgrades over the winter months. “We didn’t want anyone to come in and complain,” Simmons tells Robb Report. So they replaced some of the electrical, added a new roof system to prevent leaves from clogging the gutters, changed some remaining wood parts of the home to poured concrete and added more foliage. The five lead-lined safety rooms dotted throughout the house were also made more secure and easier for residents to access. “If a bad guy breaks in,” Simmons says, “he’ll never find you.” The estate also sits on nearly two acres, with lush greenery helping to keep it private.
The home has four levels on one side and three on the other, meeting in the middle at the gorgeous great room with those tall windows on each side. On the lower level, there’s a six-car garage, a billiards room and a wine cellar, though the musician doesn’t drink. While one wing was used for meeting and his KISS museum memorabilia, he decided against building a music or recording room, instead opting to keep the place as an escape.
The patio and pool.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
While Simmons and his wife, model-actor Shannon Tweed, bought the property in 1987, it didn’t always look so spectacular, but it did have a storied past. The home that was originally on-site was a 3,500-square-foot wooden farmhouse. “We flattened it and brought in tons of soil, spent close to $11 million sprucing up the place,” Simmons says.
They bought the acreage from Irving Azoff, who went on to manage Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles. “The Eagles were put together on the property,” Simmons says. And before that, Nicholas Schenk, one of the original Hollywood moguls, used to keep his mistress at the estate.A regulation-size tennis court is on site.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The Simmonses gradually renovated it and completed the build on the estate’s current house in 2000. While the exterior of the home has plenty of drama with its enormous windows, dual staircases and multiple wings, inside, the vibe is less rockstar and more family-traditional, with a flair for comfort and simplicity (though admittedly on a grand scale) rather than excess. Much of which was showcased on their television show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels.
In October, when the couple first listed the Benedict Canyon place, it was said that they were moving to another residence they already owned in tax-free Washington state. But that is inaccurate—Simmons has never owned property there. And recently, there have been murmurings about Simmons and Tweed purchasing a house in a gated Malibu community, atop a secluded peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. Simmons is now setting the record straight—Tweed has purchased the house as a personal investment with her own money, but they do not plan to live there. She also bought a lakefront property in Whistler, Simmons says. The duo has apparently long kept their accounts, taxes, investments and business interests separate. “Good fences make good neighbors,” he says.
The grand foyer.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
That said, the couple still plans to leave LA for a quieter lifestyle and escape the celebrity map listings and tour buses. “We’ve always loved LA, but you do have to deal with fires every year, every once in a while the ground shakes, and those tourist buses. Everything has its time,” Simmons says. “The house is too big for us. It’s just Shannon and myself and four dogs. The empty nest thing is happening.” They’re headed for neighboring Nevada. “In Nevada, we’re close enough. The kids have their homes here in LA. It’s just an hour flight.”
He’s already purchased a 12,000-square-foot home there with an indoor swimming pool with slides and is considering buying an adjacent 90-acre parcel. What’s with all the slides? “If you’re going to entertain, some folks want to sip coffee but others want to swing from the chandeliers,” he says. “A home shouldn’t just be a home, but a place where you have parties and enjoy yourself.”
The Beverly Hills listing remains in the hands of Million Dollar Listing brokers Matt and Josh Altman of the Altman Brothers for Douglas Elliman.Wide-plank flooring and incredible woodwork elevate the living room.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The home office.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The dining room.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The kitchen.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
Soaring windows let sunshine in, even to the upper floor.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The primary bedroom suite.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
Simmons’ Beverly Hills estate.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The mansion has seven bedrooms and nine baths.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles More
