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    Restoration Hardware’s CEO Snaps Up an Oceanfront Malibu Mansion for $26 Million

    Gary Friedman recently said the “housing market is collapsing” at 2008 levels, but that hasn’t stopped the famously candid and longtime RH chief executive from dipping his toe into the choppy real estate waters. In a deal that closed last week, Friedman paid $26.7 million for an oceanfront mansion in Malibu.

    The 66-year-old billionaire and his wife Bella Hunter actually scored a deal on their new vacation home, which sits on prestigious Carbon Beach — the long strip of sand also home to fellow billionaires such as Larry Ellison, Michael Milken and film producer Arnon Milchan. The new Friedman residence was originally offered a year ago at $40 million, though the price tag was slashed down to $30 million before the buyers came calling.

    The 0.36-acre lot and its 80 feet of beach frontage last sold in 1994 for just $1 million. The buyer, local philanthropist Mel Rosenthal, subsequently custom-built the current house. Completed in 1997, the boxy contemporary structure is clad in pale yellow stucco and features a gated motorcourt with garage parking for three cars.

    Inside, highlights include disappearing walls of glass that drink in the unstoppable ocean views, plus Portuguese limestone floors, a huge atrium skylight, a chef’s kitchen with granite countertops, a laundry room with a dog-washing station, an elevator and long gallery walls “suitable for a museum-quality art collection,” per the listing.

    Also on tap are five bedrooms, each with ensuite bathrooms and one that currently functions as an at-home gym. The 5,600-square-foot house also offers an upstairs master suite with a fireplace, bespoke closet, private balcony and a private office with a sink and beverage refrigerator.

    Out back, an oceanfront deck spans the full width of the house and sports ceramic tile floors, ample space for al fresco entertaining and a built-in barbecue center and hot tub. And while landscaping is sparse, typical of oceanfront Malibu properties, the front courtyard does offer several mature palm trees and lushly filled planters that lend the place a distinctly tropical vibe.

    With only one brief interruption, Friedman has been a top executive of the company formerly known as Restoration Hardware since 2001 and has a personal net worth of $1.8 billion, per Forbes. In addition to his new beachfront retreat, he also maintains a $37 million mansion in the mountains above Beverly Hills. Last year, the San Francisco native has sold a half-built Los Angeles estate for $24 million to an anonymous buyer. More

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    Nicollette Sheridan Is Selling Her French Country-Style Estate in SoCal

    A sprawling Hidden Hills estate long owned by veteran film and TV actress Nicollette Sheridan has just popped up for sale with a nearly $16 million asking price—or almost $12 million more than the Desperate Housewives star and her ex-fiancé Michael Bolton paid Melissa Etheridge and wife Tammy Lynn Michaels for the place around 15 years ago, back in spring 2008.

    Originally built in the late 1970s and extensively updated through the years, the San Fernando Valley spread is “elegantly designed in Country French style,” per the listing, which is held by Mark S. Gruskin and Stephen Shapiro of Westside Estate Agency.

    Nestled behind a lengthy gated driveway, on an almost 4-acre hilltop parcel of land surrounded by equestrian amenities and riding trails, the ivy-clad structure has six bedrooms and seven baths in 7,500 square feet of living space punctuated throughout by vaulted wood-beam ceilings, and a mix of limestone and wide-plank French oak floors.

    Also on tap are plenty of snazzy amenities—a wine closet, tennis court, gym, freeform pool and raised spa, an outdoor kitchen boasting a pizza oven imported from Italy, and high-tech Control4, Nest, Ring and Aqua Link systems, just for starters.

    A seated wet bar and floor-to-ceiling fireplace hold court in the inviting family room.

    Marcelo Lagos

    Other standout features include formal living and dining rooms with French doors spilling out to a covered patio, plus a wet bar-equipped family room warmed by a fireplace. An adjoining gourmet kitchen sports Calacatta marble countertops, a central island, top-tier Viking and Sub-Zero appliances (including two built-in refrigerators), a windowed breakfast nook with built-in banquette seating, and butler and silver pantries.

    There’s also a wood-paneled office and an additional lounge area on the upper level, as well as a sumptuous primary bedroom that comes complete with a fireplace, sitting area, walk-in closet, and luxe bath hosting a pedestal spa tub, steam shower and sauna; and rounding it all out is a separate guest suite with its own stairway entrance, three-car garage and hefty monthly $1,132 HOA fee just for the privilege of calling the exclusive enclave home.

    In addition to a pool and spa, the grassy backyard hosts an outdoor kitchen equipped with a pizza oven imported from Italy.

    Marcelo Lagos

    The England-born actress, 59, began her career as a fashion model before landing her first TV acting job in the short-lived ABC drama Paper Dolls. She went on to star in the movie The Sure Thing, but her breakout role came as Paige Matheson on the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing, for which she earned two Soap Opera Digest Awards. She also received a Golden Globe nod for her work on Desperate Housewives, and most recently, she reprised Joan Collins’ part as Alexis Carrington on The CW’s Dynasty reboot.

    After dating Bolton for several years in the early 1990s, she and the Grammy-winning singer later rekindled their relationship and became engaged in 2006. Though he put his Connecticut digs up for sale at $11 million to move into the Hidden Hills property with her, the pair split just two days later. 

    Click here for more photos of Nicollette Sheridan’s Hidden Hills house. More

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    $280 Million Home In Hong Kong (PHOTOS)

    LOCATION: Hong Kong SQUARE FOOTAGE: 18,274 BEDROOMS & BATHROOMS: 11 bedrooms & 8 bathrooms PRICE: HK$2.2 billion or about $280 million USD This grand 5-story home, built in 2019, is located in Hong Kong and has views of Repulse Bay. It features approximately 18,274 square feet of living space with 11 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, double […] More

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    For $4.2 Million, You Can Step Into a Footwear Mogul’s Idyllic Costa Rica Retreat

    Always wanted to experience a privileged coastal lifestyle rarely afforded to anyone other than perhaps a multimillionaire footwear mogul—one where you can easily walk to a famed surf break on the Pacific or seamlessly commune with nature amid your very own rainforest-encased haven, for instance?

    Well, if you have an extra $4 million and change burning a hole in your proverbial pocket, this idyllic Costa Rica estate owned by Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie just might be the perfect spot to put down some roots…or should we say soles?

    Nestled amid a forested parcel of land on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, in the affluent Playa Hermosa neighborhood of Santa Teresa, the modern residence was designed by architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe of Studio Saxe and completed in 2020, and features two distinct side-by-side homes in a serene abode collectively known as “Naia.”

    The Costa Rica estate is made up of two separate homes known collectively as “Naia.”

    Andres Garcia Lachner/Studio Saxe

    Fronting the complex is a single-level residence that opens to an interior garden and pool, and sitting adjacent is a larger two-story house hosting another pool. Both have been crafted with central walkways that separate the open-concept common areas on one side from the more self-contained bedrooms on the other, with the al fresco living and dining area in the main structure holding court beneath a striking double-height atrium.

    Overall, there is a combined total of six bedrooms and eight baths in a little more than 6,400 square feet of minimalist living space boasting polished floors, concrete walls and striking teak screens throughout; and the place also comes with plenty of sustainable features, including naturally lit and ventilated rooms, solar panels to provide hot water and roof-collected rainwater for irrigating the grounds.

    A striking double-height atrium tops the open-concept living and dining portion of the main two-story home, sheltering residents from the elements.

    Andres Garcia Lachner/Studio Saxe

    MyCoskie, who is newly married to former model Molly Holm, launched Toms after a 2006 trip to Argentina where he saw kids with no shoes and decided to donate a pair for each one sold. Most recently, he’s been in the news for contributing $100 million (reportedly a quarter of his net worth) to support research into the medical and mental health benefits of psychedelics.

    The listing is held by Andrea Bissinger and Reese Langston of 2Costa Rica Real Estate.

    Click here for more photos of Blake Mycoskie’s Costa Rica estate. More

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    Halsey Buys the Beatles Sound Engineer’s Magical Los Angeles Hideaway

    Halsey recently put her extravagant estate near Calabasas up for sale, asking $12 million. Previously owned by One Direction’s Liam Payne and sprawling across some five contiguous acres, that property has since sold for $11.6 million to an anonymous buyer.

    The “Without Me” singer appears to have radically altered her living situation; records confirm she’s paid $2.5 million to buy a small but stunning bungalow in L.A.’s musician-loved Laurel Canyon neighborhood. Nestled into the base of a rugged hill, the 1929 cottage was recently updated and heavily revised by Lauren Caris Cohan, a filmmaker and chief creative officer for the fashion brand Reformation. Before that, the 1,117-square-foot residence was long owned by music industry legend Geoff Emerick.

    Emerick, best known as an audio engineer for The Beatles, helped produce some of the most iconic albums in rock history — “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Abbey Road.” And Emerick’s talents proved immensely popular with other industry folk, as he later worked with Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, The Zombies, and Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles group Wings.

    Walled, gated and set high above the street, the Laurel Canyon home is admirably private. A quaint stone-and-brick staircase leads to a hand-carved front door; inside, the two-bedroom structure includes a surprisingly large living room with a soaring ceiling, original oak hardwood floors, intricate iron detailing and an original wood-burning fireplace.

    Mixed in with all those vintage features are plenty of modern amenities, too. Most notably, the kitchen offers new Italian terracotta floors, top-of-the-line Bertazzoni appliances and brass fixtures. Elsewhere are two bathrooms, both slathered in Japanese ceramic tile, and a spacious rooftop deck with built-in seating and a gas fireplace.

    Out back, the half-acre lot is shaded by mature trees and is visually spruced up by a Mediterranean-style garden awash in lavender and bougainvillea. Those lush pantings surround multiple terraced patios ideal for al fresco entertaining, a petite plunge pool and even an outdoor shower.

    Halsey, 28, is new to the Laurel Canyon area but not to the Hollywood Hills. From 2017-2020, she lived in the nearby Beachwood Canyon neighborhood, where she owned an updated midcentury home situated almost directly below the famed Hollywood Sign. More

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    Reclusive French Entertainer Claudine Longet Lists $60 Million Aspen Estate

    Over the summer, a 5.4-acre estate within the private Red Mountain Ranch enclave just north of downtown Aspen, Colo., came to market with an $80 million price tag. Had it sold for anywhere near the sky-high asking price, it would have easily surpassed the current record—$72.5 million—for the most expensive home ever sold in the wealthy and notoriously pricy Rocky Mountain retreat. Alas, with no takers ready to break that real estate record, the price has since tumbled by about 25% to its current (and still eye-popping!) $59.5 million. 

    Described in marketing material as “Aspen’s last great property,” the unpretentious estate “offers privacy, luxury, and stunning views from Aspen Mountain to Mount Sopris.” In addition to the main house, which disperses three bedrooms and three bathrooms over about 3,500 square feet, there’s an almost 1,400-square-foot studio/guesthouse with another bedroom and bath, plus a detached two-car garage.

    The main house sits just above a small private pond.

    Mountain Home Photo/Sotheby’s International Realty

    Capped by a green metal roof, the wood-clad two-story main house spills out to a huge deck and a flagstone patio perched above a boulder-strewn lawn that rolls down to and surrounds a postcard-ready private pond with the Rocky Mountains as its dramatic backdrop. The guesthouse, which also has a deck with stunning mountain views, is privately squirreled away from the main house amid a forest of mature cottonwood and aspen trees. 

    Gorgeous and alluring at every time of year, with a slender stream that meanders through it, the picturesque property has the potential to be split into several lots, according to listings held by Lex Tarumianz of Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International Realty and Brian Hazen at Coldwell Banker Mason Morse.

    A stream meanders through the estate’s rolling landscape.

    Mountain Home Photo/Sotheby’s International Realty

    Tax records show the property is owned by French entertainer Claudine Longet, now in her 80s. Longet skyrocketed to showbiz stardom in the early 1960s when she married crooner Andy “Mr. Christmas” Williams. During her time in the showbiz limelight, she released numerous albums and appeared in many TV programs and movies, including opposite Peter Sellers in Blake Edwards’s 1968 box-office hit The Party. (She also sang the dreamy song Nothing to Lose in the film.)

    Sometime after she and Williams split up in 1970, Longet moved to Aspen, where she’s lived a quiet life among the world’s snow skiing glitterati since she was convicted in 1977 on a negligent homicide charge in connection to the accidental shooting death of her then boyfriend, former Olympic skier Spider Sabich. She later married local Aspen attorney Ron Austin, who represented her at her trial. The couple has long maintained a home in Hawaii as well.

    Click here for all the photos of 209 East Reds Road.

    Mountain Home Photo/Sotheby’s International Realty More

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    A Pizza Mogul’s $34 Million Beverly Park Mansion Sells to a Prominent Surgeon

    After first putting his Beverly Hills-adjacent home up for sale at the beginning of this year, pizza pie tycoon Larry Flax and his wife Joni have successfully unloaded the elaborate spread, complete with its healthy extra helping of custom ingredients, for $34.4 million. While that’s significantly less than the California Pizza Kitchen cofounder’s original $48.5 million asking price, it’s still a very impressive number for the guarded Beverly Park enclave, arguably the most desirable gated community in Los Angeles.

    Records confirm the spendy buyer is an entity tied to Dr. Bardia Anvar, a Beverly Hills-based general surgeon and founder of the national surgical-based Skilled Wound Care chain, and his wife Tania Pourat, a dentist. Anvar and Pourat, who also own a custom-built home in the Beverly Hills Flats neighborhood, now hold title to a 14,000-square-foot Beverly Park manor sporting seven bedrooms and some 12 bathrooms.

    Completed in 1994, and tucked away behind gates and a circular motorcourt embellished with a tiered fountain, the property includes a French chateau-inspired main house and detached guesthouse spread across a 2.8-acre parcel of lushly landscaped land.

    Wrought-iron and wood-trimmed doors open into a limestone-clad foyer, which displays a sweeping staircase and gold-leaf dome boasting a marbled alabaster skylight. From there, the formal living room has a glass-encased entertaining area and floor-to-ceiling French doors spilling out to a covered loggia with a fireplace, plus a 20-seat dining room adorned with a coved ceiling and hand-painted wall paneling flanked by a china room with plenty of felt-lined storage space.

    The house offers walls of glass overlooking the lush grounds.

    Adrian Van Anz

    And that’s not even the topping on this proverbial real estate pizza! There’s also a limestone-bathed family room with its own marble fireplace and wet bar, connecting via pocket doors to a gourmet kitchen outfitted with a wraparound granite island, commercial-grade appliances, a butler’s pantry and fireside dining area overlooking an 1,800-bottle wine cellar.

    Other highlights include a wood-paneled library and glass conservatory topped by a Murano glass chandelier, along with a sumptuous upstairs master retreat that comes complete with a separate seating area with fireplace, kitchenette and private balcony, as well as dual bathroom suites equipped with walk-in closets, a soaking tub, fireplace and an office. Also on tap is a movie theater with a velvet stage curtain.

    Outside, the rigidly manicured grounds feature rose gardens, a big grassy lawn, a full-size tennis court and meandering pathways. Spacious patios provide plenty of opportunities for al fresco lounging and entertaining, and there’s a 70-foot swimmer’s pool with a spa serviced by an outdoor kitchen and built-in BBQ.

    Rounding it all out is garaging for five cars, and monthly HOA dues of nearly $5,200 just for the privilege of calling the exclusive community home. Some of the nearest neighbors include Adele, Denzel Washington, Sofia Vergara, Rod Stewart and Eddie Murphy.

    This is hardly Dr. Anvar’s first brush with celebrity. Less than two years ago, he paid $10.3 million for the oceanfront Malibu home of actor Leo DiCaprio. As for Flax, he’s moved on to a $12.5 million condo at the Century, one of L.A.’s most prestigious residential skyscrapers.

    Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker and Linda May of Carolwood Estates repped both Flax and Anvar in the Beverly Park transaction.

    Click here to see more photos of the Beverly Park mansion that pizza built. More