Home Built For Oscar Winner Sells

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A Playa del Rey, Calif., house built for Oscar-winning 1930s film star Ronald Colman has sold for $1.6 million.

The Mediterranean, constructed in 1927, sits on an ocean-view lot in a hilltop area known as Palisades del Rey.

Original details include a carved beam ceiling, arched doorways and Malibu tile. Four bedrooms and three bathrooms lie within the 2,500 square feet of living space.

Colman, who died in 1958 at 67, won his Academy Award as the leading man in "A Double Life" (1947). Among his other films were "Random Harvest" (1942), "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937) and "Lost Horizon" (1937).

The house previously changed hands in 2001 for $1,071,000, according to public records.

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Pena Buys San Fernando Valley Home

Actor, singer and tween idol Carlos Pena Jr., 21, has bought a Mediterranean-style home in the San Fernando Valley for close to its $1.5 million asking price.

The 6,000-square-foot villa is set back from the road on a gated lot. The paver-stone courtyard is punctuated by a fountain, and the custom front door, with leaded and beveled glass and side lights, opens to a two-story foyer with limestone floor, curved staircase and crystal chandelier.

There are five bedrooms and four bathrooms. The master suite has a marble fireplace with wood-carved mantel and French doors that open onto a balcony. The master bathroom features dual dressing tables, an oversized marble steam shower with etched glass and a stone fireplace.

The kitchen includes an island with a food prep sink and custom cabinetry. The home also has a wine cellar, which its new owner is just old enough to stock. It sits on landscaped grounds with a pool, spa and pool house.

Pena sings with the pop music band Big Time Rush and plays the character Carlos Garcia on the Nickelodeon series "Big Time Rush" (2009-present). He has appeared on "Summerland" (2005), "Judging Amy" (2005) and "ER" (2004).

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Happy Ending for TV Writer

Lyla Oliver, a comedy and drama writer whose credits include the television shows "Judging Amy" and "Bones," has parted with her Santa Monica, Calif., home for $1,902,000.

Built in 1992, the contemporary house has high ceilings, marble and hardwood floors and an elevator. Four bedrooms are on the first floor, while the second floor contains the main living space. A fifth bedroom, which could be used as an office suite, is adjacent to the three-car garage. There are six bathrooms.

The 4,454-square-foot house had been purchased in 2004 for $1,697,500, according to public records.

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Seeking Another Shade of Green

Chris Ursitti, chief executive of GreenHouse Holdings, a global energy and ethanol company in San Diego, Calif., has listed a house he built on spec in Pacific Palisades, Calif., for $9,495,000.

Overlooking and adjoining Will Rogers State Park, the gated estate has unobstructed canyon views. The home features formal living and dining rooms, a gourmet kitchen and great room, an office and wine and media rooms. Details include walnut floors, Walker Zanger tiles and custom cabinetry.

Verandas enhance the indoor-outdoor feel of the house, which sits on nearly a half-acre of landscaped grounds with a swimming pool, spa, a rock waterfall with a grotto and dining terraces. The backyard leads to the park's hiking trails.

Ursitti comes from a theater background and used to design sets and stages. Later he worked in the entertainment industry as a location manager.

"I try to make a house flow like a movie. The plans are my script," he said. "I try to lay down all the components that are the drama of a house."

Sometimes there's even comedy. Ursitti put a 1920s phone booth from the Subway Terminal Building in Los Angeles in a previous home he built.

Beyond the double-paned windows, eco-friendly dry wall, green insulation and other sustainable materials, the home's environmental features include an on-demand hot water system that Ursitti designed using the pipes as a reservoir.

His brother, Rick Ursitti, was project manager on the seven-bedroom, 7 1/2-bathroom house. The pair designed the residence for family living and entertaining.

The site was purchased in 2006 for $2.1 million, according to public records.

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Closing The Doors in Beverly Hills

Update: Nightclub impresario David Cooley, who started the Abbey Food & Bar in West Hollywood, Calif., in the early '90s, has sold a Beverly Hills, Calif., home for $7.15 million.

The gated Trousdale-area contemporary has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 6,350 square feet. The rebuilt and expanded 1964 house, designed and developed by Cooley real estate partner Scott Unger, sits on nearly half an acre with city views visible through walls of glass.

The 2,000-square-foot master bedroom suite contains a sitting room and cocktail bar, a massage room and dual walk-in closets.

The property previously sold in 2007 for $3.95 million, according to public records.

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