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Actress Diane Keaton Lists Pacific Palisades Home at $8.5 million
Keaton spent more than two years renovating a Lloyd Wright-designed Midcentury house built for another Oscar winner, Alfred Newman. The nine-time Academy Award recipient, who died in 1970, composed music for more than 200 movies during his 40-plus-year career.
The 1-acre compound includes a main residence, two detached bedroom suites, mature sycamore and oak trees and a swimming pool.
In the main house, Keaton restored the woodwork and built-in furniture, updated the kitchen and reworked the second story to create a loft-like master bedroom suite with walls of glass. There are five bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms and four fireplaces in 4,386 square feet of living space. She landscaped the entire property, including the driveway and motor court, which is now decomposed granite.
The lead actress Oscar winner for "Annie Hall" (1977) also renovated Wright's Los Feliz, Calif., landmark Samuel-Novarro House, which she sold to Christina Ricci; a Wallace Neff-designed Spanish-style estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., that she sold to Madonna; a Bel-Air, Calif., hacienda designed in the style of George Washington Smith; a Spanish-style hillside home in Laguna Beach, Calif., and a Ralph Flewelling-designed Spanish Colonial Revival in Beverly Hills on the market at $10,950,000.
An actress, producer and director, Keaton starred in the film "Mad Money" (2008) and will appear in the comedy "Morning Glory," due out in the fall. She purchased the Newman estate in 2007 for $9.1 million, according to public records.
Because she has a knack for selling to other celebrities, perhaps she'll find a buyer in Newman's nephew, singer-songwriter Randy Newman, who popularized the unofficial city anthem "I Love L.A." and also has an Oscar to his credit.
Room for 'Two and a Half' Plus
Actor Ryan Stiles has listed his Robert Byrd-designed home in Encino, Calif., at $3.9 million.
The two-story, built in 1976, is made for entertaining, with a pool, a spa, park-like grounds and a barbecue area on the nearly 1-acre gated site.
The 7,631-square-foot house features vaulted ceilings, hand-hewn wood flooring, French doors, a formal dining room, a den, an eat-in kitchen, four fireplaces, five bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms.
A previous owner, Academy Award-winning makeup and special effects artist Stan Winston, expanded the house, adding a screening room.
Stiles, 50, has a recurring role on the sitcom "Two and a Half Men" (2004-present). He co-starred on "The Drew Carey Show" (1995-2004) and was executive producer as well as a regular on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (1998-2006).
A Sweet Ending in Los Feliz
Singer Rachel Sweet has sold Los Pavoreales, a 1926 Los Feliz home designed by Wallace Neff, for $4,895,000, the Multiple Listing Service shows.
The Spanish-style residence on 1.8 acres has had a star-studded chain of owners, including Madonna, actress Jenna Elfman and actress Katey Sagal. There are five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in the compound, which has a main house and detached guesthouse.
Neff was known for his Spanish Colonial revival houses and adapting traditional styles for celebrity clients such as Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert.
Sweet, 46, is a country singer turned pop star who branched out to television. She recorded the title track for the film "Hairspray" (1988) and was a writer and executive producer on "Dharma & Greg" (1999-2001), as well as a writer and co-executive producer on "George Lopez" (2002-2004). She hosted her own show, "The Sweet Life," on Comedy Central from 1989 to 1990.
The listing agents were Barry Sloane of Sotheby's International Realty's Beverly Hills office and Brett Lawyer of Sotheby's Sunset office, according to the MLS. Maryann Kuk of Housing Solutions, Los Angeles, represented the buyer.
History Included, But Not Trays
A Los Feliz home once owned by Clifford E. Clinton, the founder of the L.A. institution Clifton's Cafeteria, is on the market for $1,799,000.
Built in 1928 as the gateway to Los Feliz, the Spanish-style two story is a treasure trove of original features, including tile mosaics, stained glass, Art Deco light fixtures and Catalina tile. The peg-and-groove oak floors have never been sanded.
The Clintons bought the house in 1936 and lived there until 1949, according son Don Clinton. He recalls sleeping as a child on the outdoor sleeping porch and jumping off a diving board to catch a trapeze that hung above the pool.
The elder Clinton was described as a reform politician in Times reports from the '30s. He was involved in a grand jury vice investigation in 1937 when a bomb went off in the home's kitchen. Clinton had the habit of having a late-night snack before retiring, and the explosion was timed accordingly. On the night of the bomb incident, he happened to be out, and no one was hurt.
The 5,866-square-feet house has three fireplaces, a two-story entry, a step-down living room with coffered ceilings, a cocktail lounge, a billiard room, six bedrooms and five bathrooms. It is described in the Multiple Listing Service as a "big fixer with big reward."
Comedy writer Shelley Zellman recently sold her Sherman Oaks, Calif., home for $779,000.
The property was on the market for only five days when the offer was accepted, the MLS shows. The Spanish-style house had been listed at $829,000.
The gated residence, with 1,718 square feet of living space, sits on a hilltop and is entered through an ivy-covered courtyard with a waterfall. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home has a fireplace, skylight and French doors in the living room. There are valley, canyon and treetop views. Outdoor features include a wraparound deck, a wet bar and a fire pit.
Zellman has written for such TV shows as "Newhart" (1983-89), "Three's Company" (1981-83) and "Barney Miller" (1978-79).
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