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Golf Superstar Michelle Wie West’s Modern L.A. Farmhouse Hits the Market for $6.5 Million
Last year, Michelle Wie West said goodbye to the LPGA Tour at the U.S. Women’s Open in Pebble Beach and seemingly headed into retirement at the ripe young age of 34. Now the five-time winner has turned her sights toward Los Angeles, where she’s bidding farewell to a sleekly designed modern farmhouse-style mansion in Encino’s upscale Amestoy Estates neighborhood.
Though it’s been barely two years since the veteran golf pro and her husband Jonnie West—a son of NBA legend Jerry West and director of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors—doled out $5.7 million for the freshly built spread, they’re already looking to unload the place with a nearly $800,000 jump in price, asking a shot under $6.5 million.
Built on speculation by a local developer and completed in 2021, the creamy stucco and brick-accented structure is sited on a walled and double-gated parcel spanning just over a third of an acre, amid a dead-end street, and includes a five-bedroom, six-bath main home, plus a separate guesthouse with its own kitchen, family room, bedroom and bath.
Especially standing out on the main level is a gourmet kitchen decked out with an eat-in island and top-tier Miele appliances, as well as an adjoining family room displaying a leathered-marble fireplace stretching to the ceiling and large expanses of glass spilling outside. Elsewhere are formal living and dining rooms, a glass-encased wine display, wet bar, movie theater, an office and en-suite guest bedroom.
An aerial view of the West’s Encino property.
Google Earth
A floating staircase heads upstairs, where four more en-suite bedrooms include a posh master retreat outfitted with a fireplace, built-in cabinetry, a refrigerator, private balcony, walk-in closet, and spa-inspired bath holding dual vanities, a soaking tub and an oversized rain shower. An al fresco patio also is accessible via the upper level, while the rest of the grounds are laced with olive and citrus trees, and host a large pool with a spa and Baja shelf, fire-pit area, built-in barbecue and pizza oven. There’s also a spacious motorcourt and an attached three-car garage out front.
A child prodigy and graduate of Stanford University, Wie West rose to international prominence at age 10, when she became the youngest player at the time to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. She went on to turn pro before her 16th birthday, qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at 13 and capture the tourney in 2014.
During a lengthy career, the Hawaii-born golfer has faced more than her fair share of ups and downs, including lengthy spells of being sidelined by lingering wrist injuries compounded by arthritis. But despite all that, she’s managed to earn $6.8 million in prize money alone, plus millions more through lucrative contracts with Sony and Nike.
The listing is held by Nicole Plaxen and Shauna Walters of The Beverly Hills Estates. More
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A Wellness Guru Goes the Extra Mile to Sell Her Zen L.A. House
When Rainbeau Mars’s Venice home first popped up for sale back in September, she decided to up her sales game. Beyond the typical staging and landscaping, the Los Angeles-based actress, author and wellness expert furnished the place with crystals designed to enhance prosperity, gave it a blessing and cleansing at the hands of an Incan priestess, hosted parties for countless social influencers and even showcased the abode in a hip-hop-inspired marketing video.
Most recently, with no takers after more than 100 days on the market, she’s enlisted local skateboarder-turned-real estate agent Solo Scott of Compass to relist the modern architectural-style property at a newly reduced price of $3.8 million; and though that’s $400,000 less than the original ask, it’s still around $1 million over what Mars, who was formerly married to prominent Hollywood business manager Michael Karlin, paid for the house back in late 2018.
An open-concept great room with sliding glass doors flowing outside contains a fireside living room, dining area and kitchen.
Ryan Lahiff
Built in 2017, the boxy white and gray structure rests on a gated parcel spanning less than a quarter-acre of land, just steps from Abbot Kinney Boulevard, and has five bedrooms and an equal number of baths in a little more than 3,200 square feet of two-level living space boasting wide-plank hardwood floors and high ceilings throughout, plus a Sonos sound system.
On the main level, a spacious great room is highlighted by floor-to-ceiling glass doors spilling out to a newly refinished wood deck sporting a barbecue setup and fire-pit. Back inside, the living room has a linear fireplace, and an adjoining dining area connects to a galley-style kitchen outfitted with custom cabinetry, quartz countertops, an eat-in island, a dehydrator and Sub-Zero refrigerator. Elsewhere is a bedroom with its own walk-in closet and full bath.
One of the bedrooms has been transformed into a professional recording studio.
Ryan Lahiff
Four more en-suite bedrooms upstairs include a fireside master retreat that comes complete with a private balcony, walk-in closet, and spa-like bath displaying dual vanities, a freestanding soaking tub and glass-encased shower; and per the listing, another one has been converted into a professional soundproof recording studio that’s been used by top musicians, producers and podcasters.
Especially standing out are the leafy grounds, which host a peaceful sitting area, custom-built compost station, an edible garden, and honeybee and butterfly sanctuaries. There’s also an attached two-car garage on the premises that could easily serve as a gym or an office space.
In addition to the aforementioned endeavors Mars already has undertaken to try and make her oasis known as “Lighthouse Studios” more attractive to prospective buyers, she’s also considering adding a lap pool and is entertaining rental offers at $25,555 per month.
“In Eastern medicine, your home is your health,” she says. “Every point coordinates to a point in your body and every room affects you. Painstaking efforts were taken to enhance the vibration.”
Click here for more photos of Rainbeau Mars’s Venice house.
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You Can Own This Architecture Icon’s Personal L.A. Home for $5 Million
It’s rare to own a home from one of the greats of modernist architecture, especially one that remains true to the architect’s original design. It’s even more extraordinary to own one designed by the architect as his own home.
Archived by the L.A. Conservancy as “Koenig House 2,” a 3,000-square-foot residence in L.A.’s Brentwood neighborhood that midcentury master Pierre Koenig built in 1985 as his personal residence is now available for $4.995 million. Aaron Kirman and Dalton Gomez of AKG | Christie’s International Real Estate hold the listing.
Koenig died in 2004 at the age of 78, and his wife Gloria owned the carefully maintained home until 2017, when it was sold for almost $3.5 million. The kitchen and bathrooms have since been updated in a manner that respects and complements Koenig’s original designs.
The multipurpose, open-plan living area includes a fireside lounge and a cozy library nook.
Matthew Momberger
A series of interconnected cubic volumes that step back from the street, the home represents the late-career apotheosis of the innovative architect’s design ethos and his vision for residential architecture in the 21st century. Koenig was an early adopter and champion of industrial, prefabricated, and economical materials, and his designs often made use of natural ventilation.
The three-bedroom and two-and-a-half-bath home’s I-beam steel-frame armature supports vast expanses of glass and a 30-foot ceiling in the central atrium that is crisscrossed by a geometric assemblage of bridges and staircases. Beyond the secured gates and serene courtyard entry, the main-floor living spaces include a fireside lounge, a cozy, shelf-lined library nook, and a sleekly updated, open-plan kitchen and dining area that spills out to the swimming pool.
Interior glass walls allow light from the 30-foot-tall atrium to filter into the upper-level bedrooms.
Matthew Momberger
The 30-foot interior atrium creates a vertical space where, on hot days, warm air rises and escapes through the atrium to cool the home. Clerestory windows shower the atrium with natural light, and interior walls of glass allow the sunlight to filter into the upper-level bedrooms. And because the Koenigs were music lovers, ceiling heights were carefully planned for an optimal environment for listening to and playing music.
At the back, between the house and a detached garage, a courtyard patio has a small swimming pool with an automated cover. The back of the garage cleverly peels open to create a huge, covered patio for alfresco entertaining.
Koenig is best known for Case Study House #22 (the Stahl House) in the Hollywood Hills, often cited as one of the most photographed houses in the world. The previous year, he designed the less dramatically sited yet no less innovative Case Study House #21 (Bailey House), also in the Hollywood Hills, for which he and Gloria posed for promotional photographs.
Click here for more photos of Pierre Koenig’s former home at 12221 Dorothy Street.
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Rapper Lil Dicky Splashes Out Millions for Kenny G’s Longtime L.A. Compound
Thought you’d never see a Grammy-winning smooth jazz saxophonist collaborate on a hit record with a rapper known for frequently waxing eloquent about the dimensions of his genitalia? Well, now you have.
But then again, you can’t exactly rush out to buy this record in stores. We’re talking about this lavish estate in L.A.’s Studio City, which tax records show has just sold for a discounted but still lofty $6.3 million. The buyer? David Burd, the 35-year-old Philadelphia native better known as rapper-comedian Lil Dicky.
Built in the late 1980s and designed by Ojai-based architect Kevin A. Clark, the 5,600-square-foot house was famously owned by Kenny G from 2007 until 2021, when the jazz musician unloaded the structure and its half-acre of grounds for just under $3 million to a couple who gave the place an extensive remodel and modernization before placing it back on the market last spring, asking $7.5 million.
Secluded atop a high knoll on a dead-end street in the Studio City hills, the very private home is additionally cloaked from public view behind high gates, towering walls and overgrown hedges. Behind a long driveway, the contemporary-meets-East Coast traditional-style structure features a whimsical Dutch-style front door painted a demure blue, plus an open-concept layout encompassing sizable public rooms, five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and a single powder room.
Highlights include rustic hardwood floors throughout, numerous sets of French doors opening to the gardens, sweeping views and whitewashed wood-beam ceilings. Notable spaces are a fireplace-equipped living room, a gym, a wood-paneled library equipped with its own fireplace, and an updated kitchen with dual islands, marble countertops and premium Miele, Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances. Upstairs, the master retreat offers a fireplace, sitting area, a spa-style bath and a private balcony with spectacular views from the home’s hillside perch.
Out back, the manicured grounds offer lush respites for reading or sunbathing, grassy lawns and a lap pool with a spa. There’s also a detached two-car garage topped by a guest apartment that formerly served as Kenny G’s at-home recording studio. More
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NFL Star Christian McCaffrey Tosses Swank North Carolina Mansion on the Market for $12.5 Million
Christian McCaffrey is busy gearing up for his first shot at a Super Bowl title. But that hasn’t stopped the San Francisco 49ers running back from making a real estate play, hoisting his lavish residence in the North Carolina town of Mooresville up for sale at $12.5 million—or an impressive $5 million more than the NFL’s newly named “Offensive Player of the Year” paid for the lakeside spread a little over three years ago.
Per The Wall Street Journal, the former Carolina Panthers player bought the property in late 2020 for $7.5 million. A sales record at the time for the metro Charlotte area—one-upped by the $7.6 million transfer of another home on the lake in 2023—the French chateau-style manor could once again see top ranking if it sells for anywhere near the asking price. Victoria Speer of The Agency Charlotte serves as the listing agent.
A three-car-garage transformed into a gym holds professional training equipment that can be negotiated with the sale of the house.
Skycam Digital
Resting amid a gated parcel spanning nearly 9 acres, on about 500 feet of waterfront footage along the shores of Lake Norman, the stucco, stone and timber-clad structure was crafted by JJ Barja of Elite Design Group in 2019. A main six-bedroom home is connected via a porte-cochere to a one-bedroom guesthouse sitting atop a three-car garage that’s been converted into a gym, with glitzy amenities ranging from another gym and a sauna, to a movie theater, wine cellar, safe room, and family room and bar area that open to a terrace.
A pricey La Cornue range can be found in the kitchen.
Skycam Digital
As for the primary dwelling, a little more than 11,800 square feet of elevator-accessible living space on three levels is introduced by a grand foyer topped with a 60-foot turret ceiling and displaying a curving wrought-iron staircase. From there, a vaulted great room is anchored by a two-way fireplace and large expanses of glass offering picturesque lake views, and other highlights include a formal dining room, wood-paneled study and gourmet kitchen outfitted with top-tier appliances, plus an upstairs master retreat hosting a screened-in terrace, two-story closet and luxe bath.
A lower-level family room is adjacent to a full seated bar.
Skycam Digital
Most of the aforementioned amenities can be found on the lower level; and outdoors, the woodsy grounds are spotlighted by a saltwater pool and spa, fire-pit, and paved pathway leading down to a private beach and dock. An added bonus: McCaffrey’s boat, Wildcat ATV, jet ski and golf court are all included in the sale, with his personal training equipment in the garage-turned-gym also up for negotiations.
The 27-year-old Colorado native was originally drafted by the Carolina Panthers out of Stanford University with the No. 8 overall pick in 2017. McCaffrey went on to join the San Francisco 49ers in 2022, where he’s since become only the fourth player in the team’s history to surpass 2,000 scrimmage yards and is set to compete in the NFC Championship game versus the Detroit Lions Jan. 28.
Click here for more photos of Christian McCaffrey’s North Carolina house.
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Kylie Jenner Lists Los Angeles Home For $55 Million (PHOTOS)
Cosmetics mogul & reality star Kylie Jenner has just listed her modern Los Angeles home for $55 million. She purchased it back in 2020 for $36.6 million. It features a total of 19,250 square feet (15,350 a/c) of living space with 7 bedrooms & 14 bathrooms. There is a main house, detached guard house with […] More
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Powerhouse Lobbyist Tony Podesta Just Sold His D.C. Home for $8.2 Million
Known for his brash attitude and flashy designer suits, super-lobbyist Tony Podesta’s Washington, D.C., mansion, which just sold for $8.2 million, exhibits the same sort of eye-catching brio. While the sale price is considerably below the not quite $10 million originally asked for, it’s still more than twice the $3.9 million the former super-lobbyist paid for the property just over 16 years ago.
The 9,200-square-foot mansion was built in 1929 and was re-designed for Podesta by architect Olvia Demetriou of HapstakDemetriou+, who was tapped to inject the stately house with a contemporary flamboyance that could serve as a worthy container to entertain some of the world’s most powerful political figures—Nancy Pelosi, Henry Reid, and Queen Rania of Jorden have all been entertained here—and to showcase an extensive collection of contemporary artwork that includes pieces by Olafour Eliasson, Louise Bourgeois, and Petrina Hicks.
The four-story home has a steel and glass helix staircase as well as a commercial-grade elevator.
HD Bros
Enveloped in greenery, the dour Georgian stone exterior hides committed, if unexpectedly minimalistic spaces that incorporate a steel helix staircase in the foyer, a commercial-grade elevator that services all floors (perfect for moving heavy sculpture), museum-quality lighting throughout, and a geothermal heating and cooling system. Given the dazzling value of the artwork that was showcased here, not to mention that the property is two doors down from Barak and Michelle Obama’s D.C. digs, the security system is unsurprisingly comprehensive.
A vast reception room adorned with an elaborately carved 15th-century marble fireplace and a Palladian window is large enough to be converted to a dining room that will comfortably seat sixty. In the less formal, open-plan great room, the kitchen is clean-lined with sleek white lacquer cabinets. Gone, however, is the sinuous, 16-foot-long Ingo Maurer red ribbon chandelier that once hung over the island. A 20-foot-wide expanse of glass slides open to the limestone terraced backyard, where there’s a mysterious, black-shard water feature. The yard, conceived as a sculpture garden by landscape architect Richard Arentz, also includes a wood-fired pizza oven and a built-in gas grill.
The great room has a 20-foot wall of glass that slides open to the terraced backyard.
HD Bros
The main bedroom is a suite of rooms with a wall of floor-to-ceiling glass that artfully frames a dense wall of trees and greenery. There’s also an open marble bathroom, a hidden morning/midnight bar, and a huge dressing room large enough to park a car or two in. French doors open the dressing room to a private deck set in the treetops overlooking the backyard.
There are two more bedrooms, an exercise room, and a spacious TV lounge, along with ample storage on the third floor, while the basement level includes an in-law or staff suite, a fully equipped catering kitchen, and a humidity-controlled wine cellar. There’s also a two-car garage behind an electric driveway gate.
The terraced backyard was designed by Richard Arentz as a sculpture garden.
HD Bros
Podesta has long been one of Washington’s most insidery insiders, with the ear of presidents and important members of Congress. Starting in 2012, he and the Podesta Group, which he founded with his brother John Podesta, came under federal investigation for compliance with the Foreign Agent Registration Act. The investigation was closed in 2019 without any charges being brought.
Tax records indicate Podesta and his partner Trisja Malisoff aren’t leaving D.C., at least not entirely; last year they shelled out a total of about $3.1 million for a pair of loft-style condos (and several parking spots) in the bustling Logan Square neighborhood.
Click here for more photos of Tony Podesta’s former home in D.C.
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