Brentwood

For many years, Kendrick Lamar has lived in the seaside town of Manhattan Beach. After years of renting, the acclaimed rapper and songwriter bought a brand-new mansion there about five years ago, with the sandy beach and deep blue sea lying just two short blocks from his doorstep. But he began making moves far more inland in late 2022, when he purchased a traditional spread in the prime East Gate neighborhood of Bel Air. Now he’s reportedly added another Los Angeles property to his portfolio, this one a modern farmhouse-style spread in the Lower Mandeville Canyon area of Brentwood that sits right next door to a home owned by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Though records have yet to clear, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Lamar has doled out “more than $40 million” in an off-market deal for his new estate, which is roughly $20.5 million more than its previous owners, Viet Dinh, the former chief legal and policy officer at Fox Corp., and his wife Jennifer Ashworth, paid for the property back in 2019. Should escrow close, it will be one of the priciest transactions in L.A. so far this year.

An aerial view of the property.

Apple Maps

Built in 2018 and designed by noted L.A. architect Philip Vertoch, the wood and stone-trimmed structure features nine bedrooms and 15 baths in a little more than 16,200 square feet of tri-level living space adorned throughout with blonde hardwood floors, high wood-beam ceilings, and stone, reclaimed wood, and marble accents. Glitzy amenities include a duo of staircases and an elevator, as well as a wine cellar, a gym, a movie theater, and a spa bath sporting a sauna and massage and steam rooms.

Hidden away behind gates on a parcel of land spanning nearly an acre, Lamar’s new residence has an attached three-car garage tucked off to the side. Though current MLS images aren’t available and it’s not known whether the Dinhses made any improvements during their tenure, previous listings show a spacious living area boasting built-in shelving, a wet bar, a fireplace notched into a wood-paneled wall, and glass doors spilling out to a covered loggia warmed by a fireplace.

Other highlights include formal living and dining rooms, plus a gourmet kitchen outfitted with an eat-in island and a secondary caterer’s kitchen. Sequestered upstairs, the opulent primary retreat has a two-way fireplace between the bedroom and a lounge area, along with a balcony and dual walk-in closets and baths. More amenities can be found outdoors, where the private and grassy grounds are spotlighted by a pool with a Baja shelf and spa. There’s also a detached guesthouse on the premises.

Over the course of his 20-plus-year music career, Lamar has certainly achieved rare levels of success. The 36-year-old Compton native won a whopping 17 Grammys out of 50 nominations, nabbed a Pulitzer Prize for DAMN—the first nonclassical or jazz recording ever to earn the coveted honor for music—and even appeared in a novel hip-hop-centric Super Bowl halftime show in 2022.

In addition to his Brentwood, Bel Air, and Manhattan Beach homes, Lamar lays claim to a Calabasas residence long occupied by several of his family members. And last year, he paid $8.6 million in cash for a three-floor penthouse in New York City’s Pierhouse building that offers views of Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Per WSJ, real estate agents involved in the deal included Cindy Ambuehl and Morgan Trent of Christie’s International Real Estate and Mark Norton of Palm Realty Boutique. More

In Los Angeles, tearing down historic homes has become commonplace, causing the loss of some particularly fabled old beauties. One famous recent case in point: the “Zimmerman House” in Brentwood, which was crafted in the 1950s by modernist architect Craig Ellwood and purchased by Hollywood actor Chris Pratt and author Katherine Schwarzenegger, who destroyed the structure in favor of a brand-new mansion.

Another Brentwood home recently sparking ire among demolition foes has been this storied 1920s hacienda, the site of Marilyn Monroe’s 1962 death and the only house she ever owned. Resting amid a half-acre parcel of land at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, the residence was acquired last year in an $8.4 million, all-cash deal by billionaire heiress Brinah Milstein and her husband Roy Bank, a former reality TV producer, who are seeking to demolish the place.

The acquisition of Monroe’s house gives Milstein and Bank more than an acre of prime Brentwood land.

Google Earth

The couple, who own the roughly 6,000-square-foot mansion immediately next door, for which they paid $8.2 million back in 2016, would like to link the two properties together to create one large compound. But in January, after much strum and drang by preservationists, the Monroe residence scored a reprieve when the L.A. city council unanimously voted to consider the house for historic preservation, prompting the building department to revoke the couple’s demolition.

According to a new lawsuit, Milstein and Bank are now asserting that they have the right to demolish the famed home, claiming that city officials acted unconstitutionally in their efforts to designate the home as a landmark and accusing them of “backdoor machinations” in trying to preserve a house that doesn’t meet the criteria for status as a historic cultural monument.

The lawsuit claims the home has had 14 owners since Monroe’s death and has been substantially altered, with more than a dozen permits issued for various remodels during the past six decades. “There is not a single piece of the house that includes any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day at the house, not a piece of furniture, not a paint chip, not a carpet, nothing,” the lawsuit says. It also claims that the home is a nuisance to the neighborhood, with fans and tour buses regularly stopping by to snap pictures of the privacy wall.

Marilyn Monroe’s former home.

Mercer Vine

Despite its modest scale and unpretentious nature, the 2,600-square-foot bungalow gained worldwide fame in 1962 as the location of Monroe’s apparent overdose at the age of 36. The walled and gated property was the only house ever owned by the legendary actress, and in the 60 years since, the estate has become one of the city’s most famous local landmarks. Blogger Lindsay Blake previously published an in-depth post filled with numerous fascinating tidbits about the property, including how Monroe placed a plaque above the front door that read “Cursom Perificio” in Latin. Translation: “My Journey Ends Here.”

The home’s exterior architecture remains incredibly similar to how it appeared in the early 1960s, but the interiors have been significantly altered. Most notably, the kitchen and bathrooms have been modernized, and the estate’s formerly detached guest casita has been merged into the main house. Still, numerous original features—casement windows, terracotta tile floors, wood-beamed ceilings—happily hearken back to Golden Age times. More

Though he already owns one Los Angeles home, Martin Short has plumped up his real estate portfolio with yet another residence. Records show the beloved actor, comedian and writer—best known for his work on SCTV and Saturday Night Live, and most recently, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building—just doled out $2.2 million for some renovated digs in Brentwood’s Upper Mandeville Canyon neighborhood. Originally listed in March for around $2.4 million, Short scored a slight deal on the property.

Built in the early 1960s and recently given a contemporary makeover, the all-white structure is nestled amid a grassy parcel of land spanning almost three-quarters of an acre. Fronted by a bridge and shared driveway that empties out at an attached two-car garage, as well as a set of steps that stops at a dainty porch before traveling up to the double entry door, the place has four bedrooms and three bathrooms in a little more than 1,800 square feet of split-level living space boasting hardwood floors and wood-beam ceilings throughout, plus sliding glass doors spilling out to several al fresco lounging and entertaining areas.

Photos are fairly scarce, but on-line listings show a living room anchored by a corner fireplace sporting a marble surround, along with a spacious dining room/workspace that sits adjacent to a kitchen outfitted with newer stainless appliances. A hallway leads to the bedrooms, which include a primary suite boasting a private balcony and spa-inspired bath.

Outdoors, the private backyard hosts a seated bar, fire-pit conversation area and seasonal waterfall, as well as a freeform swimming pool and spa flanked by a grassy sundeck. There’s also a detached studio apartment with its own kitchenette and bathroom.

A native of Canada, the 74-year-old actor first gained notoriety for his sketch comedy, including the characters Jiminy Glick and Ed Grimley. Short has since appeared in numerous movies and TV series, including Three Amigos!, Innerspace, Father of the Bride and The Morning Show. He’s also starred in Broadway productions of The Goodbye Girl and Little Me, the latter of which earned him a Tony award for “Best Actor in a Musical.”

In addition to his just-purchased abode, Short has long owned a primary residence in Pacific Palisades that he paid $1.3 million for way back in 1987. More

Ever since prolific director/producer Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann sold their Los Angeles estate for a whopping $27 million last fall, curious minds have wondered who bought the powerhouse Hollywood couple’s longtime home. Shrouded in secrecy, the blockbuster sale was the second-biggest deal recorded in L.A.’s ultra-posh Brentwood neighborhood in 2023, though the house was never officially listed on the market.

As it turns out, the buyers are longtime Brentwood Park residents Brian and Rosie Panish, married attorneys and he the L.A. native who co-founded Panish Shea Boyle & Ravipudi LLP, one of California’s most successful personal injury firms.

While it may seem odd that a lawyer can afford to pay $27 million—in cash, no less—for a house, Panish isn’t exactly your everyday lawyer. Long considered one of the U.S.’s top trial attorneys, the 66-year-old has obtained more than 30 eight-figure jury verdicts for his clients, more than any other attorney in California. In the 1990s, he represented the plaintiffs in the landmark case of Anderson v. General Motors, which resulted in a record-setting $4.9 billion jury verdict.

Over the years, Panish has also represented clients in high-profile Hollywood cases, including cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ family in the legal fallout surrounding her accidental shooting death by actor Alec Baldwin. He’s perhaps best known to the general public, however, for having represented the family of Michael Jackson in their $1.5 billion wrongful-death lawsuit against AEG.

Because the Apatow-to-Panish deal was inked off-market, photos and details of the property are mostly nonexistent. Built by Prison Break producer Marty Adelstein in the mid-2000s, the casually luxe estate was home to Apatow and Mann for more than a decade—since 2009, when they paid Adelstein $18 million for the place.

Long and rambling, the East Coast traditional-style main house sits behind tall hedges and magnolia trees. There are five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in just over 10,000 square feet of living space, per tax records. Also on tap are an in-ground trampoline in the grassy backyard, plus mature sycamore trees, a dark-bottom swimming pool, a detached pool house and a three-car garage that’s linked to the main house by a covered and enclosed walkway.

For the last 20 years, the Panishes have owned a smaller but no less lavish home elsewhere in the Brentwood Park neighborhood, this one featuring an East Coast traditional-style house with about 9,000 square feet of living space. In 2022, the couple paid $6 million for a mansion with an infinity-edge pool just outside Las Vegas, in the Nevada community of Henderson.

As for Apatow and Mann, they still maintain a $9 million condo in New York City’s desirable West Village neighborhood. More

Always wanted a sacred space to indulge your faith without ever having to leave the sanctity of your own property? Look no further! Your proverbial prayers have finally been answered.

Almost three months after he passed away at age 91, the Los Angeles residence of golf resort and airport entrepreneur David G. Price has popped up for sale, asking $38.5 million. Consisting of three contiguous parcels spanning 1.4 acres—and nestled on the same street as an equally pricey mansion owned by Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone and her husband, real estate agent Sam Palmer—the multi-building compound sits in the exclusive Brentwood Park neighborhood and comes complete with its very own private chapel.

The Prices built their chapel after finding faith as older adults, and used it as a space “to go and have time and quiet and to study,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Christopher Amitrano

Records show Price—best known for his stewardship of the American Golf and American Airport corporations for more than 40 years—and his longtime wife Helen paid around $5.5 million in 1999 for a Spanish Colonial Revival-style house built in the late 1920s. They subsequently doled out roughly $5 million for two additional lots, then razed some existing structures and added a Mission Revival-style chapel with an attached potting shed and two-car garage, plus a two-bedroom guesthouse that connects via a covered breezeway to a pool house with a living room and kitchen—for a total of six bedrooms and seven baths in almost 8,200 square feet of living space.

Fully walled and gated, and known as “Camino con Cristo,” the main residence is believed to have been originally designed by famed California architect John Byers. Later expanded and upgraded by Thomas Callaway, the interiors are rife with vaulted ceilings, wrought-iron details and numerous French doors providing seamless indoor-outdoor environs. There’s also an attached three-car garage.

A country-style kitchen features an adjacent breakfast room boasting a fireplace and French doors spilling outside.

Christopher Amitrano

Other highlights include a living room warmed by a fireplace, formal dining room, and country-style kitchen outfitted with wood beams, hand-painted and stenciled details, and a fireside breakfast room. There’s also a formal dining room, as well as a library lined with built-in bookshelves, family rooms and an office.

Upstairs, the primary bedroom hosts a fireplace, private balcony, walk-in closet and dual baths; and outdoors, the park-like grounds are showcased by multiple fountains, courtyards, gardens and meandering pathways, along with a swimming pool, and an eye-catching timber and masonry loggia sporting a stone-clad fireplace.

Avid gardeners will especially love the potting shed found on the premises.

Christopher Amitrano

Per The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that the residence was hitting the market, Price’s 78-year-old widow has decided to sell because she wants to move to the Dallas area to be closer to her son and daughter…and “it is a lot of property for one person.”

The listing is shared by mother-son team David Solomon and Anna Solomon of Douglas Elliman, and Evan Pozarny and Laura Pozarny of Muselli Commercial Realtors.

Click here for more photos of David Price’s Brentwood Park house.

Christopher Amitrano More