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      A Vitamin Mogul Spills Out $22 Million on an Ultra-Contemporary Santa Monica Home

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      Up in the rarefied air of the ultra-high-end real estate segment, the market slowdown has hit with a major thud. And particularly so in Los Angeles, where numerous eight-figure homes continue to languish on the market. To get deals done, sellers have become creative in their strategies, and all-cash buyers have been scoring some impressive discounts.

      Back in September, this breezy contemporary mansion came to market with a $33 million price tag. Located on one of Santa Monica‘s poshest streets, the property is certainly impressive, spanning more than half an acre and featuring a glass-walled house with six bedrooms and seven baths in 9,300 square feet of living space.

      But with no takers, the home’s ask was slashed to $29 million in October. Earlier this month, the place closed escrow at $22.5 million—roughly 32% under the original list. According to a source close to the deal, the sellers agreed to the lowball offer because of the terms: a very short two-week escrow, all cash and with no contingencies, plus a free two-month leaseback term for them.

      The 1980s modern home sits behind ancient trees on one of Santa Monica’s most prestigious streets.

      CLOUT. REAL ESTATE

      Delaram Rivani of Carolwood Estates represented both the sellers and the buyer, though she declined to identify either party. But according to public records, the sellers are Lebanese asset manager Ahmed Tayeb and his wife Cherine Magrabi Tayeb, both well-known art collectors. The discount-hunting buyer is Andrew Lessman, a vitamin mogul widely known for his numerous appearances on the Home Shopping Network (HSN).

      Built in 1981 and crafted by the acclaimed late architect Peter Choate, the freshly updated house sits behind gates and manicured hedges. Though somewhat forbidding from the street, the place is cheerfully sun-filled inside, with enormous skylights, vaulted ceilings and abundant wall space ripe for a major-league art collection. Highlights include a vast great room with various living and dining areas, a renovated marble kitchen with premium appliances, and a master retreat equipped with views over the  Riviera Country Club golf course and Santa Monica Mountains.

      The central living area features a book-matched stone fireplace.

      CLOUT. REAL ESTATE

      Out back, the lush grounds frame a sparkling lap pool and spa. For those prone to grand-scale entertaining, there’s a fire-pit and multiple al fresco dining areas, plus an indoor movie theater and a wet bar serviced by an 800-bottle wine storage space.

      Lessman, 66, has lived in the Santa Monica area for years. And he’s certainly not new to high-end real estate; back in 2012, he bought a $13 million Malibu home atop Paradise Cove that was sold just five years later for $38.5 million to Richard and Laurie Stark, the owners of Chrome Hearts.

      Click here for more photos of 2121 La Mesa Drive.

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      Mark Zuckerberg’s Money Manager Snags a Pristine Malibu Estate for $6 Million

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      Over the past two decades, the vast wealth created by the emergence of Silicon Valley has also created enormous opportunity for a handful of particularly savvy and well-networked wealth managers. The most successful of those managers have carved out a niche catering to the valley’s famously clannish billionaire elites.

      But very few wealth managers anywhere have been as successful as Michael Anders and his San Francisco-based, famously secretive outfit Iconiq Capital. Described by Forbes in 2014 as “an obscure Silicon Valley firm” that’s technically an ordinary registered investment advisory, the 12-year-old company has been molded by its founders—Divesh Makan, Will Griffith, Chad Boeding and Anders—into a highly exclusive billionaires club that “operates as a cross between a family office and a venture capital fund.”

      Today, Iconiq’s client list reads like a who’s-who of Silicon Valley greats. But their most famous client, and the inarguable key to their success, is Mark Zuckerberg, who met Makan in 2004—back when Facebook was still in diapers. Zuckerberg gave fledgling Iconiq a big name in Silicon Valley, and the company’s client roster now includes many of the area’s most high-profile billionaires, including Sheryl Sandberg and Dustin Moskovitz, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. Also now clients of Iconiq are folks outside tech’s inner circle—billionaire hedge funders David Bonderman, Henry Kravis, and Tiger Global Management’s Chase Coleman, all of whom have nabbed seats on the company’s board of directors.

      At the beginning of 2022, Iconiq had more than $80 billion in assets under management, ranking the secretive firm as one of the country’s fastest venture capital/private equity success stories. And while it’s not exactly clear how much money has trickled down to Iconiq’s executive ranks, it’s certainly been kind to the net worth of Anders. Back in May, the Columbia University grad paid cash for a $6 million shack, of sorts, on Malibu‘s Point Dume.

      Built in 1953, the two-bedroom cottage features big grassy lawns in its front and backyards.

      Kensington & Beverly

      Measuring in with two bedrooms and two bathrooms in just 1,300 square feet, the 1950s ranch-style house is resolutely unremarkable but somehow charming with its glitz-free nature. Last sold in 2021 for $5 million, the structure was offloaded to Anders by Dictionary.com cofounder Brian Kariger.

      Because this deal was inked off-market, current photos are scant. But we do know that the house was recently remodeled, with new hardwood floors, a new and refreshingly simple kitchen, two new storage sheds and a newly spiffy two-car garage. The landlocked structure sits out of sight behind gates, a long driveway and a tall hedge for privacy.

      Still, it’s clear that despite the bungalow’s attributes, the real value here is the land. The home sits on a 1.3-acre flat parcel, making it one of the bigger properties on Point Dume, and it also transferred with a coveted beach key to Malibu’s celebrity-loved and semi-private Little Dume Beach. And while it’s not yet clear what Anders’ longterm plans are for the property, it’s entirely possible he could already be designing a new home worthy of a multimillionaire wealth manager to take this one’s place. More

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      ‘Million Dollar Listing’ Star Fredrik Eklund Is Asking $11 Million for His Colorful Beverly Hills Mansion

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      Though he called it his “forever home” in a 2021 Architectural Digest article, Fredrick Eklund is already seeking to offload the Beverly Hills estate he and his artist husband Derek Kaplan picked up barely two years ago. Asking $11 million, the current listing represents a $4 million bump in price since then.

      Built in 2017—and fully transformed throughout during the couple’s short-term ownership in collaboration with noted New York interior designer Paris Forino, complete with every shade of pink and blush imaginable —the East Coast traditional property rests on just over a third-acre of land in the Coldwater Canyon neighborhood. Affectionately known as the “Color House,” the wood-sided structure includes seven bedrooms and eight baths in a little more than 5,600 square feet of living space spanning two levels.

      Vividly hued rooms crafted by New York designer Paris Forino are complemented by striking fireplaces.

      Nils Timm

      A gated driveway empties out at a spacious motorcourt flanked by a single-car garage and welcoming front porch shrouded in ivy. Once inside, a double-height foyer topped by an Apparatus cloud chandelier leads to a sitting room enhanced with a copper and black marble fireplace, as well as a formal yet fun dining room boasting a whimsical necklace chandelier.

      Further back, an open-concept great room that opens via walls of glass to the backyard is decked out with a copper, blue and pink kitchen sporting a bespoke L’Atelier Paris range, large eat-in island wrapped in leather-finished marble, and cozy breakfast nook holding a built-in banquette clad in Kvadrat and Svenstk Tenn fabrics. An adjacent family room displays a marble fireplace and an integrated LED-lighted bookcase that stretches to the ceiling.

      A custom L’Atelier Paris range is front and center in the copper, blue and pink kitchen.

      Nils Timm

      Elsewhere in the house is a screening room, gym, cold plunge, an infrared sauna and office that can be closed off with ribbed glass doors, along with a cove-ceilinged master retreat outfitted with Phillip Jeffries wallpaper, a fireside sitting area, private balcony and “boutique-worthy” walk-in closet, plus a luxe bath equipped with a marble floor, dual vanities with LED mirrors and a freestanding Waterworks tub. 

      Outdoors, the resort-like grounds are laced with mature olive trees, and host a lap pool and spa, barbecue and bar setup, and charming spots ideal for al fresco lounging and entertaining.

      Woven lanterns hanging from olive trees enhance an outdoor lounge area nestled alongside a fireplace.

      Nils Timm

      In addition to the for-sale Beverly Hills residence, which was recently offered for lease at $50,000 per month, the longtime Million Dollar Listing New York and Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles cast member still maintains a stylish Connecticut home he purchased in 2016 for nearly $3 million. He also has reportedly relocated to Miami, where he’s busy expanding his real estate business.

      The listing is held by Marcy Roth and Alexander Vichinsky of Douglas Elliman.

      Click here for more photos of Fredrik Eklund’s Beverly Hills house.

      Nils Timm More

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      A Coffee Billionaire’s Son Just Spent $7.6 Million on an All-New L.A. Mansion

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      Earlier this year, Bob Stiller inked an eye-popping $170 million deal to sell his oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. So it’s no surprise that the coffee billionaire—he co-founded Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in the 1980s—and his family have plenty of cash lying around to afford a “spare” home in California. Records indicate a Stiller-linked trust recently shoveled out $7.6 million to buy a property in a particularly desirable part of Santa Monica.

      And while $7.6 million is still a substantial amount of money by almost any standard, it’s a mere 4.5% of what Stiller’s Florida compound fetched about six months ago. Still, that 4.5% buys plenty of nice toys: five ensuite bedrooms, a mirror-walled gym, a soundproof movie theater, a marble-topped wet bar and 22-foot-wide glass pocket doors, all packed into an all-new contemporary farmhouse.

      Built new in 2019, the contemporary structure features about 6,000 square feet of living space.

      Noel Kleinman

      The swanky L.A.-area home was acquired by Stiller’s 35-year-old son Christian, the youngest of his three adult children and a Santa Monica-based advisor to the Zendo meditation device company. Christian formerly owned a bungalow in L.A.’s Venice neighborhood, sold last year for $2.7 million, and still owns a vacation home on the scenic shoreline of Vermont’s Lake Champlain.

      The younger Stiller’s new residence also features an attractive façade flaunting a mix of creamy stucco and redwood siding, plus a tri-level floorplan ideal for a live-work situation. The main level offers all the main living spaces, which are highlighted by a sleekly Euro-chic kitchen, while the lower level includes the gym and theater, along with a guest bedroom squirreled out of sight. The four “family” bedrooms are all located on the home’s top floor, among them a primary bedroom with a marble-slathered rain shower and a freestanding soaking tub.

      The home’s lower level packs in a gym, wet bar, wine tasting area and a movie theater.

      Noel Kleinman

      While the backyard isn’t huge, typical for tightly-packed Santa Monica, it’s smartly outfitted with a loggia-shaded al fresco dining area, an AstroTurf lawn and a full outdoor kitchen with a built-in barbecue and a bar area. There’s also a detached two-car garage that spills out into a discreet alleyway behind the main house, ideal for surreptitious egress and ingress.

      One thing the property notably lacks is a swimming pool, making it a bit of an anomaly at this price point. But Stiller need fear not, because the listing reassures everyone by noting that the “impeccably designed backyard [is] permitted and ready for a beautiful pool.” More

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      Bob Dylan’s Grandson Buys a Hollywood Hills Retreat for $3 Million

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      Last year, Bob Dylan sold the rights to his entire back catalogue of music in a landmark deal worth “north of $200 million,” according to multiple reports. So it’s not entirely surprising that the entire Dylan clan is now flush with cash, or at least flusher than before—and that includes Pablo Dylan, the 27-year-old aspiring rapper-turned-folk-rocker son of Bob Dylan’s son Jesse and actress Susan Traylor. A few weeks ago, Pablo paid nearly $3 million for a house in a particularly star-stocked part of the Hollywood Hills.

      Perched high above street level and privately shielded from view behind giant bougainvillea plants and a big driveway gate, the single-story Spanish hacienda was built in 1950 but recently underwent a renovation. Arguably the standout is the skylit kitchen, which was fully remodeled and now sports high-end Sub-Zero and Viking appliances, plus a built-in wine cooler and custom cabinetry. Tile or hardwood floors flow throughout much of the rest of the 2,600-square-foot residence, including into the large living room and a casual breakfast area with French doors opening to the garden.

      Dylan won a bidding war for the remodeled 1950s house, paying $250,000 over the seller’s asking price.

      The main house offers just two bedrooms, though both are spacious and well-equipped with walk-in closets and ensuite bathrooms. But the listing notes that the home’s fireplace-equipped office could function as a third bedroom, and there’s an additional bedroom and bathroom in the detached guesthouse, which was likely once a garage. As it stands now, the property does not appear to have covered car parking, but the gated motorcourt is large enough for two or three cars and there is street parking available in the neighborhood.

      Outside, the quarter-acre property’s grounds are undeniably lovely, with flowers and a grassy lawn surrounding a saltwater swimming pool. While there is no city lights view available here, the place is commendably private and outfitted for entertaining, complete with a barbecue center and multiple terraces for al fresco dining or lounging. Tall trees shade much of the property from the occasionally oppressive SoCal sunshine.

      Like many homes in this particular neighborhood, Dylan’s new digs have a bit of celebrity history. From 2012-2015, according to records, the house was owned by “The O.C.” actor Ben McKenzie. Other nearby current homeowners include actors Will McCormack and Kim Raver. As for Dylan himself, he’s not new to the Hollywood Hills; he grew up at his father’s longtime estate in the woodsy Laurel Canyon enclave. More

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      ‘Fargo,’ ‘Ted Lasso’ Star Juno Temple Scores a Gated Hollywood Hills Compound for $2.8 Million

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      English actress and indie film darling Juno Temple has certainly come a long way since she appeared as a teenager in minor supporting roles in 2006’s Notes on a Scandal, a British drama starring Judi Dench and , and in the 2007 hit Atonement, starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. Fifteen-plus years and dozens of films later, the 34-year-old is now a bonafide Hollywood celebrity, with a prominent starring turn on the recently-premiered fifth season of FX’s Fargo.

      It was Temple’s Ted Lasso role that arguably served as her mainstream breakthrough, but she’s been on the fringes of big stardom for years. And after several years of , in her own words, Temple has bought a Los Angeles home to serve as her stateside base.

      Tucked away in a semi-remote pocket of the Hollywood Hills, the Mediterranean-flavored house was built in 1995 but recently underwent a contemporary renovation. Temple paid about $2.8 million for the keys, roughly $80,000 more than the seller’s asking price, an indication that she faced some competition for the property.

      The 3,600-square-foot house has four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.

      Google Earth

      The listing notes that the house offers “a level of privacy that is hard to find.” Fully gated and tucked into the very back of a steep canyon, at the end of a little-known cul-de-sac, the roughly 6,000-square-foot lot is smallish but ideal for a celebrity, cloistered behind big trees and tall hedges. The property also offers an unusual amount of parking for the tightly-packed Hollywood Hills, with a three-car garage and long driveway with space for four additional cars.

      In addition to the garage, the three-story home’s lowest level contains a guest bedroom suite ideal for use as maid’s quarters and a bonus room that could be a wine cellar or a meditation area, per the listing. Upstairs, the main floor features generously scaled living spaces, including a high-ceilinged living room with a fireplace, a kitchen with premium appliances and French doors leading to an outdoor living area with an AstroTurf lawn.

      On the home’s top floor are the remaining three bedrooms; the spacious primary suite overlooks the outdoor plunge pool and offers a walk-in closet, plus a bathroom with its own linen closet and a jacuzzi tub. The remaining two bedrooms share a large bathroom, and both flaunt treetop views of the neighborhood.

      Because the property backs up to a large nature preserve, the backyard feels much larger than its stats suggest. Per the listing, a semi-private pathway adjacent to the lot leads to acres of wildflowers and abundant hiking trails, perfect for a nature lover. More

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      Rupert Murdoch’s Nephew Is Selling a Cliff May-Designed Equestrian Spread for $21 Million

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      After nearly 14 years of ownership, Los Angeles-based businessman David Calvert-Jones has decided to part ways with his longtime residence in the horse-friendly Sullivan Canyon community, on the border of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. The Australian-born nephew of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch together with his wife Karina are asking a speck under $21.5 million for their revamped spread, which the couple acquired for just over $4 million.

      Before that, the home was owned for almost five decades by Hollywood actress and activist Maxine Cooper, who is best known for her role as private detective Mike Hammer’s secretary Velda in the 1955 film noir classic Kiss Me Deadly, as well as appearances in the TV shows Dragnet, Perry Mason and The Twilight Zone. She and her Oscar-nominated producer and screenwriter husband Sy Gomberg purchased the place for a mere $122,500 back in the mid-’60s.

      The Cliff May-designed home is fronted by a cobblestone motorcourt flanked by an attached three-car garage.

      Tyler Hogan

      Originally built and designed in the early ’40s by noted architect Cliff May, the equestrian property underwent an extensive renovation and expansion during the Calvert-Joneses tenure, and includes a five-bedroom, five-bath house featuring a little more than 6,200 square feet of split-level living space adorned throughout with a mix of stone and rustic hardwood floors, vaulted wood-beam ceilings, ample built-ins, and steel-framed windows and doors framing picturesque views of the garden-laced grounds.

      Hidden away on a leafy cul-de-sac parcel spanning nearly two-thirds of an acre, within the Riviera Ranch enclave that May developed, the creamy stucco, stone and terra-cotta-roof structure is known as “Paradise Found,” and secluded behind walls and a gated driveway lined with mature olive trees. Once inside via an attractive hand-carved wood door, a fireside living room doubles as a screening room and a formal dining room rests beyond a decoratively trimmed entrance with pocketing wood doors.

      Eye-catching walls and an antler chandelier are part of the breakfast room’s unique charm.

      Tyler Hogan

      A glass-lined breakfast room topped by an antler chandelier connects to the gourmet kitchen, which is outfitted with an expansive eat-in island, a pantry and high-end stainless appliances, and other highlights include a family room and private office space. There’s also an inviting primary bedroom suite sporting a sitting area nestled beside a cozy fireplace, two sets of French doors leading outside, a walk-in closet, and spa-like bath equipped with dual vanities, a built-in soaking tub and separate shower.

      In addition to a large detached guesthouse and horse stable, the exterior amenities also consist of a central courtyard hosting a lengthy swimming pool flanked by an open-air cabana warmed by a fireplace, several al fresco lounging and entertaining spots, and a spacious motorcourt flanked by an attached three-car garage.

      Set on nearly two-thirds of an acre, the property includes a structure where you can keep your horses.

      Tyler Hogan

      The listing is shared by Drew Fenton and Bjorn Farrugia of Carolwood Estates, and Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Realty.

      Click here for more photos of the “Paradise Found” house.

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      A Sleek L.A. Spec Mansion on Storied Hollywood Ground Lists for $45 Million

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      Over in a particularly prime pocket of Los Angeles, on a hallowed parcel once home to legendary Hollywood actress Claudette Colbert, a newly built spec mansion has just popped up on the market. The asking price is a hefty $45 million, or a about $37 million more than the Holmby Hills spread last sold to a development group for almost four years ago, back in March 2019.

      Completed this year, the grand house rests on property that has a celebrity pedigree dating back to the 1930s. That’s when Colbert commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright’s son Lloyd Wright to build her a striking Colonial-style mansion on a 4-acre hilltop estate surrounded by picturesque gardens, where the It Happened One Night star lived until the ’60s with her husband Dr. Joel Pressman, head of UCLA’s Neck & Hand Surgery Department.

      A vintage souvenir postcard published circa-1941 from the “Homes of Movie Stars in California” series shows a view of Claudette Colbert’s Holmby Hills mansion.

      Nextrecord Archives/Getty Images

      Later owned by retired Northrop Grunman chairman and CEO Kent Kresa, and subsequently occupied by businessman Juan Villalonga, the house sold in 2014 for $7.3 million to a real estate developer who razed Colbert’s home and subdivided the surrounding land into smaller lots. An original piece of the property was next snapped up in 2019 for around $7.6 million by Kohen Development Group, who went on to design and construct a sleek architectural-style home boasting six bedrooms and 12 baths filtered across a little more than 17,600 square feet of three-level living space.

      Tucked away behind a gated driveway and high hedges, on nearly three-quarters of an acre near the prestigious Harvard-Westlake Middle School campus, the contemporary showpiece is centered around a mature olive tree that’s encased by glass walls and sits amid a water feature on the basement level.

      A dining area with a floor-to-ceiling wine display connects to a glass-lined living room overlooking the grounds.

      Christopher Amitrano/CS8 Photo

      Other highlights include a living room flaunting a soaring two-way fireplace clad in stone and dining area sporting a glass-encased wine display, along with a family room that adjoins a gourmet kitchen outfitted with top-tier Miele and PITT appliances, a couple of mini-wine cellars, dual eat-in islands and a secondary prep kitchen. A movie theater with blackout shades flows via pocketing doors to a bar holding court outside, and there also is another bar in a nook off the family room, plus two laundry rooms, an elevator and office space.

      A sumptuous upstairs master retreat features a private balcony, fireplace, hidden ceiling TV, and double walk-in closets and lavish baths, while the aforementioned basement level comes complete with a gym, sauna, and steam and massage rooms; and outdoors, the manicured grounds host a hot and cold plunge pool, circular infinity-edge pool and spa flanked by a sundeck, built-in barbecue, and several spots ideal for al fresco lounging and entertaining. There’s also a roof deck and two-car garage.

      The listing is shared by Mauricio Umanksy and Zach Goldsmith of The Agency, and Aaron Kirman, Bryce Lowe and Kirby Gillon of AKG | Christie’s International Real Estate.

      Click here for more photos of 615 N. Faring Road.

      Christopher Amitrano/CS8 Photo More