Courtney Love Rents Hollywood Hills Mediterranean Estate

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Just before the Academy Awards ceremony this year, "The Wrestler" star Mickey Rourke text-messaged rocker Courtney Love for a date, and the rest, as they say, is history.


First, they both won awards from Elle in London--Love, 44, was proclaimed Elle Woman of the Year, and Rourke, 56, took home an Elle Style Award as best actor. Then Rourke, who was nominated for an Oscar, won a Golden Globe, and the question then became: Where should it be kept?

Fortunately, there were several alternatives in the home Love rented in the Hollywood Hills at $20,000 a month.


The sprawling Mediterranean has a media room and an attached guesthouse with a closet, already taped for size to be sure the Golden Globe would fit. The home also has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 5,500 square feet.


Love is the widow of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. The owner of the home is Latin movie producer Jeanette Longoria, who represents Televisa Videocine.

Trista Ruillan of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills represented the owner.

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Patricia Blanchet, the widow of journalist Ed Bradley (who appeared for more than 25 years on the CBS news program "60 Minutes,") is asking $7.4 million for their New York apartment.

The nine-room apartment is on Central Park West in the St. Urban, a 1906 Beau-Arts co-op building overlooking the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. The apartment has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a maid's room in 3,600 square feet.

Bradley bought the apartment in the 1970s. He and his wife owned several homes including a house in the Hamptons. The New York building has a doorman, a gym, and a basketball court.

Bradley, co-editor of "60 Minutes," won 19 Emmy awards, and he was one of the first African-Americans to earn a prominent role in network television news. He died in 2006 at age 65.

Mrs. Blanchet-Bradley is moving elsewhere in the building, according to listing agent Spencer Means of the Corcoran Group.

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Producer Lee Nelson, owner of the TV commercial production company XOVER (pronounced "crossover"), has put a home he designed on the market at $9.95 million.


The house, in Brentwood, has six bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms in about 6,000 square feet. It is a hacienda on three acres and is reached only by a long, private drive. The house is on a knoll not visible from the street. The kitchen has an eat-in area and opens to romantic outdoor sitting and dining room. Patios and sweeping views, an infinity pool, spa and horse corral complete this gated for privacy and security property.


There is a fireplace large enough in which to stand, and there is a drop-down 13-foot projection screen. There is a formal dining room overlooking some gardens, a breakfast area opening to an outdoor sitting room, and a wine-tasting room with an 800-bottle wine cellar.

Nelson has produced award-winning commercials for Coca-Cola, Toyota and Ford, to name a few, and he was executive producer of such films as "Pathfinder" (2007) and "The Seventh Coin" (1993). He is developing the movie "Waco," exploring the 1993 standoff between federal agents and David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect.

Mary Lou and Kathleen Tuthill at Coldwell Banker Previews, Brentwood Court, are the listing agents.

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Fans of the HBO series "Entourage" might be interested in leasing "Johnny Drama's condo," priced at $6,950 a month.

The condo is where HBO films scenes in the hit show and includes many of the program's furnishings and decor.

The unit, which has been described as "the perfect party place," even comes with an entertainment system.

There are two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in its 1,986 square feet, and there is one balcony with views of Runyon Canyon and another balcony with views of the ocean and Century City.  There is also parking for three cars, and the building has valet parking, a pool, a spa and a gym.

Jeffrey Hobgood of Sotheby's International Realty, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

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Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire who offered $500 million to buy the 22-acre Villa Leopolda on the French Riviera last summer, has been trying to get back the $39-million deposit he put down on the villa, one of the world's most expensive houses.

Prokhorov, a 48-year-old metal tycoon, is one of Russia's richest men. He is said to be worth $9.8 billion, but his deal to buy Villa Leopolda fell through when he lost billions of dollars in the international financial crisis, sources said.


Villa Leopolda was once a playground to jetsetters such as Frank Sinatra, but in recent years, it has required as many as 50 full-time gardeners to maintain its 1,200 olive, orange, lemon and cypress trees.


Prokhorov has asked Lily Safra, widow of Lebanese banker Edmond Safra, to return the deposit, but she has refused his request, telling estate agents the deal was "agreed in Principle." She is "adamant that she is not handing back the deposit," a source close to the deal said.

Prokhorov claims property prices have collapsed since last summer, and figures mentioned then are now unreasonable.

Villa Leopolda was built in 1902 for Belgian King Leopold II near Cap Ferrat, between Nice and Monaco. It looks across the Villefranche bay at Cap Ferrat, which has become one of the world's most sought-after pieces of real estate. Local sources say that 60 of the villas or mansions on Cap Ferrat are now owned by Russians.

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