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    This Tuscany-Inspired Texas Villa Has Ties to Hollywood

    A Tuscan-inspired villa on the prosperous suburban outskirts of Austin, once owned by late, Texas-based screenwriter Warren Skaaren, has popped up for sale with an asking price just shy of $6.5 million. 

    Skaaren was the executive director of the Texas Film Commission before he began writing scripts. In 1986, he was hired to rewrite “Top Gun” (he’s credited as an associate producer) and is best known for his work on the late 1980s Tim Burton films “Beetlejuice” and “Batman.”

    Inspired by his travels to Tuscany, Skaaren custom built the home in 1984, according to listings held by Katherine Beckworth at Compass, and used it as his “personal writer’s retreat.” Skaaren died of bone cancer in 1990; he was just 44 years old. The property has subsequently had half a dozen owners, including the seller, who purchased the property in late 2021 for an unknown amount. (Texas is a non-disclosure state and, as such, does not make home sale prices public record.)

    A bubbly light fixture provides the dining room with a dash of modernity.

    Brian Cole Photography

    Known as Il Monastero, the 5,900-square-foot residence certainly feels secluded and monastic. Perched above a shallow, wooded ravine in a sunny clearing, the expertly crafted home offers rustic, patinated Old World sophistication along with all the creature comforts of a modern lifestyle. Inside and out are hand-laid patterned brick work, a combination of stone and wood floors, wrought-iron details, and chunky wooden beams across the ceilings. Contemporary light fixtures add panache.

    Just beyond the front door is a hand-carved Cordova stone staircase that gently curves up to the second floor. The step-down living room is dominated by a massive brick fireplace, and a modest study with a built-in desk features French doors that open to a walled patio. Huge picture windows in the living and dining rooms overlook the oak-covered hills that surround the property. The up-to-date kitchen, all white with stainless-steel appliances and lightly veined white marble (or marble-like) counters, is open over a snack bar to a casual lounge for TV watching.

    Interior details highlight the Il Monastero’s custom Cordova stone banisters and bespoke wrought-iron accents.

    Brian Cole Photography

    Among the five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms are a large guest suite with a private sitting area and a spacious primary suite with a bathroom rendered in black and shades of grey. 

    All around the house are walled courtyards and shaded patios, one of which includes a built-in grill. A raised loggia at the back of the house overlooks the swimming pool and the rolling hills. A spa spills into one end of the rectangular pool and, at the other, a pergola-topped stone wall shields a sunken sports court nestled into the treed slope below the house.

    As long as no one repeats the word Beetlejuice three times in a row (wink), Il Monastero is indeed a peaceful spot to reflect (and to entertain!) that’s just a short drive from the hustle-bustle of downtown.

    Click here for more photos of 3 Wren Valley Cove.

    Brian Cole Photography More

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    Kiefer Sutherland Is Selling His Cozy L.A. Bungalow for $1.8 Million

    Last year, around the same time he purchased a historic 73-acre retreat in New York’s Hudson Valley for $5 million, Kiefer Sutherland quietly sold his longtime estate in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Toluca Lake to engaged Hollywood couple Macauley Culkin and Brenda Song in an off-market deal for a hefty $8 million—or more than double what the 24 star paid for the place a little more than a decade ago.

    Now it seems the 55-year-old thespian and musician has decided to divest of his California real estate holdings altogether, having chosen to let go of a more modest residence tucked away in the trendy Atwater Village neighborhood of L.A. The eldest son of legendary actor Donald Sutherland is asking a smidge over $1.8 million for the English Tudor-style home that he paid around $1.2 million for back in winter 2018.

    A fireside living room flows through a wide arched doorway to a dining area that has been converted into a family room.

    Jeffrey Ong

    Built in the late 1920s and since fully modernized, the single-level bungalow offers two bedrooms and an equal number of baths in just over 1,100 square feet of living space that still retains many of its period details per the listing, which is held by Kelly Sutherland of Coldwell Banker Realty.

    Nestled amid a lot spanning a little less than a quarter-acre, the whitewashed stucco structure’s exterior is decked out with black-trimmed casement windows and a steeply pitched roofline. A grassy lawn is separated from the street out front by a sidewalk, with a gated cobblestone driveway off to the side leading to a detached two-car garage holding court in the backyard.

    Clad in stylish hexagon tile, the kitchen features SMEG appliances and a windowed breakfast nook.

    Jeffrey Ong

    A private porch sits next to the bright yellow entry door, which opens into a light-filled living room adorned with a barrel ceiling, picture window and gas fireplace. A wide arched doorway drifts into a family room that was previously used as a dining area, and the adjacent kitchen has been nicely upgraded with hexagon tile floors, quartz countertops, a subway tile backsplash, SMEG appliances and an accompanying breakfast nook.

    A central hallway boasting the original built-in shelves and additional storage provides access to the primary bedroom, which sports plenty of closet space and a bath equipped with a large glass-encased shower; and outdoors, the hedged grounds are spotlighted by a brick-clad patio that’s ideal for al fresco entertaining.

    With an al fresco dining patio and a grassy lawn, the backyard is the perfect spot for hosting guests.

    Jeffrey Ong

    Born in London and raised in Canada, Sutherland made his film debut in Max Dugan Returns in the early ’80s, and then went on to snag his first leading role in The Bay Boy, which earned him a Genie Award nomination. He went on to appear in numerous movies and TV shows such as the popular Fox series 24, for which he garnered Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Satellite awards.

    Click here for more photos of Kiefer Sutherland’s Atwater Village House.

    Jeffrey Ong More

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    Radio and TV Personality Bobby Bones Spins His Sprawling Nashville Home Onto the Market

    About seven miles south of downtown Nashville, in the affluent Oak Hill neighborhood, a five-acre compound owned by veteran radio personality and reality TV regular Bobby Bones has hit the market. Initially priced at $9.25 million, the price was lickety-split dropped to $8.75 million. 

    The syndicated radio host, who has a popular iHeart radio broadcast, has over the years also appeared in a variety of roles on several reality TV programs. There was the short-lived docuseries “Breaking Bobby Bones” (2021), in which he traveled the country taking on unusual jobs; he was a full-time mentor on “American Idol” for a couple of seasons; he won the crown on the 27th season of “Dancing with the Stars”; and last year he served as the host of the reality competition series “Snake in the Grass.”

    The double-height living room, traversed by a catwalk, spills out to a terrace with a stone fireplace.

    Paul Nicol

    Records show the property last sold a bit more than three years ago for $3.75 million. Since then, among other updates and enhancements, the shingled and wood-planked exterior of the residence has been stained charcoal, a comprehensive surveillance system has been installed, and an old barn has been converted into an airy guesthouse. The pastoral estate’s three residences together span nearly 15,000 square feet, with a total of six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, plus four powder rooms. 

    The main house is a sprawling collection of shapes and volumes, some of which take their cues from vernacular rural buildings, capped by a combination of flat, arched, and peaked rooflines. There are four ensuite bedrooms, a home gym, a state-of-the-art home theater, and a heated garage that will accommodate six cars. In addition to a cavernous double-height living room traversed by a catwalk, there’s a 49-foot-long dining room with a built-in bar area and an octagonal kitchen with a triangular light fixture suspended above a u-shaped island.

    The swimming pool is set agains a backdrop of old-growth specimen trees.

    Paul Nicol

    A soaring breezeway separates the main house from the guest house, which doubles as a poolside entertainment pavilion. On its playlist of features are a fireside lounge, a huge great room with a large kitchen, a basement, a sauna, and an indoor-outdoor bar that opens to the pool deck. And, privately positioned in a wooded area away from the main and guest houses, a second guesthouse—the old barn—has two more bedrooms and baths, plus soaring ceilings, honed concrete flooring, a fireplace in the living area, and an open-plan kitchen.

    The grounds, a park-like mix of lush lawns shaded by mature specimen trees, include a sports court for tennis and basketball and a resort-style swimming pool alongside a vast terrace. The boulder-bordered pool has two poolside ramadas, one that shelters a spa and another a sitting area.

    The home is listed with Carrie Prickett at Compass.

    Click here for more photos of Bobby Bone’s house.

    Paul Nichol More

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    Bill Gates Just Dropped $60 Million on a Castle in Northern Italy

    Bill Gates is now the king of his very own castle.

    The Microsoft co-founder purchased the famous Castello di San Giorgio in Italy’s Liguria region for approximately $60 million, Il Secolo XIX first reported. According to the local newspaper, Gates bought the historic property through his Four Seasons real estate company, meaning there’s a chance that the tech billionaire turned hotelier could turn the building into a luxury resort.

    The fortress-like structure was used for military defense during the Roman Times because of its elevated position; however, it was later abandoned, The Daily Mail reported. After a British diplomat scooped the place up some decades later, it was converted into the luxury villa seen today. Also known as Portofino Castle, the ancient European spread measures 12,917 square feet, and it even sports an elevator that will bring you directly down to the beach.

    Bill Gates reportedly bought a castle in Northern Italy for $60 million

    Kevin Britland/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Portofino, which is perched on Italy’s northwest coast, has long been a popular hideaway for jet setters, entrepreneurs, and celebs. Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana famously have villas there, while Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, and Jennifer Lopez have all visited the colorful fishing village, not to mention it’s where Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker got married at Villa Olivetta.

    This isn’t the first time that Gates has added an Italian property to his impressive $170 million real estate portfolio. In 2021, Gates’s private equity firm, Cascade Investment, bought a majority stake in the Four Seasons Hotel chain from Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal in a $2.2 billion deal. Four Seasons was subsequently awarded a contract for a new resort in Rome, located within a 17th-century palazzo right by St. Peter’s Basilica and the Spanish Steps, which will become the city’s first six-star hotel. More

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    Heather Graham Just Rolled into Snazzy Midcentury L.A. Digs

    Not too long ago, after 22 years of ownership, veteran actress Heather Graham sold the Hollywood Hills hacienda she purchased for $880,000 soon after her breakout role as “Rollergirl” in the film Boogie Nights. Now she’s finally settled on a new Los Angeles base, having doled out a speck over $3.7 million for a secluded midcentury modern residence in the Crestwood Hills neighborhood of Brentwood.

    Records show Graham—who is set to star as a possessed psychiatrist in the upcoming H.P. Lovecraft-inspired movie Suitable Flesh—paid around $66,000 over the asking price for her recently acquired property. Built in the mid-1950s, but since upgraded, the wood-clad structure rests on a third-acre parcel fronted by a gated driveway that empties out at a two-car garage sporting glass-paneled doors.

    Inside, three bedrooms and three baths are packed into a little more than 2,100 square feet of two-level living space adorned throughout with red oak hardwood floors and whitewashed wood-beam ceilings. Found down a set of steps, the open-concept main level is highlighted by a fireside living room displaying walls of glass spilling out to a newly renovated deck area offering sweeping views stretching from the Getty Center and Santa Monica coastline to Catalina Island and beyond.

    An adjacent dining area connects to a sleekly designed gourmet kitchen outfitted with Caesarstone countertops, an eat-in island and stainless appliances, while a spacious master retreat boasts a fireplace, walk-in closet, and spa-inspired bath equipped with dual vanities, an oval soaking tub and open shower, plus access to a private garden overlooking the canyon.

    Elsewhere in the house is an upstairs en-suite bedroom with its own balcony, as well as a downstairs office that could easily serve as a fourth bedroom, per the listing.

    A Wisconsin native, the 53-year-old film actress garnered critical praise for her roles in Boogie Nights and Drugstore Cowboy, which led to turns in flicks such as Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me, Lost in Space, Bowfinger, From Hell, Anger Management, The Hangover and The Hangover Part III. Coming up in 2024, look for her to direct and appear in a movie she wrote titled Chosen Family.

    The listing was held by Jenny Tucker of Douglas Elliman; Marc Silver of The Agency repped Graham. More

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    Paul Allen’s Historic Villa in the South of France Has Been Sold to a Hedge Fund Billionaire

    Villa Maryland, Paul Allen’s hilltop mansion in the South of France, has just been snapped up by Millennium Management founder Israel Englander, Bloomberg reported.

    According to local agents, the palatial pad, one of the late Microsoft co-founder’s many prized real estate properties around the world, is worth upwards of €100 million (or roughly $105 million). Although the sale price has not yet been disclosed, the transaction, which was brokered by Savills, is positioned to rank among the biggest private-party transactions this year.

    Paul Allen’s home in the South of France sold to Millennium Management founder Israel Englander.

    Toni Anne Barson/WireImage/Getty Images

    Prominently sited above the seaside fishing village of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, a favorite summer destination for the beau monde, the 18-bedroom villa measures a whopping 27,000 square feet and sports 10 acres of terraced gardens. The Côte d’Azur spread dates back to 1904, when it was commissioned by shipping and railroad magnate Sir Arthur Wilson, an acquaintance of Edward VII.  

    Per the city’s website, Wilson held a number of grand receptions here, and Allen seems to have continued the tradition; according to the Wall Street Journal, Allen hosted a pirate-themed soirée at Villa Maryland in 1996 during the Cannes Film Festival. It was also reported that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie spent time at the estate in 2008 before they separated in 2016. Every summer, Allen would anchor his megayacht Octopus in the harbor of Villefranche-sur-Mer before journeying over to the estate. 

    The entrance to Villa Maryland in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

    Toni Anne Barson/WireImage/Getty Images

    Englander, whose net worth clocks in at $11.4 billion, has recently been expanding his portfolio. At the start of 2022, he acquired a $20 million apartment in Paris, formerly owned by Jean-Victor Meyers, the great-grandson of the founder of L’Oréal. He’s also taken a lease on an office building in the French capital, Bloomberg reported. 

    Before Allen’s passing in 2018, he pledged that all of the proceeds from his trust would go to charity. Last year, his art collection was hammered down for a record-setting $1.5 billion at Christie’s, and several of the tech tycoon’s lavish properties have already been sold or are currently for sale. They include a sprawling Beverly Hills estate, a Bay Area mansion, a cluster of homes on Seattle’s Mercer Island, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s former home in New Mexico. More

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    Nancy Sinatra’s Former Beverly Hills Pad Can Be Yours for $3 Million

    Got a pair of boots that are made for walkin’? You might want to throw them on and stroll on over to this hot property before it’s gone!

    As first announced by The Hollywood Reporter, a groovy midcentury modern abode once owned by singer Nancy Sinatra has just popped up for sale in a canyon high above Beverly Hills for the first time in five decades, asking a step under $3 million.

    “Rarely do we see a home come to the market with such a rich Hollywood history,” listing agent Steve Frankel of Coldwell Banker Realty told THR. “This is a wonderful opportunity to restore this midcentury gem and further cement it as the Hollywood treasure it is for years to come.”

    The singer poses at her former home with a selection of boots.

    Gunther/MPTV Images

    Per records, the eldest daughter of legendary crooner Frank Sinatra purchased the place while married to pop star Tommy Sands back in the ’60s, around the same time she released her No. 1 hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin‘. The Beverly Hills Post Office residence was subsequently occupied for a short time by Lost in Space director Sobey Martin, before ultimately selling to Abraham and Renee Frank for a mere $103,000 back in June 1973.

    Currently owned by the couple’s daughter Orly Frank, who has lived there since she was in high school, the low-slung whitewashed structure rests on a gated quarter-acre parcel in the Beverly Hills Post Office area, and features four bedrooms and a matching number of baths filtered across a little more than 2,700 square feet of “largely preserved” living space.

    Sliding glass doors open to a pool area surrounded by a sundeck.

    Jeff Ong

    Other highlights include a gated motorcourt with a “mod entry,” which opens into a spacious living room sporting a martini bar, white brick fireplace with a yellow floating hearth and walls of glass spilling out to a sundeck-encased pool area offering picturesque hillside views; and elsewhere is a dining area, the original kitchen and a primary bedroom hosting a walk-in closet.

    Last, but not least, there’s also a two-car garage that’s accessible via a driveway where Sinatra filmed the video for her ’67 tune I Gotta Get Outta This Town.

    According to THR, Frank is selling because her parents have since passed away. “My mom just loved that house so much and so did my dad,” she said. “It’s a great home. It has all the midcentury modern bones.”

    Click here for more photos of Nancy Sinatra’s former Beverly Hills house.

    David Sutton/MPTV Images More

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    Taylor Swift’s Historic Rhode Island Seafront Home

    This historic oceanfront home is owned by pop superstar Taylor Swift. Dubbed “High Watch”, it sits on the highest point in Watch Hill, a historic district in Westerly, Rhode Island. It is situated on 5 acres of land and features 700 feet of shoreline with views of Little Narragansett Bay. The colonial style home was […] More