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    In the South of France, a Former Home of Charles de Gaulle Charges Onto the Market

    A hillside estate along the Côte d’Azur that was once home to Charles de Gaulle has hit the market for $30 million. The decorated military officer and statesman, who served as President of France from 1959-69 and died in 1970, occupied the property in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, between Nice and Monaco, shortly after WWII. Indeed, as the story goes, he wrote his famous speech about the liberation of France while staying here.

    The 1.2-acre spread sits behind imposing gates in the rocky foothills that rise above the charming seaside commune. Indeed, the house is just a block from the wealthy resort village’s main square, Place du General de Gaulle. Though he’d likely recognize the estate’s various Tudor-style outbuildings, it’s unlikely de Gaulle would recognize the main residence today, as it’s been transformed into a glass-walled contemporary villa that is now for sale with an asking price of $30 million. The property is represented by Andrea Wohl Lucas at Douglas Elliman.

    With its contemporary updates, it’s unlikely de Gaulle would recognize the Tudor home today.

    Just inside the gates, there’s a carriage house and a parking area. A cobblestone drive sweeps up the hill, through professionally lighted and landscaped grounds, to the front of the approximately 11,000-square-foot residence. An elevator services all three floors of the home, which has nine ensuite bedrooms and a total of 11 bathrooms.

    Glass towers, one of which houses a floating staircase, flank the glass front door. There are wood floors and floor-to-ceiling picture windows in a trio of reception rooms, including an enormous living room that overlooks the pool and a spacious formal dining room with built-in cabinets for linen and tableware storage. According to listings, there are two state-of-the-art kitchens on the main floor.

    Curtain walls of glass overlooking the mosaic-tile pool fill the house with natural light.

    All nine of the bedrooms are on the upper two floors, each with extensive storage, a dressing room, and a private bath. The principal suite spans nearly 1,000 square feet and includes two dressing rooms and a large bathroom, while a penthouse-level guest bedroom is housed within an all-glass aerie that opens to a private terrace with gorgeous coastline views.

    There’s a large terrace for relaxing and entertaining, a mosaic-tiled zero-edge swimming pool for cooling off, and meandering, impeccably maintained grounds that have a stunning lighting program. In addition to the main house, the property includes caretaker’s accommodations and several studios for guests or household staff. 

    Click here for more photos of 20 Avenue Déroulède. More

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    Mary Berry’s Former U.K. Home Where She Filmed Her Cooking Show Just Listed for $4.3 Million

    If you ever watched Mary Berry Cooks and wondered what it would be like to make a meal on the powder blue AGA range in the beloved chef and food writer’s cozy country kitchen, well, now you can.

    The former Buckinghamshire residence of the OG Great British Bake Off judge has hit the market with Savills, asking £3.5 million (or about $4.3 million). Better known as Watercroft, Berry purchased the property back in 1988 alongside her husband, Paul Hunnings. Together, the couple lived at Watercroft for about 30 years before they handed the place over to its current owners in 2019. Interestingly enough, it’s also where the beloved Queen of Cakes shot many episodes of her eponymous TV shows. 

    The spacious kitchen still has the powder blue AGA range featured in many of Berry’s televised cooking shows.

    Savills

    Altogether, the property offers about 9,000 square feet of space between the six-bedroom Queen Anne-style main house, detached two-bedroom guest cottage, coach house, and multiple outbuildings. Across the four-acre grounds, you’ll also find a tennis court, formal gardens, and a natural pond.  

    “Watercroft exudes character and charm with some wonderful period and historical features,” says Ben Dommett, head of Savills Beaconsfield, in a press statement. “Being the former home of a well-known food writer, chef, baker, and TV presenter, the kitchen is naturally kitted out with the very best appliances and fittings, including a rather famous AGA, along with a refrigerated larder.” 

    The Grade II-listed residence presides over four acres.

    Other than the kitchen, the main house comprises three reception rooms, including a wood-paneled dining room with an open fireplace and concealed cupboards. Additionally, there’s a drawing room with bow windows, a family room, and an office. 

    And don’t be surprised if Berry comes knocking on the door. “Since we’ve been here, Mary appears quite often if there’s something going on in the village,” seller Lucy Patten tells The Times. “She’ll come over and have a cup of tea. When we moved in, she hosted a party to introduce us to all of the neighbors. They are all very friendly.” 

    On your marks, get set, bid! 

    Click here to see all the photos of Mary Berry’s former home. 

    Savills More

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    This Cozy Montecito Cottage Once Owned by Larry David Can Be Yours for $7.5 Million

    In the fall of 2021, “Curbed Your Enthusiasm” creator and star Larry David plunked down $5.7 million for a historic home in the Hedgerow neighborhood in the celeb-packed seaside community of Montecito, California, that he lickety-split sold just eight months later for $6.9 million. 

    Like David, the buyer appears to have also caught a case of the real estate fickle because the property popped up for sale earlier this year for $8 million and has since had the asking price reduced to $7.5 million. The listing is held by Tyler Kallenbach at Compass.

    Designed and built in 1929 in a French Normandy style by celebrated high-society architect George Washington Smith—a departure from the Spanish Colonial Revival-style homes for which he is most widely known—the stately if modestly proportioned home measures less than 2,900 square feet with four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms.

    The $7.5 million cottage faces a slender, hedge-lined lane.

    Blake Bronstad Photography

    Situated just a mile from the coastal village’s downtown district, the entrance to the home is along a narrow one-way lane. Vintage character abounds outside and inside, and beyond the simple, unassuming slate-blue front door, interiors bend toward elegant and cozy rather than grand. Bespoke finishes and expert craftsmanship work together with delicately patterned wallpaper and floral-patterned curtains to create a sophisticated yet comfortable and casual environment.

    The living room’s soaring, wood-beamed ceiling is anchored by a stone fireplace; chunky exposed wood adds rusticity to the adjacent dining room; and a spacious butler’s pantry connects the dining room to the kitchen. Guest bedrooms are ample, and guest baths are updated with vintage charm, while the primary bedroom offers a fitted dressing room and an unexpectedly large bathroom with a chrome-sided soaking tub.

    The updated kitchen is complemented by a spacious butler’s pantry.

    Blake Bronstad Photography

    The back of the house is encrusted in vines, and the one-fifth-acre spread’s various gardens include brick terraces and pathways, a built-in potting bench, numerous citrus trees, and a metal tea house.

    Tax records indicate the seller has already purchased another larger and no less charming house in the same neighborhood, while David went on to buy another, substantially larger Montecito home last year for $7.6 million. He also maintains residences in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades and on Martha’s Vineyard.

    Click here for more photos of 175 Miramar Avenue.

    Blake Bronstad Photography More

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    Jennifer Aniston Lived at This L.A. Compound While Filming ‘Friends.’ Now It Can Be Yours for $2.5 Million.

    A Los Angeles compound where Jennifer Aniston lived while shooting the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Friends is on the market, and honestly, we couldn’t be any more excited. 

    Originally built in 1936, the storied Laurel Canyon estate has played host to a fair share of prominent Hollywood figures over the years. Most notably, the hilltop spread was the long-time residence of actor-producer Beach Dickerson and later, author and celebrity matchmaker—to put it politely!—Scotty Bowers. Following Bowers’s passing in 2019, husband-and-wife houseflippers Corbin Bernsen and Amanda Pays took ownership and put the place through a massive renovation. Interestingly enough, Beach willed the Kew Drive dwelling to Bernsen, who was also his godson. 

    The quirky, celeb-pedigreed compound perched atop Laurel Canyon was just listed for $2.59 million.

    Sergii Dolgyi

    Dubbed “The Crown Jewel,” the city-view compound features a total of four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Occupying less than 6,000 square feet, the lot comprises multiple structures—a main house, an A-Frame guest cottage, a pool house, and a bungalow nestled into the hillside below the pool. The latter is nicknamed “El Nido de Nestor” after its former tenant, Oscar-winning Spanish cinematographer Nestor Almendros.  

    “What sets this property apart is its unassuming charm; it’s been dubbed the Crown Jewel of Laurel Canyon, yet it maintains the laid-back, funky vibe that draws buyers to this neighborhood,” says Compass agent Wendy Moore in a press statement. “Truly, it’s a one-of-a-kind gem.” 

    The circa-1930s home has a long ownership history and counts Friends star Jennifer Aniston as a former resident.

    Sergii Dolgyi

    Inside, the two-bed main pad has a lot going on design-wise and is almost as quirky as the Friends apartment itself. The space sports walls of glass in the living/dining room and black-and-white checkerboard flooring in the simply updated kitchen. Outside the living/dining room, brick and concrete terracing surround the swimming pool and spa.

    The city-view compound includes an A-frame guest house with a loft-style bedroom.

    Sergii Dolgyi

    From the photos, the pool house looks as if it doubles as a gym, while the one-bed “El Nido de Nestor”bungalow is currently set up as an office or a studio. Elsewhere, the rustic wood-clad A-frame guest cottage is decked out with its own kitchenette and a lofted bedroom.  

    According to property records, the abode last sold in 2020 for $2 million. Now, it’ll cost you just shy of $2.6 million to acquire The Crown Jewel. 

    Click here to see more photos of Jennifer Aniston’s former home. 

    Sergii Dolgyi More

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    Rihanna’s Lavish London Mansion Just Sold for a Record $33.4 Million

    A London mansion rented by Barbadian superstar Rihanna has just been sold for £27.5 million, or roughly $33.4 million. 

    According to Savills and Aston Chase, who were the appointed agents, the Diamonds singer’s 6,332 square-foot former rental on swanky St. John’s Wood Park was snapped up by a family from overseas for a record-breaking £3,500 (or about $4,250) per square foot. The Fenty Beauty founder lived at the palatial pad for about two and a half years when she was based in the U.K. between 2018 and 2020, reported The London Evening Standard. At the time, the multihyphenate billionaire mogul was leasing the place for a whopping £18,000 (or $21,870) per week.  

    “This sale is indicative of the surge in demand from Chinese buyers for super-prime homes in London,” explains Mark Pollack, co-founding director of Aston Chase, in a press statement. “As a result of an inability to travel during the pandemic many wealthy Chinese and Hong Kong residents are prioritizing a ‘Plan B’ in the eventuality of another unforeseen event leading to the Chinese government restricting movement.” 

    A London home once rented by Rihanna just sold for $33.4 million.

    Aston Chase/Tony Murray Photography

    The white stucco mansion, designed by renowned architect John Shaw Junior and built in 1844 by local builder William Holme Twentyman, first belonged to De Beers diamond tycoon Daniel Francis. The fully refurbished five-story home contains eight bedrooms, multiple reception rooms, a library, and an open-plan kitchen. An impressive 21-foot terrace that overlooks a sprawling rear garden. 

    A notable perk is the dwelling’s private gym, which features a weight room and exercise studio. While it’s not clear whether the new owner intends to expand the abode’s current wellness offerings, the property includes approved plans for an additional health spa with a swimming pool, a sauna, a steam room, and massage facilities. 

    The St. John’s Wood Park property features a fully equipped gym and approved plans for an extensive wellness complex.

    Aston Chase/Tony Murray Photography

    “Savills is delighted to have introduced the buyer and successfully sold this famous house on St John’s Wood Park in one of the biggest deals in St John’s Wood in 2023,” added Stephen Lindsay with Savills. “This is an extremely special house, the only one of royal architect John Shaw’s original villas on St John’s Wood Park to have survived into the 21st century. The substantial price achieved firmly underlines the value and quality of this unique trophy home and the enduring appeal of St John’s Wood with buyers from both the UK and from around the world.”

    Click here to see all the photos of Rihanna’s former London rental.

    Aston Chase/Tony Murray Photography More

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    Robin Williams’s Italian Renaissance-Style San Francisco Mansion Can Be Yours for $25 Million

    The same year Robin Williams starred in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 movie, Hook, he shelled out a cool $3.2 million for an Italian Renaissance-style estate in San Francisco‘s exclusive Sea Cliff neighborhood. Now, the former home of the late actor/comedian and his then-wife, Marsha Garces Williams, is on the market for a whopping $25 million. 

    The 20-room villa was originally built by architect Earle B. Bertz in 1926 for Oliver J. Olson, president of the Olson-Mahony Lumber Company. Positioned on a sprawling 17,149-square-foot corner lot on El Camino Del Mar, the elegant home has views that stretch from the Pacific Ocean to the San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin Headlands.  

    The former San Francisco home of late actor and comedian Robin Williams is for sale.

    Open Homes

    The couple, who tied the knot in 1989, divorced two decades later in 2010. Marsha has owned the house ever since. Before they split, they put the palatial six-bed, eight-bath property through a massive reno. “Marsha and Robin Williams took the house down to the studs and rebuilt it in the early nineties, updating all the major systems,” explained Compass agent, Steven Mavromihalis, in a press statement. “They expanded the home to its current 10,598 square feet on three levels. However, they took great pains to preserve the rare and valuable building materials used in 1926, which are simply no longer available in the construction of modern homes.” 

    The estate was renovated in the late 1990s by Robin and his then-wife, Marsha Garces Williams.

    Open Homes

    Inside, you’ll find tons of period details like ornate moldings, wide plank hardwood flooring, built-in cabinetry, and exposed beams. Leaning into the character of the original design, the house is adorned with carved archways, marble columns, patterned terra cotta tiles, and wrought iron. Of course, there are quite a few surprises, too, including a movie theater with a drop-down projector, a Prohibition-era bar that’s hidden behind wood wall paneling, and a secret passageway that connects the children’s bedrooms. “It is everything you imagine Robin Williams to be,” Mavromihalis told The Wall Street Journal.  

    Views extend over the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay to the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands.

    Open Homes

    Elsewhere, a chef’s kitchen is decked out with a La Cornue Range and custom cabinets by U.K.-based Smallbone Design Studio. The primary suite—which has killer views, by the way—has a similar contemporary feel and actually features a Japanese-inspired bathroom with built-in vanities, a platform tub, and walk-in shower. Additionally, there’s a one-bed guest apartment on the garden level of the home with its own separate entrance, along with a gym, a Finnish sauna, and a wine cellar.  

    Now that the Williamses three kids are grown, Marsha is selling and downsizing. “It’s a beautiful, happy house,” she told the WSJ. “We had many, many fantastic years of fun and play and joy there.”

    Click here to see all the photos of Robin Williams’s San Francisco home.  

    Open Homes More

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    Danny McBride’s Duplex Penthouse in the Heart of Hollywood Can Be Yours for $1.8 Million

    The year before Danny McBride’s HBO series Eastbound and Down premiered in 2009, the showbiz multihyphenate plunked down a tad more than $1.4 million for a duplex penthouse in the heart of Hollywood that he’s now got on the market for a sliver under $1.8 million. The condo, with HOA fees of almost $2,500 a month, is available with Deedee Howard of The Agency.

    McBride, who also co-created and starred in Vice Principals and the skewering comedy series The Righteous Gemstones, has had the one-bedroom, two-bath aerie on and off the sales and rental market several times in previous years, according to online records, including in 2013 when it was available to lease at $8,500 per month as well as in 2020 when it popped up for sale for $1.85 million.

    The double-height penthouse has unobstructed views of The Hollywood Sign and the Capital Records building.

    Jason Shaltz

    Perched ten floors above the corner of Hollywood and Vine within the landmark Broadway Hollywood building, the not-quite 2,200-square-foot loft-style condo has soaring, double-height ceilings and broad ribbons of windows with panoramic views of the iconic Capital Records building as well as The Hollywood Sign.

    Dark brown hardwood floors reflect the copious sunlight that pours in while also grounding the voluminous spaces that offer vast expanses of cotton-white walls ideal for artwork. Exposed ductwork nods to the classic industrial loft style. Below the lofted bedroom, the kitchen has stainless-steel cabinetry and premium-grade appliances. And beyond the kitchen, near the entrance, there’s a cozy media lounge.

    Off the kitchen and near the front door is a cozy media lounge.

    Jason Shaltz

    At the foot of the staircase, a small area is well suited as a home office, and at the top, the bedroom hovers above the living space below and looks out over the city through the massive windows. A spacious walk-in closet and an Art Deco-inspired marble bathroom complete the suite, while a second bathroom on the main floor is also decadently dressed in marble tiles. The penthouse transfers with two parking spaces with 24-hour valet service, a nice feature in a car-centric city where people have been known to drive half a block to the corner supermarket.

    The building, with a lively Katsuya sushi restaurant as its primary ground-floor retail tenant, has long been a favorite with showbiz movers and shakers. Previous owners and past tenants include Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, and Erika Jayne of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, who once maintained her “Pretty Mess” clubhouse in the building.

    The marble bathrooms evoke the glossy glamour of Old Hollywood.

    Jason Shaltz

    The building offers residents secured access via an attended lobby dripping in Old Hollywood glamour. A recently refurbished rooftop includes a swimming pool and a spa with wraparound views, along with a fitness center. The Broadway Hollywood, built in the late 1920s as the B.H. Dyas Company Department Store and converted to condos in 2005, currently falls under the Mills Act, which reduces property taxes in exchange for maintaining the historic integrity of the building. 

    McBride and his family have lived primarily in South Carolina since 2017, when they sold their Hollywood Hills home for $3.5 million and picked up a waterfront spread near Charleston for $4 million.

    Click here for more photos of Danny McBride’s Hollywood penthouse.

    Jason Shaltz More

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    Willem Dafoe Seeks $1.3 Million for a Bucolic Getaway in Upstate New York

    Willem Dafoe, one of Hollywood’s most versatile and accomplished actors, has put his longtime getaway in Upstate New York on the market for $1.275 million. The Hudson Valley property is listed by Christopher Pomeroy and Nancy Falcetto of Brown Harris Stevens.

    Tax records indicate the four-time Oscar nominee, whose last Oscar nom came in 2019 for At Eternity’s Gate and who appeared earlier this year in Wes Anderson’s characteristically quirky ensemble film Asteroid City, ponied up not quite $400,000 for a one-acre country estate in New York’s Hudson River Valley in 2008. About five years later, records show he shelled out another $60,000 for an undeveloped neighboring parcel of 4.7 acres.

    The densely wooded acreage, about 90 miles north of Manhattan, on the outskirts of the tiny hamlet of High Falls, where painter Marc Chagall took refuge for a few years after he fled Europe during WWII, includes a 1920s farmhouse that marries period details with contemporary accents, a vintage red barn, and a charming writer’s cabin.

    The 1920s farmhouse marries vintage details with contemporary accents.

    Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens

    All but hidden behind a thicket of trees and foliage on a picturesque country lane, the carefully restored and artfully renovated three-bedroom and two-and-a-half-bath residence measures roughly 1,800 square feet, much of it outfitted with radiant heated hardwood flooring. Beyond the slender front porch, a minimalist fireplace warms the spacious living room. Sash windows provide ample light and sylvan views, while French doors swing open to a heated sunroom overlooking the backyard. 

    The up-to-date kitchen, with polished concrete countertops, two sinks, and designer appliances, is configured around a center island alongside a casual dining area. Nearby is a screened porch with a concrete floor and an oversized utility sink.

    The country estate’s three buildings are set in a grassy clearing surrounded by dense woodlands.

    Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens

    Upstairs, two guest bedrooms share a bathroom fitted with a classic claw-footed tub, and the ample primary bedroom offers lots of custom closet space and a compartmentalized bathroom with a floating two-sink poured concrete vanity and a deep soaking tub set into a windowed corner.

    The property’s trio of buildings are sprinkled along the wooded edge of a sunny clearing where a rolling expanse of grass is broken by a sinuous, stacked stone wall. The red barn stands beneath the branches of a huge apple tree, and the simple writer’s cabin, the roof dotted with several skylights, is set on a high point with a view toward the house and barn.

    Records show that the Platoon star and his wife, Italian actress Giada Colagrande, also maintain a two-bedroom residence in Manhattan’s West Village that was purchased almost a decade ago for almost $3.9 million.

    Click here for more photos of Willem Dafoe’s Upstate New York home.

    Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens More