Friday, September 21, 2007

Nic Cage Finally Puts Bel Air House on the Open Market

SELLER: Nic Cage
LOCATION: Copa de Oro Road, Bel Air, CA
PRICE: $19,750,000 (reduced from $35,000,000)
SIZE: 11,817 square feet, 9 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Legendary Dean Martin/Tom Jones English Bel Air manor. This landmark estate, on over 1 acre of lush grounds & gardens both front & back, with over 11,000 sq. ft. of luxurious living, is fit for royalty. High ceilings, beautiful theater, huge custom wine cellar, game room, Olympic size pool and circular driveway with fountain. This exquisite home is a glorious piece of art.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Well, it's official. There have long been whispers and rumors that crazy haired Nic Cage's big Bel Air house was quietly on the market...and it was. Then, this morning, the bat phone rang and on the other end was our Fairy Godmother in Bel Air who was giddy and gleeful to inform us that the legendary property has hit the open market for an eye popping $35,000,000.

Everybody knows that Nic Cage is real estate obsessed and owns a dozen or more properties around the world including a couple of historic homes in New Orleans, a home on Paradise Island in the Bahamas AND a 40 acre private island in the Bahamas, at least one house in Las Vegas, at least one house in San Francisco, a busted up Bavarian Schloss, a Georgian townhouse in Bath, England, as well as a castle in Bath, and his most recent purchase, a behemoth 12 bedroom house in Newport, Rhode Island. Mister Big Time has a very nice accounting of several of Mister Cage's recent purchases.

So it makes sense that the big bucks actor would begin to sell a couple of the properties off. Your Mama just aches at the thought of what it costs Mister Cage and his much younger ex-waitress wifey Alice Kim to maintain all of these massive properties, not to mention his yearly tax bill, which Your Mama imagines must be upwards of $1,000,000.

Listing information indicates the property is vacant, which might explain why Mister Cage and Miz Kim have decided to put the place on the open market. Your Mama hasn't a clue to which of their many, many properties they've decamped, but we're sure that's to make news shortly.

Mister Cage purchased the monster mansion in 1998 from cheese ball crooner Tom Jones for an undisclosed price, but reported to have been around $7,000,0000. The house also once belonged to Dean Martin, another iconic Las Vegas gadabout and singer.

Listing information for the property shows the house includes living and dining rooms, naturally, ad den, library/study, lanai, media room, office, projection room, amazing wine cellar, family room, loft, an Olympic sized swimming pool and a sauna. But there isn't a tennis court, so the truly sportiff will still need to join the nearby Bel Air Country Club if they like to swing the rackets with a hunky tennis pro.

Photos for the property are slim, but we imagine it's SPECTACULAR and we can't wait to see them.

SOURCE: Pacific Coast News (photo)

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's an acre of land, more than enough to handle an 11,000-square-foot house. But this one has always looked to me as if it's shoe-horned uncomfortably onto that corner lot.

Anonymous said...

yes it does look crammed into it's space. it's still an amazing looking house though- like it was transported from England- big, old, creepy manor house. I love it.

Anonymous said...

The picture posted here is rather dated. The front of the house is covered in green ivy now and looks alot better than the old, bare red brick does. I wish Mr. Cage luck getting the $35 million he wants as the number of super high priced homes languishing on the market mounts.

so_chic_darling said...

Can't wait to see the interior shots Mama!

Anonymous said...

If you read about Cage's New Orleans mansion that is some scary shit.(if it's true)
I don't know what he was thinking when he bought that house. I would not want to buy that brand of history.shg

. said...

If you're going to have a mansion it ought'a look like one, and this one does. I like it.

. said...

Now here is a nice thought experiment: you found 35 mil in cash in an old purse you were going to give the maid. What the hell! Buy some property. Choice: Vera Wang's Park Avenue appartment or Nic Cage's Bel Air mansion.

My pick would be the New York property, because Manhattan is never going to get any bigger and those Candela buildings are going to be there a long time. Secondly, it's in New York and the mansion is not.

Anonymous said...

$35M is an astonishing amount (but you never know when you're playing with the high end) for that house and I imagine its been sifted through by all of the local high end agents. I agree it looks uncomfortably wedged into its current plot of land... although still a nice property.

On another note, comparing NY to LA is apples and oranges

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'd steer clear of the Lalaurie house, too. Some bad energy there.

Especially when Cage has that house on Prytania in the Garden District. Last owner is a family friend and it's unbelievably cool. There are no walls between the parlors on the left and the dining room on the right. Only a few large columns indicate where the "center hall" used to be. Very high ceilings. A grand sense of space like nothing else in NOLA.

I agree that the Copa de Oro house is cool. Just overwhelms the lot. I think he'll be lucky to get $20 million.

Anonymous said...

Hey Aunt Mary, I decided to try your experiment but since I don't own a purse (that wasn't mine the other night!), I was forced to rummage through my housekeeper's things just now. Well... there's was no $35M or winning lotto ticket. But I did see her driver's license from El Salvador. Now, that's either the butchest hair cut I've ever seen and the strangest spelling of Lupe, or I've been watching Nic Cage mop the kitchen floor for the last 2 years! Speaking of hair, I happen to know the fine folks over at Silhouette Hair in North Hollywood and if Nic wasn't so damn cheap when it comes to his coiffure, he could get one of their girls to hook up a descent weave in no time! As for his Brick-House, I like SOME English architecture - but somehow this one is too cold for me. Although, to be positive today (in keeping my promises to The Shrink), I do like Copa de Oro very much!! Now, back to my script...

Anonymous said...

Beautiful house.I just need a little more lawn.You those trees are a PITA to maintain.

Anonymous said...

i like.. lamp

luke220 said...

Anon 9:42-- my picture shows ivy on he front of the house, not red brick.

luke220 said...

"the" front

Anonymous said...

Hey Luke -- not sure if I'm interpreting your comment properly, but when this post first went up the photo was a straight-ahead shot of the facade sans ivy...later, it got switched to the aerial angle (with plenty of ivy) that's currently up.

Anonymous said...

I remember this house being for sale for around $12 mil a few years back. Jeez, how times have changed. But I LOVE this house. It is a proper mansion, and has a bit of mystery, plus, in my opinion, the best place to have a mansion in Los Angeles, if you want a real mansion. I just love lower Bel Air!

Anonymous said...

I agree 2.24 -- East Gate Bel Air is pretty much the shit.

so_chic_darling said...

Aunt Mary let's not knock LA,I live in Manhattan and LOVE it.However I visit LA all the time and I LOVE it too.
I will however say no thanks to Miami!

luke220 said...

Thanks, pch. I missed the first pic. Thought my eyes were going!

Anonymous said...

Regarding LA vs. Manhattan, it all depends on what you want.

You wouldnt pay me to live there. Bel Air is much nicer than NY if you like sun, a backyard, privacy, to see the sky and not buildings above, grass and not asphalt, and not crowds of people everywhere you go.

The quality of life is much nicer than in NY. But if you prefer hectic, manic paced, crowded, concrete everywhere, traffic, etc. than yes, NY is your place.

I'll take sunny So Cal anyday.

Anonymous said...

Looks as if The Munsters live there.

Anonymous said...

Looks as if The Munsters live there.

Anonymous said...

If I had $35mil I would purchase the old Harold Lloyd estate "Greenacres", just off of Benedict Canyon and then give it back to his granddaughter.

Anonymous said...

I would hump this house. It is luscious.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anonymous (7:45pm),

I agree that having a back yard is nice.

However freeways, smog, fake plastic people everywhere and waiting for your house on stilts to get swallowed up by the San Andreas Fault - not so much.

Newport or the Hamptons - now that's a killer view from your back yard.

Anonymous said...

that looks the way a mansion should look.
call me naive, but i'm beginning to think hwood doesn't get too attached to their "homes"?

but who could? too damn big to feel like home, maybe, i dunno, whatever.

. said...
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. said...

I just have to chime in again about this mansion. This is a slightly different view point from the first time it was posted. Even though the lot seems small for the house and the lawn is covered in trees, I imagine the view from the ground is quite different. The illusion of hidden vistas and mysterious avenues as you turn into the drive would be quite appealing. The perimeter is so densely planted that you could imagine a vast woods or meadow beyond instead of the neighbor's jacuzi.

Anonymous said...

NO one was talking about Newport or the Hamptons. It was about LA NY.
I mean yeah, I would prefer Maui to Bel Air.


Everyone has their preference. And I would prefer to live in Beverly Hills.

There are plenty of annoying, all they talk about is money Jews in Beverly Hills as well as Manhatten so its bad in that sense in either location. And in terms of plastic people there are plenty of plastic surgury victims in Manhatten.

. said...

As much as I regret having to respond to the Jew comment, I feel I must. It is a crass, ignorant, stereotypical remark. On a board like this where people depend on civil discourse to enhance the experience, degradation of others is not useful. Considering the few Jews left in the world after WWII, their achievements in the arts, lettres, science and finance is phenomenal. I'm sure you didn't mean it in a bad way. I'm not Jewish.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:09

I just don't understand how you would rather Beverly Hills over Bel Air. But I guess it is more like personal taste.

Beverly Hills (I'm speaking very loosely of course as some of BH is great) is like a yellow Lamborghini, whereas Bel Air is like a black Aston Martin.

Anonymous said...

There are parts of Beverly Hills that have a more lively feel. Bel Air in some parts has a surreal feel; no one walking on the street, no kids playing in their yards, no one but "the help" walking the dogs. Thats not for me.


And no ALL Jews are not annoying, and that was not stated, but yes there is a certain breed of ultra rich Jews who seem to talk almost exclusively about wealth, the accumulation of wealth,etc., And sorry, but Ive been to the parties and in the room to hear it, it gets old. I dont think anything evil should happen to them, I just prefer to not live amoung that group. ;)
I have lived in Mexico as well and found many of their upper class to be annoying as well;most talk endlessly about their superior Spanish genetics compared to the lower class Indigenous Mexicans. ANNOYING. No group is above being criticized for their behavior.

Do I dislike all Jews, of course not. Do I dislike certain Jewish indivduals who base wealth, their superior ability to create wealth, etc. at the core of their conversation, yes. And Beverly Hills/Bel Air and Manhattan are centers of this. My point, in that regard stands. They have the right to exist, I just prefer to live somewhere else.

. said...

That's fair enough, there are people whose company I don't enjoy. Money grubbers should inflict their company only on each other, but to point out the Jewishness of the money grubber is bigoted. Don't tell me there are no wasp money grubbers in LA, or any other ethnic group. Maybe it seems like a small thing, but given the horrors of the twentieth century, I believe we must put the spot light on casual anti-semitic speech. Slippery slope and all that. Sorry to be such a scold.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you Aunt Mary.

Although I don't think the anonymous poster intended to be bigoted, the fact is, the Jewish do not have a lock down on being annoying money grubbers and to single out the Jewish money grubber rides right up on bigotry for sure, unintended or not.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jews dont have a lock down on greed, but they do in Beverly Hills and Manhatten.

And they tie their prowess for accumulating wealth with being Jewish. Just as hearing about those who are Muslims continually talk about their faith and their dislike of Isreal, and Asians discussing why they are smarter than lazy,"pie eye" Caucasians. Its gets old. Fast.

Im sorry, but those are the conversations I have been exposed to.

People who talk about wealth continously are annoying. But those that discuss the superior ability to generate wealth based on their being Jewish,is beyond tiresome.
I dont want to live next to Rush Limbaugh either.

Every discussion does not need to be tied to your being Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Republican, Democrat, Gay,etc. I get it, youre Jewish, Youre Gay, Youre a Republican, You hate Bush.....etc.
Get a hobby.

Like I said, live and let live. I just prefer to live somewhere else.

. said...

I think we've both made our point. Thanks for the give and take.

Anonymous said...

If you buy the house, you get the the tour vans and fans with movie star maps coming by ever 5 minutes. Just another fab feature of the home. Too bad the Osbournes just bought in Hidden Hills. This would have been perfect for them.

Anonymous said...

Dean Martin must be rolling in his grave....learning that the house is now on the market for $35 Mil.

Anonymous said...

Difference between Bel-Air and Beverly Hills. In Bel-Air, the Association is always looking for money to pay for cameras and more security.....because LAPD does not have the resouces to patrol in the area. In Beverly Hills you don't need to pay for private patrol or alarm response service. The Beverly Hills Police come in 3 minutes. The City of Beverly Hills also takes good care of the streets/sidewalks etc. I love Bel-Air, but wish it had Beverly Hills Municipal Services.

Anonymous said...

Something strange is going on with this house. It seems the deed was transferred to an investment group last March and they are holding it because of a $1,500,000 lien. They have also obtained a legal Power of Sale to recoup their lien. Like I've said before with of these house Nic Cage is selling off, he's running out of money! He's spending more than he makes and it seems like it's all on houses!

Anonymous said...

O.K. I dont live in L.A. or N.Y. and i don't want to. Nic should sell all of his property except the one in New Orleans. I do happen to live in Louisiana and let me tell you it is wonderful. I know everyone thinks the south is full of dumb ass bubbas but think again. I have a 5,ooo sq. foot heated home on 3 acres. nothing cramped about it. The people are warm, genuine & friendly. I've traveled extensively and I have never met better or had better food than you can get here.