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    Melanie Martinez’s Stylish Los Angeles Retreat Is Up for Grabs

    Now that she’s upgraded into a sprawling Mediterranean-style property in Topanga Canyon, an unincorporated Los Angeles neighborhood tucked into the remote hills between Malibu and the San Fernando Valley, Melanie Martinez has unsurprisingly put her custom-built equestrian spread in the prestigious guard-gated Bell Canyon community due north of Calabasas up for sale.

    Records show the singer, songwriter and producer—who first gained fame as a contestant on The Voice in 2012 at just 16 years old, and subsequently blossomed into a “pop star plucked from the imagination of Dr. Seuss”—doled out $3.1 million over the summer for her new home, which has three bedrooms and four baths in a little more than 3,300 square feet of living space.

    Martinez recently paid $3.1 million for this gated estate in semi-remote Topanga Canyon.

    Google Earth

    Meanwhile, the other place she paid $2.1 million for in an August 2022 bidding war is already up for sale at $2.85 million.

    Resting behind a gated brick driveway, amid a heavily wooded parcel spanning almost an acre, the creamy stucco and wood-trimmed structure was custom built in 1979. Stylishly updated during Martinez’s short tenure, the two-story house features four bedrooms and a matching number of baths in 3,420 square feet of open-concept living space adorned throughout with hardwood floors, high ceilings, arched doorways and detailed woodwork.

    Set behind gates and a private brick driveway, the custom-built home draws heavy inspiration from French Normandy architecture.

    Lacey Wood Photography

    Especially standing out is a portico entryway that opens into an eye-catching foyer displaying a vaulted ceiling and staircase. From there, steps descend to a living room sporting a stone fireplace, wall of windows and wet bar, while a family room boasting a two-way white brick fireplace connects to a “completely reimagined” kitchen outfitted with an eat-in island and top-tier stainless appliances. Elsewhere are an office space and a dining room topped by a wrought-iron chandelier.

    Upstairs, the spacious primary bedroom is showcased by a sitting area, walk-in closet, and spa-like bath equipped with dual vanities, a soaking tub and separate shower; and outdoors, the secluded backyard hosts a sundeck-encased pool and spa flanked by a barbecue and kitchen setup with a fireplace, along with a covered terrace ideal for al fresco entertaining. There’s also a barn with three horse stalls, as well as a motorcourt and an attached three-car garage out front.

    The formal living room is highlighted by an exposed-beam ceiling, a bay window and floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace incorporating built-in shelving.

    Lacey Wood Photography

    Listed by Steve Clark of Backbeat Homes, the Bell Canyon property also comes with a $280-per-month HOA fee that provides the new owner with access to the community’s clubhouse and fitness center, tennis courts, and hiking, biking and horse trails.

    Now 28, the New York native is signed to Atlantic Records, through which she released her debut single and EP Dollhouse. The eccentric, visually oriented musician followed that up with the studio albums Cry Baby and K-12 (with an accompanying film), and the EP After School. Most recently, Martinez released Portals, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

    Click here for more photos of Melanie Martinez’s Bell Canyon house.

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    A Tech CEO’s Oceanfront Florida Mansion Is Up for Grabs at Nearly $22 Million

    After barely two years of ownership, Mike Tuchen has decided to hoist his Florida estate on an exclusive Hillsboro Beach barrier island in northeast Broward County back on the market. The San Francisco-based tech executive is asking a smidge under $22 million for the waterfront spread, which rests on almost three-quarters of an acre of land tucked between the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway.

    The CEO of Onfido, a global provider of identity and verification services, and his wife Sarasina purchased the property from Russian casino owner Maxim Smolentsev for almost $17 million in spring 2021. Built and designed in 2009 by Everton Development, the stately pink and white-trimmed structure offers five bedrooms and 10 baths spread across nearly 11,000 square feet of chic living space adorned throughout with a mix of marble and dark hardwood floors, decoratively trimmed walls and high wood-beam ceilings.

    The home is located on a barrier island known as “Millionaire’s Mile,” between the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean.

    The Carroll Group

    “This trophy estate represents the pinnacle of coastal living, offering the best of both worlds overlooking a pristine beach on one side and the Intracoastal with a boat dock on the other,” says listing agent Chad Carroll of The Carroll Group at Compass. “The property offers everything one could ever need; from prime location and gated privacy to immaculate design and incredible amenities, the level of luxury is incomparable.”

    Sited in the sought-after “Millionaire’s Mile” community, about 20 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale, the three-story structure boasts numerous amenities, including a club room, golf simulator, bar, wine cellar and gym. There’s also a spacious five-car garage, plus 100 feet of waterfront footage on the Intracoastal sporting a 70-foot dock and 30,000-pound boat lift.

    A cozy fireside club room is the ideal spot for entertaining guests.

    The Carroll Group

    Especially standing out inside is an entry foyer flanked by recessed wall niches. From there, a living room with a fireplace is highlighted by sliding glass doors spilling outside, a formal dining room has a built-in buffet, and a gourmet kitchen is outfitted with an eat-in island and top-tier stainless appliances. An adjacent dining area connects to a family room, while a posh upstairs master retreat is tricked out with a sitting room, private balconies, and a luxe bath flaunting a soaking tub and separate rainfall shower.

    Outdoors, the palm-laced grounds are showcased by Italian marble terraces a summer kitchen, and pool and spa abutting a grassy lawn and lounging patio, along with steps leading directly to the beach below.

    A set of steps leads directly to the beach below.

    The Carroll Group

    Per property records, the Tuchens also maintain an ocean-view residence in Pebble Beach, Calif., that they paid $6 million for a little more than six years ago, back in winter 2017.

    Click here for more photos of Mike Tuchen’s Florida house.

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    Just Sold for $8.4 Million, Paula Deen’s Former Savannah Estate Has Set a Local Sales Record for a Second Time

    Hey y’all! When down-home celebrity chef Paula Deen sold Riverbend, her sprawling Savannah, Georgia, estate, in 2020 for a teaspoonful more than $6.8 million, it pegged a record for the highest amount ever paid for a home in the Hostess City of the South.

    Now, the very same 4.62-acre riverfront compound, about 10 miles southeast of Savannah’s historic district and owned by a family from northern California who renamed it Vila Sacadura, has just been sold for $8.4 million, once again making it the most expensive home ever sold in Savannah.

    Listing agent Ridley Stallings of Corcoran Austin Hill Realty commented, “Vila Sacadura is a truly exceptional property, and the sale record is just a reflection of how special this property is, an iconic piece of coastal Savannah.”

    Altogether, the manicured spread has 14 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms across 28,000 square feet of casually luxurious living space divvied up between the main house, two guest cottages, a dock house, and a customized barn/guest house.

    At the end of a long, gated driveway that passes through verdant gardens is the French Caribbean-style main residence.

    Stephen Snyder of Snyder Film Productions

    At more than 14,000 square feet, the French Caribbean-style main residence, which has six bedrooms and six bathrooms, plus a couple of powder rooms, is nothing short of commodious, with a soaring, wood-clad ceiling in the colossal combination living and dining room that helps with the heat and humidity that blanket Savannah during the late summer months. 

    The centerpiece of the home, unsurprisingly, is the vast kitchen that’s outfitted with professional appliances, back-to-back copper sinks in the double-wide island, and a massive pantry for food, tableware, and culinary equipment storage. Elsewhere are a family room and informal dining area that open to outdoor living and entertaining spaces, a cozy wood-paneled den with a saltwater aquarium, and a spacious, river-view primary suite with two fireplaces, one in the sitting area of the bedroom and the other in the lavish bathroom.

    The huge, open-plan kitchen is at the heart of the 14,000-square-foot home.

    Stephen Snyder of Snyder Film Productions

    A deep loggia spans the back of the house, with an outdoor kitchen and plenty of room to eat and relax out of the sun. The loggia looks over the swimming pool, beyond which a tree-shaded lawn rolls down to the estate’s 300 feet of river frontage. At the end of the private dock is a charming dock house complete with a kitchen and a bathrooms

    The gated, cobblestone driveway passes under a vine-draped pergola that connects a twinned pair of one-bedroom, one-bathroom guest cottages before it arrives at the front of the main house, which sits amid lush, sculpted plantings.

    Arched windows in the primary bedroom frame views of the river.

    Near the front of the property is a fully customized, 10,000-square-foot barn that, in addition to garage space and a huge entertainment lounge with a wet bar, has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. There are magnificent live oak trees that drip with Spanish moss across the estate, which also includes groomed gardens and a half-acre stocked pond.

    The buyer was represented by Taavo Roos at Seabolt Realty. Vila Sacadura was listed with Ridley Stallings and Melissa Hall Rowan of Corcoran Austin Hill Realty, the same dynamic duo who represented the buyer in another recent, record-breaking transaction, the $6.167 million sale of a downtown mansion that marked the highest sum ever paid for a private home in Savannah’s historic district.

    Click here for more photos of Savannah’s Vila Sacadura. More

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    Michelle Pfeiffer Pays $10 Million for a Sophisticated L.A. Estate on the Palisades Riviera

    It’s no secret that Michelle Pfeiffer and her television producer husband David E. Kelley have a thing for the posh Westside of Los Angeles. The couple has bought and sold a number of homes there over the past few years, frequently at eye-popping prices. Two years ago, they inked a widely publicized deal to sell a Pacific Palisades mansion for $25 million to the ex-wife of a major TikTok investor. And way back in 2005, they sold a palatial Brentwood home for $18 million to its current owner—Disney CEO Bob Iger.

    Now the serial house flippers are at it again; records indicate they’ve ponied up $10.6 million to acquire a house located in a particularly prime pocket of the so-called Pacific Palisades Riviera. The 7,600-square-foot mansion happens to sit right next door to Bill Cosby’s longtime L.A. home, and it’s also sugar-borrowing distance from the lavish estates of Steven Spielberg, Sugar Ray Leonard and Dan Castellaneta.

    Built in 1993, the Mediterranean-inspired mansion last sold in 1995 for $2.8 million to legendary winemaker Al Scheid, who died in the house earlier this year. Kelley and Pfeiffer were eager to secure the keys to their very beige new castle, as they paid some $130,000 over the Scheid family’s initial asking price.

    The flat 0.38-acre lot is defined by the exceptionally tall trees that ring its perimeter; they dominate the front motorcourt, which is double-gated and features an attached three-car garage. Arched double front doors open into a grand formal entryway highlighted by a sweeping staircase. To the right of the foyer lies a fireplace-equipped living room brightened by multi-pane windows.

    Many of the other rooms are pleasingly luxurious ’90s decorative throwbacks, including the family room—with its granite-topped wet bar and burled hardwood floors—and the kitchen, which spills out into “an informal secondary family room,” per the listing. Upstairs are four of the home’s five bedrooms, all of them decked out in wall-to-wall carpeting. The supersized primary suite features a fireplace, dual closets, a sitting area and a private balcony overlooking the grassy yard.

    Out back, a vine-draped loggia hosts an outdoor dining patio, while terracotta tile steps lead down to rectangular swimming pool shaded by manicured hedgerows and multiple palm trees.

    Pfeiffer and Kelley also have ties to this smaller Palisades home, currently for sale at $7.4 million.

    Open House Foto

    Records also indicate that this is not the only Pacific Palisades property Pfeiffer and Kelley currently own. They’ve also got a far smaller and older house elsewhere in the neighborhood, which happens to be currently up for grabs at $7.4 million. The couple quietly bought that 1940s place in late 2021, paying $6.9 million. More

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    The Manhattan Apartment of Late Fashion Editor Grace Mirabella Sells for Close to Its $2.2 Million Asking Price

    The Manhattan apartment of late and influential fashion editor Grace Mirabella, on the eighth floor of one of Park Avenue’s most dapper white glove cooperative apartment houses, has been sold for close to its $2.195 million asking price after about six months on the market. 

    Mirabella served as editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine from 1971 to 1988—after Diana Vreeland and before Anna Wintour—where she showcased designs from Halston and Saint Laurent and championed photographers like Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon. As the story goes, she found out from news reports that she was axed from Vogue in 1988. She soon launched her own fashion magazine, Mirabella, which was backed financially by Rupert Murdoch and targeted women in their 30s and 40s. Mirabella left the magazine in 1996, and the publication folded in 2000.

    The low-key editrix purchased the roughly 2,200-square-foot, eighth-floor co-operative unit in 2003, about two years after the death of her husband, Dr. William Cahan, a surgeon and staunch anti-smoking advocate, and the same year that she sold a townhouse on East 62nd Street for $3.5 million. Mirabella lived in the Park Avenue apartment until she died in December of 2021, when she was 92 years old. 

    The 2,200-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment includes a small library with bespoke built-ins.

    Brown Harris Stevens

    Mirabella championed no-nonsense, affordable fashion, but for her two-bedroom Park Avenue pad, she accessorized with a bit more elegance and glamour. The entrance gallery is dressed up with a quartet of fluted columns, a wood floor painted with an elaborate pattern, and a delicate ceiling mural that depicts birds in flight against a cloudy sky. The almost 28-foot-long living room features herringbone parquet and a carved marble fireplace reminiscent of a Parisian chateau, while the original dining room has been divided to accommodate both a dining space and a petite library wrapped in burled wood built-ins.

    There are two ample bedrooms, each with a walk-in closet and ensuite bathroom, while a pint-sized den, less than seven feet wide, has a third ensuite bath. The kitchen has been updated but is a bit out of fashion style-wise.

    Mirabella’s apartment, with maintenance charges of just over $3,800 per month, was co-listed with Martha Kramer of Brown Harris Stevens and Josh Wesoky of Compass. Coldwell Banker Warburg agent Jane Katz represented the buyer.

    480 Park Avenue stands 21 stories tall at the corner of East 58th Street, just two blocks from Central Park. Designed by vaunted architect Emery Roth in 1929, it boasts one of the grandest lobbies in all of Manhattan, according to City Realty. Apartments boast 10-foot ceilings, fireplaces, service entries, and semi-private elevator landings. The distinguished building originally offered residents maid and butler service, as well as a private restaurant, and though those amenities are long gone, residents today are treated to doorman services, a gym, and a landscaped roof terrace.

    Click here for more photos of Grace Mirabella’s Home.

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    Rodney Dangerfield’s Widow Relists Snazzy Art Deco Home in L.A. at New Lower Price

    This property surely deserves more respect! Almost nine months after it first hit the market with a nearly $18 million price tag, Joan Dangerfield’s contemporary art deco residence in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles has lingered on the market with no takers. But now it’s popped up for sale again, this time with freshly staged interiors, updated listing photos, a new agent and substantially reduced $17 million ask.

    The widow of legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who passed away in 2004 due to heart surgery complications, plucked up the premises some 18 years ago for $6.25 million. She recently told The Wall Street Journal, “I stepped 3 feet into the house and I knew it was the place for me…It swept me away.”

    So why hasn’t the estate sold? Though it’s comparably priced with other homes in the area, perhaps one reason is because the full-price offers she has received to date have included complicated contingencies, per WSJ, such as requiring her to provide seller financing. “I figured it would sell in a week, but didn’t quite work out that way,” she has said, adding that it’s been a shock “to just watch it sit there on the market.”

    The two-story structure has been described in previous listings as a “rarified art deco contemporary home.”

    Built in 2004, and designed by John Andrews Group Architects, the two-story white structure features four bedrooms and six baths in around 5,400 square feet of living space boasting floor-to-ceiling walls of glass providing jetliner views stretching from Downtown L.A. to the ocean and Catalina Island.

    Tucked securely away behind lush greenery, on a corner parcel spanning over a quarter-acre of land on the coveted front row of the Bird Streets enclave of L.A., the dwelling is accessed via a gated driveway that empties out at a spacious motorcourt flanked by a two-car garage. A striking art deco-inspired entryway then opens via a glassy front door into a double-height foyer, which displays a circular skylight sporting a dangling chandelier and curving wrought-iron staircase heading up to the primary living area.

    A central living room is accented by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows framing picturesque vistas.

    From there, a fireside living room is lined with retractable glass doors opening seamlessly to a backyard decked out with an infinity-edge pool and spa nestled alongside a fire-pit and bust of Dangerfield himself, plus a terrazzo-clad patio ideal for al fresco lounging and entertaining; and other highlights include a formal dining room, as well as a sleekly designed gourmet kitchen outfitted with top-tier stainless appliances, a center island and breakfast nook bathed in natural sunlight.

    Sequestered off by itself is a massive primary bedroom suite, which comes complete with a fireplace, “boutique-worthy” closet, and luxe bath equipped with dual vanities, a soaking tub and an oversized shower. Rounding it all out down below: a plush movie theater and direct access to the attached garage.

    The listing is held by Aaron Kirman of AKG | Christie’s International Real Estate.

    Click here for more photos of Joan Dangerfield’s House. More

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    Goodnight and Goodbye. Joe Jonas Just Put His $6 Million Manhattan Apartment Back on the Market

    Months after Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner sold their Miami mansion and announced their split, the pop star singer has hoisted his New York City home onto the market. And the walls are definitely crying.  

    Per the New York Post, Jonas has relisted his Nolita condo for just shy of $6 million. The Camp Rock star, who filed for divorce from the Game of Thrones actress in October, originally bought the pad back in March 2018 for $5.6 million. A year later, the former couple secretly eloped at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. 

    Joe Jonas is selling the Manhattan condo he originally bought in 2018.

    According to the tabloid newspaper, Jonas had no takers when he first listed his residence for $6.5 million in 2020. Since then, the apartment has been taken on and off the market, but hey, maybe the price chop will help it sell. In any case, the abode is nestled within an eight-story boutique condo built in 2015 and comprised of only 11 units. It features a 24-hour doorman and a shared rooftop.  

    The apartment features a chef’s kitchen that’s equipped with Miele appliances and marble counters.

    The approximately 2,900-square-foot home is accessed by a keyed elevator that opens to a private foyer. The open-plan abode is kitted out with custom oak floors, and in the kitchen, you’ll find SieMatic cabinetry, marble counters, and top-of-the-line Miele appliances. Altogether, the loft-like home comprises three bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with a 1,450-square-foot landscaped terrace off the primary suite.

    The primary suite has its own private outdoor terrace.

    The Jonas Brothers band member and his soon-to-be ex-wife owned a number of homes together before their highly publicized separation. In 2019, the pair splashed out $14.1 million on an Encino mansion they sold in 2021 for a hefty $15.2 million. That same year, they dropped $11 million on a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired property in Miami, which they profitably offloaded earlier this year for $15 million.  

    It was also reported by The London Evening Standard that the now estranged duo was preparing to purchase a country house in the U.K. prior to their abrupt divorce. According to court filings, Jonas and Turner entered into a contract to buy an estate near the Thames River in rural Oxfordshire, England. The deal was supposed to be finalized in December; however, it’s currently unclear if either party will be moving across the pond.  

    Carl Gambino of The Gambino Group at Compass and Adam Modlin of Modlin Group hold the listing. 

    Click here to see all the photos of Joe Jonas’s New York City apartment.   More

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    Fashion Designer Gigi Caruso Spends $9.5 Million on a Dreamy California Home

    She’s just 23 years old, but Gianna “Gigi” Caruso is already the CEO and founder of a successful clothing company with the sort of finger-on-the-collective-pulse clout many more established apparel moguls would kill to have. Founded in 2017, Caruso’s Gigi C swimwear line is a pricey hit, with her $200 bikini sets having racked up a host of celebrity fans that include Eva Longoria, January Jones, Selma Blair and Elizabeth Banks. And it’s no wonder that the brand’s continued growth, coupled with its owner’s chic personal style, has turned Caruso a popular social media influencer.

    Of course, it’s also worth noting that Caruso is the only daughter of Rick Caruso, the high-profile real estate developer and onetime L.A. mayoral candidate who has built and owns some of the country’s most successful shopping malls. The elder Caruso’s personal net worth tops $5.3 billion, per Forbes.

    So it’s hardly a surprise that Gigi Caruso can afford some very nice things. The recent USC grad recently forked out $9.5 million for a stunningly refined house in prime Pacific Palisades, the seaside neighborhood well known for the upscale, and Rick Caruso-developed, Palisades Village outdoor shopping area.

    The 100-year-old heritage olive trees arguably upstage the elegant house itself.

    Built in 2007 but extensively renovated in 2019, the contemporary quasi-Spanish-Mediterranean villa was in demand, with Caruso ponying up $30,000 over the asking price just to secure the keys. Gnarled, century-old olive tees line the long private driveway, which is guarded by an electronic gate and butts up against an attached two-car garage. Also on tap outside are tranquil gardens and a private studio space ideal for the at-home artist.

    Inside, the long and narrow house packs a generous seven bedrooms and seven baths into nearly 6,000 square feet of sun-drenched living space. Medium brown hardwood floors neatly contrast against the pale decor, a neutral palette filled mostly with whites and some pops of light gray.

    The main floor features numerous sets of French doors and multiple fireplaces.

    On the main floor are dual fireplaces and a dizzying number of open living and dining areas, plus two guest bedrooms and a fashionably updated chef’s kitchen. Upstairs is the primary suite, where a private balcony overlooks the lush backyard, along with four additional family bedrooms.

    Out back, the 0.33-acre lot is defined by its oversized swimming pool, which neatly connects the main house to a detached casita. Guests will enjoy dining al fresco amid the manicured gardens, along with a built-in bbq center and a separate lounge area with a fire pit overlooking impressive canyon views.

    Privately surrounded by hedges and eucalyptus trees, the backyard is a resort-style sanctuary.

    Records reveal the seller home’s was James Barker, a trucking mogul and private equity veteran who recently paid $16.5 million to upgrade into a significantly larger and more lavish estate elsewhere in the Palisades. As for Caruso, she’s certainly not new to the area. Her parents have long owned one of the largest properties in L.A.’s Brentwood Park community; Vanity Fair recently described the palatial Caruso family estate as “a creamy Italianate compound of rolling grasses, waterfalls, a pond, a rowboat, a tennis court, and an outdoor bar.” More