Luxe Living

Jesse Metcalfe, the former young Hollywood playboy, is becoming more of the domestic type lately with the purchase of a brand new home. Engaged for over a year to his love, actress Cara Santana, Metcalfe has just bought a Spanish-style house in the Hollywood Hills, according to property records. Property records show that Metcalfe snagged the stunning home for $1,432,500 and the deal closed on February 28, 2012. The home, built in 1925, has all the original nooks and crannies, but has been lovingly and beautifully restored!

The home has a newly renovated kitchen and bathrooms, bringing them up-to-date without eliminating their original charm.  The house is 2,362 square feet, which includes 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The master suite is stunning, with a beautiful new custom bath. This very special home in a wonderful location!Hardwood floors throughout, the home has a grand fireplace in living room, great movement throughout, city views and a spacious Spanish courtyard with fabulous tile wall fountain.

Jesse recently sold his home in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for $2,000,000.

Nowadays you can find daddy-to-be Kanye West either starting a beef someone in Hollywood such as Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake or busy spending millions remodeling his new $13 million, 9,000 square-foot estate with girlfriend and baby mama Kim Kardashian. That being said, he obviously has no time to dedicate towards the small stuff such as his teeny 4,124 square-foot Hollywood Hills home – ain’t nobody got time for that!

Moving on to bigger and better things, Mr. West has relisted his estate for $3.3 million – a nearly $700,000 price cut from when he initially put it on the market in 2010. He first purchased the three-story modern property in December of 2003 for $1,750,000.

The three bedroom, four bath home is a dream for a fan of modern architecture, especially if you have an art collection that you would like to display. In fact, the home looks a lot like a gallery and is a fabulous place to entertain, whether you are drinking Corvoisier and going to the Grammy’s or not.

Images via Alexander Davis of Hilton & Hyland.

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Bryce Dallas Howard, the Golden Globe Award-nominated, crimson-haired actress, is selling her Hollywood Hills villa at a loss. Howard, the daughter of legendary director Ron Howard, paid $2,900,000 for the home in December of 2006, just months after she married fellow actor Seth Gabel. That’s $545K more than the property’s current market price!

An incredible, discounted deal, Howard and Gabel’s home is a ‘romantic Hollywood Hills home in desirable Outpost Estates,’ according to the listing. The 1931 Mediterranean villa, which is completely private and gated, features a formal dining room, den/media room, office, sauna, and wine cellar. The property has a walled courtyard entry on a large lot, featuring spectacular city and canyon views. A dramatic, two-story entryway welcomes guests into the home’s spacious living and dining rooms, which are adjoined to a cozy kitchen and breakfast room. The gorgeous master suite comes complete with a sitting room and luxurious bathroom, offering both a stand alone shower and a tub. French doors open to landscaped patios, courtyards, a large grassy yard, and a loggia with fireplace. 

Steve Sawaii of Coldwell Banker holds the listing.

Nicky Hilton, the younger sister of Paris Hilton and fellow heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune, just price-chopped her home in the Hollywood Hills by $255,000. Formerly listed for $2,950,000 in July of 2012, Hilton has had a hard time finding a buyer to take the Sunset Strip crib off her hands and just dropped the price to $2,695,000. Property records show that the younger Hilton bought the 2-story residence in June 2007 for $2,800,000. Her new asking price puts her well below the price she paid for the pad, making a loss a likely outcome for this home.

Listing information calls the home an “elegant Traditional located in a prime Sunset Strip location.” From first glance, the unassuming home is actually oddly plain for a Hilton. Like older sister Paris, Nicky had faux-lebrity family friend Faye Resnick decorate parts of the home in her signature style that includes oodles of black, mirrors, and patent leather. Aside from the questionable decor and some cringe-worthy kitchen wallpaper, the Hilton home does have a great floor plan with spacious living room, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen with large island, four ovens, a roomy pantry, and built-in refrigerator. The dramatic master suite includes two huge closets and two bathrooms. All rooms lead to a rather small outdoor area with a pool, waterfall, and fireplace. Additionally, Hilton’s home has a family room/den, gym, and sauna. It’s a nice Los Angeles home, but it’s no penthouse at the Hilton. 

Miranda Cosgrove, the darling 19-year-old actress who dazzled Nickelodeon viewers for 5+ years as the lead in the hit show iCarly, has  bought a beautifully renovated home in the Hollywood Hills for $2.65 million. How can a teenager afford such a gorgeous home? Well, according to reports, Cosgrove earned around $180,000 per episode of iCarly, making her the one of the highest-paid child stars on television. She was even listed in the 2012 edition of Guinness World Records as the Highest Paid Child Actress for iCarly. She’s recently pulled back from acting full-time to attend the University of Southern California, where she’s studying theater and writing.

According to property records, the purchase closed on October 22, 2012. The home has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathroom and is 2,942 square feet on a 12,699 square-foot lot. The beautifully-renovated, traditional home has was meticulously designed by the owner, with no expense spared. The property features en-suite bathrooms for all bedrooms, a gourmet chef’s kitchen with Carrera marble, Subzero commercial refrigerator, Viking range and Bosch dishwasher, a media/family room with wet bar, and gracious living and formal dining rooms. Perfect for a young actress with throngs of devoted fans, the property is completely hedged and fenced in the front and back for privacy. The grassy backyard features a replastered pool/spa, covered pavillion with flat screen TV, and multiple sitting areas.

Funnyman Chris Hardwick, famous in the 1990′s for his stint as the host of MTV’s “Singled Out” and decades as a comedian, has just paid $2,050,000 for a Hollywood Hills estate. According to public records and reporting by the Los Angeles Times, Hardwick closed on the property on November 8, 2012. The hilltop Los Angeles home has four-bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms spread out over 4,205 square feet.

The home is a private, gated 1923 Tudor home. Hardwick bought the home directly from the designer, who, according to listing information, spent 3 years renovating the home. The changes were inspired by the Florentine villa “Torre di Bellosguardo.” Sitting on a 11,500 square-foot lot, the home has landscaped grounds, stone walls and stairs leading to a terraced garden. As expected from a house in the Hollywood Hills, Hardwick’s new place has spectacular canyon and head-on panoramic Downtown-to-Long-Beach views. Inside the home, details abound, including Venetian plaster walls and hand forged wrought iron balconies throughout. The master bath has an original reglazed clawfoot tub, steam shower, dual vanities and Grohe fixtures. In the kitchen, you’ll find vaulted ceilings, marble countertops, Viking stainless appliances, 100 year old reclaimed wood cabinetry and mosaic Italian tiles. An original log cabin on ground floor now serves as a studio. The property has room for a pool too!

Images via the MLS.

Siobhan Fahey, famous across the globe for being a founding member of the 1980′s British girl group Bananarama and later forming the award-winning musical group Shakespears Sister, has just purchased herself a rocking new pad in the Hollywood Hills. The 54-year-old rock star is the ex-wife of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. The musically-inclined former duo have two sons, and according to an expose on Fahey, she keeps a home in Los Angeles to stay close to her sons, who are based there.

Her new home in the Hollywood Hills is in a spectacular location, arguably one of the most remarkable sites in Los Angeles. The home sits atop of the Los Feliz “Oaks” with a 180° view over most of the City of Angels. According to the listing information, Fahey’s new place is a gated, modern Zen retreat in need of some TLC, with amazing upside potential. Perhaps Fahey will make some serious upgrades!

As the home stands now, it has jaw dropping views from almost every room. It also features 15′ floating ceilings, polished concrete floors, and an ideal open floor plan. The private master suite has views of Hollywood and a private deck. A seamless indoor/outdoor space includes a private dark bottom pool with a luxe deck and flat grassy yard.

As a comedian, actor, voice-over artist and author, Tim Allen has been entertaining audiences for years. But he’ll always have a place in everyone’s heart as the bumbling, yet lovable Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor in one of the greatest sitcom hits of the 1990′s - Home Improvement. It’s safe to say the royalties of that show, plus his work in major motion pictures, continue to pay off for Allen much more than any hosting gig for Tool Time ever could have. Case in point: the recent purchase of a rustic $1.4 million Los Angeles retreat just off legendary Mulholland Drive.

It’s doubtful you’ll encounter the partially obscured face of Wilson just across the fence from this property, but we think the Taylor family would still feel at home in this serene ranch-style retreat in the Hollywood hills. The 2,604 square foot home includes 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and custom Vermont pine floors with wood finishes throughout. The open floor plan, which connects the living room, dining room and den, features French doors and a wall of windows that open onto stunning views of the canyon.

The chef’s kitchen features an expansive stone island that seats ten and the requisite Viking range. Additional amenities include a stone fireplace in the living room, a built-in, high-definition television and sound systems throughout the house.

Once outside, it’s hard to imagine Al uttering the words, “I don’t think so, Tim,” as you gaze at the canyon from the full-length deck in the yard that features a fire pit, water feature and luxurious outdoor shower. Sorry Al, I’m siding with Tim on this one.

Perched atop one of the Sunset Strip’s most coveted ‘Bird Street,’ Nightingale, this newly constructed modern home has all the elements befitting this grand and hip location. Listed with Los Angeles super agent, Gary Gold of Hilton & Hyland, this cutting edge design mixes concrete, stucco and wood in a striking combination that creates warmth rarely seen in a modern estate of this size and scale.

A massive front doorway leads to high-ceiling public rooms that have fantastic volume, perfect for entertaining. How perfect? Well, Celebrity chef Michael Mina teamed up with Robb Report magazine to for an incredible dinner party and they chose this stunning home as the venue.

What makes it the quintessential and perfect Hollywood Hills home? To start, the home features floor-to-ceiling windows throughout that open up to bring the the outside in and help provide a spectacular backdrop – panoramic views of the city below. Twinkling city lights and the stunning California sky are this home’s never-ending front yard. A spacious chef’s kitchen has the latest and best in appliances and amenities. The private master bedroom and bath have their own fantastic views from the Hollywood Hills as well. A screening room, wine cellar, office and guest bedrooms round out this stunning hillside estate’s features.

Outside, a fantastic infinity edged pool and spacious fire pit area rival the home’s interior for entertaining possibilities.

For sale for $15 million, this home is also available for lease for $55,000 a month.

Megan Mullally, most famous for her portrayal of the nasal-voiced, sharp-tongued spitfire Karen Walker on the smash sitcom Will & Grace, is selling a stunning, trophy property in the “Bird Streets” of the Hollywood Hills that she shares with her husband, Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman. Brand new to the market today, Mullally and Offerman are selling their 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom estate at 1435 Tanager Way for $12.65M. According to public records, the duo paid $3.95M for the estate on March 13, 2003. This estate has amazing city and ocean views and the listing says it’s a “Must buy.” A high-profile contemporary estate in an even higher-profile neighborhood, the home has been published in Elle Decor (among others) and is known for its ultra clean lines.

Mullally and Offerman’s home has been crafted with the ultimate in design and quality and is located on a quiet cul-de-sac on Tanager Way, which is regarded as the best of all the ‘Bird Streets.’ Love what Megan did with the place? Well, lucky you, because the home can be offered fully furnished.

Rory Barish of Keller Williams Beverly Hills holds the listing.