More stories

  • in

    Meghan Trainor Snags Zedd’s Rockstar-Worthy L.A. Manse for $17 Million

    Anton Zaslavski—better known to millions of electronic music fans as Zedd—has officially offloaded his contemporary residence in the upscale Los Angeles enclave of Encino for just over $17.1 million, or roughly $2 million more than the DJ paid for the palatial mansion in the posh San Fernando Valley enclave less than three years ago.

    Records confirm the buyer is Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Meghan Trainor, known for smash pop music hits like Lips Are Moving and All About That Bass. After hitting the market in January with a nearly $19 million ask, the house sold to Trainor at a substantial discount. The Russian-German DJ/record producer acquired the two-story home from former A-list couple Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner for $15.2 million a little over two years ago, back in September 2021. 

    An elegant formal living room is warmed by a fireplace.

    Simon Berlyn

    Resting beyond gates, on almost an acre of land laced with mature oaks, the white brick and wood-accented structure was built in 2019 and features six bedrooms and 12 baths in roughly 15,000 square feet of Jae Omar-designed living space adorned with walls of glass offering seamless indoor/outdoor environs. Glitzy amenities include several custom touches and upgrades added by Zedd himself, ranging from a “personal wellness retreat” boasting a gym, a sauna, and a massage room, to a recording studio and a vocal booth.

    Among the other highlights: a double-height entrance gallery topped by a starburst chandelier and displaying a floating staircase, plus a formal living room and an office space. A fireside family room sits adjacent to a sleekly designed eat-in kitchen outfitted with an eat-in island, top-tier appliances, a walk-in pantry, and an accompanying breakfast nook, while a secondary prep kitchen leads to a formal dining room spotlighted by a glass-encased wine display.

    The main kitchen features high-end appliances and a breakfast nook.

    Simon Berlyn

    The creature comforts continue upstairs, where a sumptuous primary bedroom spanning the entire floor sports a spacious wraparound terrace, a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, not one but two walk-in closets, and a luxe bath equipped with dual vanities, a soaking tub, and a large shower. Five additional guest bedrooms also can be found on this level, each with its own walk-in closet and bath.

    As for the picturesque grounds, they host a putting green, lap pool and spa, a fire-pit, and an outdoor kitchen, along with an expansive roof deck. There’s also a two-story guesthouse that comes complete with an authentic British-style pub and a state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos movie theater, as well as a two-bay garage with room for four vehicles out front.

    Amenities at the modern estate include an authentic British-style pub.

    Simon Berlyn

    This isn’t Trainor’s first foray into Encino. Back in 2020, she and her husband, Spy Kids actor Daryl Sabara, paid rapper TMG Fresh $6.6 million for a smaller but no less glitzy mansion in the neighborhood. More recently, the couple splashed out $3.1 million for a newly built modern farmhouse-style home also in the area. As for Zedd, the wealthy DJ has upgraded to an even larger property nearby, doling out $18.4 million late last year for a lavish Nordic-inspired Encino mansion known as “Odin.”

    The listing was held by David Kramer and Andrew Buss of Hilton & Hyland/Forbes Global Properties; Justin Paul Huchel of Carolwood Estates repped Trainor. More

  • in

    Hollywood Producer Ryan Murphy Puts Sleekly Redone Neutra House on the Market for $34 Million

    Back in winter 2022, shortly before Ryan Murphy put a Cliff May-designed horse ranch in the bucolic Sullivan Canyon pocket of L.A.’s Brentwood neighborhood up for sale at nearly double the $7.15 million he paid for the place less than two years before, the prolific TV show creator and real estate investor doled out $29 million for a landmark midcentury-modern home in the affluent Bel Air enclave of Los Angeles. Now that revamped property has popped up for sale, dressed to the nines and asking an eye-popping $34 million. The listing, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, is shared by Aaron Kirman of Christie’s International Real Estate and Riley Schmidt and Timothy Wollaston of Riley Real Estate.

    Originally designed in the mid-1950s by pioneering modernist architect Richard Neutra—and previously occupied by fashion mogul Tom Ford for around two decades—the “Brown House” has been extensively restored and modernized during Murphy’s ownership in collaboration with a team that included designer Trevor Cheney of Seventh House Gallery. The result? A total of five bedrooms and eight baths in almost 3,800 square feet over two levels boasting restored terrazzo floors and numerous built-ins, plus vast walls of glass providing seamless indoor/outdoor environs.

    For the right price, Murphy is willing to sell the home’s avant-garde furnishings as featured in Architectural Digest—an antique silver collection, a 19th-century Biedermeier table, contemporary artwork, and a built-in settee left behind by Ford, just for starters.

    A spacious fireside living room has floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that open to a terrace overlooking city lights and ocean views.

    Matthew Momberger

    Perched atop a hill overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club, amid a gated parcel of land spanning just over three-quarters of an acre, the glass, wood, and concrete structure is accessed via a ramp that leads to an entryway bolstered by soaring cantilevered bars. Once inside, a walnut-paneled hallway leads to a double-wide living room holding an eye-catching brick fireplace and floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors spilling out to an expansive terrace. Nearby, a dining room is spotlighted by a gray alabaster table that seats eight and a rectangular window resembling a still-life painting.

    The dining room’s picture window gazes out to a garden holding a 19th-century Italian sculpture of Cupid.

    Matthew Momberger

    Other highlights include an office, a media room, a main kitchen connected to a secondary catering kitchen below, and a sumptuous primary bedroom sporting aubergine lacquered walls and a stylish sitting area. Outdoors, you’ll find Scott Shrader-landscaped grounds hosting a Romanesque-style garden that’s been reoriented around a 17th-century urn fountain and a lengthy black-bottom pool flanked by a one-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse, all of it offering up picturesque city lights and ocean vistas.

    A 17th-century stone fountain serves as the centerpiece of a gravel patio amid sculpted plantings.

    Matthew Momberger

    The 58-year-old Indiana native first rose to prominence in the early 2000s after creating Nip/Tuck, which ran for 100 episodes. Subsequent mega-hits like Glee and American Horror Story cemented his status as one of the modern era’s most successful producers and led to the inking of his 2018 Netflix contract, the biggest development deal in TV history. On the real estate front, the six-time Emmy winner has bought and sold numerous multimillion-dollar properties from coast to coast during the past few decades, including a Beverly Hills mansion he transferred to fellow producer David Zander for $16.3 million in 2020 and a Laguna Beach compound that traded hands the following year for $10.6 million.

    In addition to his primary residence, a $15.5 million spread in L.A.’s Brentwood neighborhood where he lives with his photographer husband David Miller and their three sons, Murphy’s hefty property portfolio also includes a $24.5 million Axel Vervoordt-designed townhouse in Manhattan’s West Village and a waterfront hideaway in Provincetown, R.I. He also lays claim to a sprawling country estate in New York’s Westchester County that he picked up from actor Richard Gere for $24.1 million in 2023 and is now renovating.

    Click here for more photos of Ryan Murphy’s Bel Air house.

    Matthew Momberger More

  • in

    The Latest in the Saga of Marilyn Monroe’s Iconic L.A. Home

    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

  • in

    One of Matthew Perry’s L.A. Homes Lists for $5.2 Million

    Before he passed away in October 2023 at age 54, Matthew Perry plumped up his real estate portfolio with yet another Los Angeles residence. The comedian, producer, and actor—best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the long-running sitcom Friends—doled out a speck under $5 million in an off-market deal for a sleek midcentury-modern villa in Hollywood Hills that was originally listed for around $6 million. Now that place has popped up for sale once again, this time asking $5.2 million.

    Built in 1957 and recently renovated, the place is nestled amid an almost quarter-acre parcel above the Sunset Strip. Fronted by a short yet wide driveway that empties out at an attached two-car garage, as well as a privacy screen and an off-kilter set of steps leading up to an atrium-style entryway, the all-white structure has three bedrooms and four baths in a little more than 2,500 square feet of single-level living space, boasting a mix of stone and blonde hardwood floors throughout. Fleetwood sliding glass doors also spill out to a covered lounge area overlooking a swimming pool and a fire pit.

    A central patio overlooks a swimming pool and a fire-pit.

    Christopher Amitrano

    Highlights consist of a formal dining space-turned-billiards room that connects via a two-way fireplace to an office nook and an accompanying living area, which sits adjacent to a streamlined kitchen outfitted with stainless appliances, a stylish backsplash, and an eat-in peninsula illuminated by a trio of dangling pendants. All of the bedrooms are of the en-suite variety, including a primary retreat hosting a walk-in closet, and a spa-inspired bath equipped with dual vanities, a rectangle soaking tub, and a glass-encased shower, and another one that’s been converted into a “very chic screening room” replete with a projector and surround sound.

    In addition to the Hollywood Hills house, Perry—who in late 2022 released his first book, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing, a memoir where he opens up about his struggles with a Vicodin addiction—also owned a contemporary Pacific Palisades cottage that he purchased for exactly $6 million back in 2020. It’s there that he died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” according to an autopsy conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.

    Click here for more photos of Matthew Perry’s Hollywood Hills house.

    Christopher Amitrano More

  • in

    Muse’s Matt Bellamy Asks $40,000 Per Month for L.A. Rental House

    On top of being a Grammy-winning musician, Matt Bellamy is also quite the real estate investor. The frontman for the British rock band Muse owns many homes in the Los Angeles area, including this sleek Pacific Palisades residence. And if you’ve got an extra $40,000 a month burning a proverbial hole in your pocket, you could have the honor of calling him your landlord.

    With six bedrooms and seven baths spread across a little more than 6,600 square feet of living space, the custom-designed home offers more than enough room to relax in style. Bellamy, who is married to actress and model Elle Evans, purchased the Cape Cod-style house in early May for $7.5 million. His L.A.-area holdings also include a 1950s home in Malibu that he picked up from comedian and radio personality Adam Corolla back in 2014, along with a Sierra Towers condo and primary residence in Brentwood; he sold another Malibu home in late January for a speck under $4.8 million—around $2 million more than he paid for the place in spring 2016.

    As for Bellamy’s newly listed rental, the tan wood-shingled structure was built in 2013 and is just minutes from Palisades Village. Highlights include a staircase-clad entry foyer, which flows to a fireside living room and an adjacent dining area. A spacious family room sporting a fireplace and built-in shelving connects to the gourmet kitchen, which is outfitted with bespoke cabinetry, an eat-in island, top-tier Wolf appliances, and an accompanying breakfast nook holding a workstation.

    An eat-in kitchen connects to a formal dining area and a fireside family room.

    Joel Reis/ZenHouse

    Elsewhere is a wood-paneled office, a screening room, a bonus space, and an inviting primary suite resting beneath a vaulted ceiling and boasting a fireplace, a sitting area, an ocean-view balcony, a walk-in closet, and a luxe marble bath with dual vanities, a dressing area, a soaking tub, and a glass-encased shower. Outdoors, the hedge-lined backyard hosts a waterfall-fed swimming pool and spa, a barbecue station, and a fire-pit conversation area. There’s also an attached three-car garage out front; and for an extra $5,000 per month, the deluxe digs come completely furnished.

    Lea Porter of The Beverly Hills Estates repped Bellamy in the sale, with Jamie Davis and Jonathan Nash of Carolwood Estates serving as the rental agents.

    Click here for more photos of Matt Bellamy’s rental house.

    Joel Reis/ZenHouse More

  • in

    Riley Keough’s Charming Tudor-Style Cottage in L.A. Just Hit the Market for $1.6 Million

    Six years ago, Riley Keough doled out $1.3 million for a relatively humble yet charming Tudor-style cottage in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. Now the veteran actress—probably best known for her turn as Daisy in the 1970s-based rock series Daisy Jones & the Six, as well as her celeb-studded heritage as the eldest grandchild of Elvis and Priscilla Presley and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley—has decided to part ways with the place she and her Australian stuntman/actor husband Ben Smith-Petersen have owned since winter 2018, asking a speck under $1.6 million.

    Described in the listing held by Todd Bachenheimer and Sherri Rogers of Compass as a “modern interpretation of a classic Tudor home,” the renovated 1920s dwelling features two bedrooms and an equal number of bathrooms in almost 1,200 square feet of living space, boasting hardwood floors throughout. A driveway is tucked off to the side of the dark-hued stucco and timber-accented structure, which is fronted by high hedges and a gated walkway that passes through a private courtyard before emptying out at an eye-catching entry door painted in an aquamarine shade.

    A light-filled living room flows to the dining area.

    Sterling Reed

    Once inside, a spacious living room rests beneath a coved ceiling and sports a built-in bench topped by a picture window, while an adjacent dining area connects to a kitchen outfitted with frosted-glass cabinetry, a subway tile backsplash, butcher block countertops, and newer appliances. Elsewhere is a primary bedroom hosting French doors spilling out to a semi-circular deck, dual closets, and a bath equipped with a custom vanity and soaking tub.

    An attic has been transformed into a bonus space holding a built-in daybed, seating alcove and shelving. Rounding it all out are the serene fruit tree-laced grounds, which span less than a quarter-acre and come complete with the aforementioned standalone sauna, plus several spots ideal for al fresco lounging and entertaining. There’s also an attached garage with room for one vehicle on the premises.

    In addition to a freestanding sauna, the backyard is primed for al fresco lounging and entertaining.

    Sterling Reed

    A Santa Monica native, the 34-year-old fashion model-turned-actress made her feature film debut in 2010’s The Runaways alongside Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. She’s since appeared in numerous TV shows and movies—The Good Doctor, Magic Mike, Mad Max: Fury Road, The House that Jack Built, Logan Lucky, American Honey, and The Girlfriend Experience, just to name a few.

    Currently starring in the Hulu series Under the Bridge, Keough’s most well-known role was arguably as Daisy in Daisy Jones & the Six, which earned her Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. The co-proprietor of the Felix Culpa production company also became the sole owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises and the late performer’s iconic Graceland estate in Memphis after her mother’s death in 2023.

    Click here for more photos of Riley Keough’s house.

    Sterling Reed More

  • in

    A West Hollywood Penthouse Just Sold for $24 Million, One of L.A.’s Biggest Condo Deals in Years

    8899 Beverly, one of L.A.’s most lavish new residential buildings, has been much in the news lately. Just days ago, actor Matt Damon paid $8.6 million for a two-bedroom pied-a-terre on the building’s fourth floor, one level below the new $9 million condo of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.

    Now comes word that the development—completed in 2022, designed by prestigious architectural firm Olson Kundig, and reportedly the tallest residential building in West Hollywood—has scored one of SoCal’s highest-priced condo sales in years. On the building’s top floor, the so-called Penthouse East has sold for $24 million, among the most ever paid in a Los Angeles condo complex. The unit, equipped with unobstructed views of the city and mountains, offers four bedrooms and five bathrooms in just under 6,500 square feet of living space.

    Completed in 2022, 8899 Beverly sits in prime West Hollywood, just blocks from Beverly Hills.

    8899 Beverly

    For the record, the highest-priced condo sale in L.A. history was inked nearly 15 years ago, when Candy Spelling paid $35 million for her mansion-sized duplex penthouse at The Century building, though that penthouse sports more than 15,000 square feet of living space.

    People involved with the 8899 Beverly sale declined to disclose the buyer’s identity, but public records indicate the new owner is Tom Coates, a somewhat low-profile San Francisco businessman who is a managing director at Jackson Square Properties, a real estate firm that owns dozens of apartment complexes and mobile home communities in Northern and Southern California.

    Coates’s new residence is a treasure trove of bespoke details, featuring 14-foot ceilings with custom wood paneling and handcrafted design. Floor-to-ceiling imported walls of glass features panels that slide open at the touch of a button, blurring the line between indoors and out. And outside, a 2,000-square-foot wraparound terrace is clad in travertine imported from Italy. The open kitchen flaunts top-of-the-line cabinetry and appliances, and the unit has a separate entrance and “service corridor” for the owner’s staff members and vendors, per the listing.

    Inside, the unit offers open-plan living spaces, extensive wood paneling and unobstructed views.

    8899 Beverly

    The penthouse also includes HOA dues of $11,295 per month, which covers five-star lifestyle services including 24/7 concierge and valet services, a state-of-the-art gym and an outdoor swimming pool, spa, fireplaces and a kitchen. Also on the premises is Stella West Hollywood, a high-end Italian restaurant, and the development is walking distance from dozens of other restaurants and shops, plus a five-minute drive to Beverly Hills.

    The 8899 Beverly development includes 40 lavish condos with prices starting at about $5 million. On the building’s ground floor are also 15 affordable-housing rental residences, with monthly rental fees capped by market rates.

    Michelle Montany and Taaseen Qureshi of The Agency New Development held the listing; Mauricio Umansky of The Agency repped the buyer.

    Click here for more photos of Penthouse East at 8899 Beverly. More

  • in

    Inside a $3.3 Million One-Bedroom Condo in L.A.’s Famed Sierra Towers

    Sierra Towers, the 31-story condo skyscraper located at the bustling intersection of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and the Sunset Strip’s western end, has been a favored celebrity haunt since its completion in the 1960s. But while the midcentury modern landmark normally sees little turnover, the building has seen a glut of luxury listings and sales over the past couple of years.

    Courteney Cox recently sold her Sierra Towers perch, as did Sandra Bullock. Katy Perry recently bought a double-wide penthouse, and there are at least four other units currently on the market. The newest of those, an 17th-floor pied-a-terre, popped up for sale just a few days ago.

    Since its inception in the 1960s, Sierra Towers has been an iconic part of L.A.’s skyline and a favored celebrity haunt.

    Evan Ramzi

    Once one of L.A.’s only high-end condo skyscrapers, Sierra Towers has faced strong competition in recent years from a vast array of newer and glitzier buildings. A common criticism of Sierra Towers is that while unit prices and HOA dues are sky-high, residents must make do with the building’s low midcentury ceilings and dated interiors. But this particular condo addresses at least one of those complaints with its all-new, ultra-chic interiors that bring a heaping dash of contemporary flavor to the premises.

    The petite unit’s current owner is Amir Ensani, a prolific investor in high-end L.A. condos and a luxury new development specialist currently spearheading sales at the exclusive Beverly West Residences. Records show Ensani acquired the one-bedroom, 1.5-bath unit back in early 2022, paying about $1.7 million, and subsequently spent much of the past two years giving the interiors a total overhaul. The 1,300-square-foot residence now includes a masterful blend of wood, glass and stone, a sultry combination further enhanced by its magnificent north-facing views.

    Now priced at nearly $3.3 million, the home’s stylish centerpiece is undoubtedly its eat-in kitchen, which flaunts striking marble countertops and backsplash. The large center island has bar seating, and there’s also a more formal dining area with birds-eye views of the Bird Streets neighborhood. Top-of-the-line Miele appliances are seamlessly integrated into warm-toned hardwood cabinetry.

    The primary bathroom is slathered in imported marble, and an oval freestanding tub takes visual center stage.

    Evan Ramzi

    Just off the open living/kitchen area, the cozy bedroom features wood paneling. A showroom closet with custom built-ins and decadent backlighting stands between the marble bathroom, which offers a freestanding tub and roomy shower with a rainfall showerhead. For convenience, the unit is also equipped with a powder room, also marble-swaddled and ideal for guests.

    The lucky new homeowner, whether it’s a well-to-do bachelor, bachelorette or child-free power couple, will enjoy the new and fully integrated sound system and floor-to-ceiling glass Fleetwood doors throughout, which provide panoramic vistas of the Hollywood Hills, the Sunset Strip and occasionally snowcapped San Gabriel Mountains.

    Building amenities include a communal outdoor pool on one of the lower floors, 24/7 concierge, valet parking, private security guards and a state-of-the-art fitness facility, per the listing. For those services—and more—a buyer can expect to cough up a hefty $2,319 per month in HOA dues.

    Tomer Fridman of the Jones Fridman International group at Compass holds the listing.

    Click here for more photos of Amir Ensani’s Sierra Towers condo.

    Evan Ramzi More