Thursday, January 24, 2008

Your Mama Hears...

...that Garfleck or Jenben, or whatever it is all the tabs and gossip glossies call Hollywood it-parents Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, were out house hunting the other day. It was whispered in our big ear that along with a couple other pricey pads, the couple had a look-see at duck-billed single mommy Meg Ryan's Stradella Road property in Bel Air. Yes kids, this is the very same house that all the real estate gossips once thought Sexy and The Spice Gurl were gonna buy.

One of our well informed sources, a gentleman we call Kenny Kissentell, tells Your Mama that interested rich people gotta pay Miz Ryan $20,000,000 for the privilege of up living in her purdy tile-roofed house that sits next door to smoldering sexpot fashionista Tom Ford's Neutra designed digs. Kenny says the house is lovely, a real movie star home. However, says Kenny, there is simply no room to turn a limo around in the driveway, which of course is a real consideration for all the red carpet walkers in Los Angeles.

The a-list actors have spent considerable time and money building a not yet finished family house in lower Mandeville Canyon. So, does this mean we might see them to flip the newly built house and sell off their current crib on N. Tigertail in Brentwood? Only time will tell. For now it's just rumor and gossip.

40 comments:

Alessandra said...

Eh, the lack of turn-around is the limo driver's problem. If the house is as nice as the Kenny Kissentell promises, one can always hold up traffic on the street to navigate one's ginormous wheels and still be happy.

Anonymous said...

From the air, it doesn't look like much more than a lot of house on a small property in a nice neighborhood. Certainly not worth $20M.

Would MUCH rather see Tom Ford's Neutra.

Anybody got a link to some pics of that?

Cameron J. Awesome said...

@ lil' gay boy: Not sure about this, but the only Neutra worthy of Tom Ford in Bel Air (that I can think of) would be This one The Hammerman house as redone by John Bertram. It sold a few years ago (2005 maybe?) in the mid-seven figures. Enjoy!

- Cameron

Anonymous said...

Has this house ever been actually put on the market, or is it just someone's pocket listing (or is it even more exclusively only available through the celebrity grapevine?) I've never seen a listing for this house in at least 3-4 years of constant surveillance of the West-LA MLS...

Anonymous said...

Cameronj:

Wow.

There's nothing else to say but thanks for the link!

Anonymous said...

It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but for this money, I'd rather be East Gate than West Gate.

Hey Cameron and LGB: There is a house immediately west of the Ryan house, 10801 Chalon Road, that Neutra designed circa 1955. Aside from the fact that it seems to be called the Brown house, I know nothing about it -- but I suspect it's the one Mama means. (I believe the Hammerman house -- very nice, by the way -- is down on Bentley Circle, just above Sunset Boulevard.)

Topography is a serious wild card in lower Bel-Air...it might seem jammed in, but because of steep differences in elevation and dense foliage everywhere, the house-to-lot ratio doesn't usually feel as claustrophobic as it might seem from the air. Of course, by the standards of fin de siecle Long Island, these are still tenement conditions :)

Anonymous said...

Cameronj:

Pretty much ALL of the Neutra's in Bel Air are Tom Ford worthy. His is not the one linked, Ford's is really close to the house that JenBen are looking at, that's all I'm saying. And much more beautiful, full of Milo Baughman chairs upholstered in mohair and such. Literally one of my two favorite Los Angeles houses!

Two other great Neutras in Bel Air: Vidal Sassoon's on Mulholland, and one on Bel Air Road, which if my memory is correct belongs to Barry Sonnenfeld.

Anonymous said...

Oh, but Mama, we loves real estate rumor and gossip!

Anonymous said...

Talking about Neutra ... Does anyone know anything about the Hal Levitt thats just appeared on the mls ... Eden Pl, BHPO? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Forget Tom Ford's Neutra... I'd rather see Tom Ford naked!

Anonymous said...

PCH, I just love a Neutra home (even if Frank Lloyd Wright did hate his guts).

As for fin-de-siecle Long Island, I just found out that Knole, the house that Bentley and I were discussing the other day, has been reduced to a paltry 9 acres . . . but since both the indoor tennis court and stables have already burned down, I guess that's enough land!

I've seen from some of the street level photos that the house-to-lot ratio you mentioned does matter - a lot. From the street they seemed isolated enough; hardly tenement conditions, but the more land means more hunky gardeners.

;-)

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:30

I know that it is f-ing amazing, but overpriced. I have seen better Levitt houses, but love them all.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, the anon 3:48 comment was directed at anon 2:59, not 3:30

Anonymous said...

"Tenement conditions" had me rolling. Excellent PCH! And I agree re: the East Gate is best, as anyone should know that's been stalking 90077. Guess the agent is keeping silent, not suggesting to Gin-Bin that the East Gate would be preferable. But shouldn't they be able to see through the tint of their limo windows and figure that out themselves? Speaking of which, given that this home was constructed well before power steering, I would assume anything the size of a Duesenberg would be able to safely dump the master and missus off right at that front door, without having to back to-n-fro and induce motion sickness * For this price I'd hold out for something around St.Pierre or St.Cloud on a "small" lot. Almost anything east of Chantilly is nice in my book... although I don't know that I would buy on Stone Cyn (even IF I did have money). Nice street but I don't particularly like the "no escape" canyon type roads.

PS The jury is still out on the wallpaper in the powder room. Maybe I'll just paint it myself and be done with it.

Anonymous said...

My thoughts exactly, Hippie Canyon. As for your powder room, my vote is for pushing the envelope. Why the hell not? Worst case scenario, you don't like it and go with paint after all. Best case scenario, you get mad props from all your friends for being insanely brilliant.

Alessandra said...

I agree with your powder room assessment, pch. Go wild, Hippie Canyon!

Poor Meg. She's on the *wrong* side of town...

Anonymous said...

Hippie, how about a compromise; just wallpaper two of the walls (NEVER the ceiling, please!) and confuse all your guests . . .

Anonymous said...

Hippie, I'm heart sick. You realize that wallpapering a powder room "just for fun" is the thin edge of the wedge for full blown wallpaper addiction. Next it'll be "just this wall in the foyer" and "wouldn't a border look cute in the kitchen". Flocked fleur de lis in the bedroom and stamped foil in the dining room. I should have guessed it would happen. Those hip designers conning Gweneth into putting up huge patterned wallpaper. (They were probably snickering behind her back "Can you beeeeleeeeeeeve she fell for that?") They knew full well that others would soon be wanting wall paper like Gweneth's! Powder rooms are entry level misdemeanor crimes. Listen to your pals here egging you on! And where will they be 6 months from now when you're out clinging to the eaves of your house trying to slap prepasted faux Tuscan tile wallpaper on your roof!! I'll tell you where they'll be, they'll be clucking and tsktsking and saying they saw it coming when you did the powder room. Why didn't you come to me when these vile urges were coming on? I could have helped. I would have locked you in one of my bedrooms with a kitchen spatula and made you remove all 23 layers of plaid, striped, and flowered horror. You would have walked out of there and never looked back. But now? Who knows? I hope it isn't too late. But if it is, I think you should go for a William Morris reproduction in dark greens and browns. I hear it's to die for.

Anonymous said...

I really wanted to put wood paneling in the foyer of our multimillion dollar penthouse condo in the Wilshire corridor overlooking the Beverly Hills Golf Course but the wife wanted wallpaper. We are so wealthy that we could have easily afforded the best exotic wood paneling in the world but I am always one to compromise so we used woodgrain vinyl contact paper. Have you heard of it? It looks really nice and is easy to clean.

Anonymous said...

Hippie Canyon:

You hit the nail on the head! I agree with most of your thoughts on Bel Air and every time I see a home come on the market on Stone Canyon I cringe! You couldn't pay me to live in most of those homes (no view, cold) on that road. I don't mind certain parts of Stradella and love the modern that sold for $20M + on Sarbonne... that was quite a pad!

Anonymous said...

@ lil" gay boy

here some pics of Tom Ford's Neutra house that sits next door to Meg's, at 10801 Chalon Drive

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8219.jpg

here the old listing of the house, before Ford bought it:

+++
Neutra's Brown House in Bel Air

Brown House Est. 1955
10801 Chalon Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90077

Price: $ 1,995,000.

4 Bedrooms, 6 Bathrooms
Year Built: 1955
approx. Lot Size: 35,280 sqft. (0,81 acres)
View: yes
Pool: yes

"The Brown House" circa 1955 by Richard Neutra.
This gated estate in lower Bel Air is perched on its own knoll,
strategically positioned on the very rear of the lot, affording incredible
180 degree views. The grounds are rich with vegetation and cleverly
preserving the privacy of the home. Detached guest house/cabana adjacent
to pool. Just refurbished.
+++

Anonymous said...

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8219.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/821.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/822.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/823.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/824.jpg

Anonymous said...

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/825.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/826.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/827.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/828.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/829.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8213.jpg

Anonymous said...

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8215.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8216.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8217.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e399/laura867x/8218.jpg

so_chic_darling said...

Everyone please listen to Aunt Mary she knows what she's talking about and she's right.

Anonymous said...

Laura:

Thanks so much . . . you're a gem!

Anonymous said...

Aunt Mary,

Now I feel like such a heel...such an enabler. Your intervention has shown me the light. I can only pray Hippie Canyon has not already purchased some aweful $2.00/roll bad art out of no-refunds barrel. Or worse, the crap's installed. What might I have done. I need forgiveness. Everyone deserves a second chance. This once?

I have so_chic_darling to thank for reinforcing the urgency of you post.

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper, you're forgiven, I know it seemed like such a lark at the time. These things always do. But I expect you to help me with the wallpaper steamer when it comes time to remove whatever he's already done. And he may be aggressive and belligerent if he's really loving it.

Anonymous said...

A wallpaper intervention -- you guys kill me :)

so_chic_darling said...

Wallpaper is a VERY serious problem and it must be stopped.

Anonymous said...

Aunt Mary,

I was foolish and wreckless. I'm grateful for your forgiveness. When steaming day arrives (you are so right) hippie-c will be difficult. We'll need protection--and Linda Hoof has that steely stare? Think she'd be game? Buy her a liquid lunch on the way. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

LOL!!! This is why I have such a sick & twisted addiction to this site. I suppose I should hold off on any costly playtime (aka wallpaper project) since I'm not working. So we can all chillax. Strictly as a matter of conversation ( I swear): if my budget allowed, I think I would go for some bold Osborne & Little type print. But... if it meant everyone ended up avoiding the Pwd Rm and using my bathroom instead, then I'd have to fugget it. Still, it could be awfully fun (no pun intended).

Anonymous said...

Laura,

What magazines contain these articles?

Anonymous said...

Hippie Canyon,
Now that I can rest my guilt (sigh & TY), I googled and luv those Osbourne & Little designs. Scrumptious!

PS Don't worry Aunt Mary, learned my lesson. I will not act upon these zany and impulsive urges.

Anonymous said...

Hippie Canyon,
Now that I can rest my guilt (sigh & TY), I googled and luv those Osbourne & Little designs. Scrumptious!

PS Don't worry Aunt Mary, learned my lesson. I will not act upon these zany and impulsive urges.

Anonymous said...

My architectural sensibilities are pretty much set in stone, but when it comes to interiors I think in very changeable terms. Go with the moment. Have fun. It's like getting spinners on your car back in '04 or whenever -- it was okay if you knew they were terrible, and you only kept them for six months anyway.

Which is why I still think you should go for it, Hippie Canyon. I also went and googled that O&L company and think this one would be totally rad for a powder room: http://www.osborneandlittle.com/osborne-&-little/vintage/wallpapers/volte.45face/

Anonymous said...

But they seriously need a new tagline. Osborne & Little are leading fabric and wallpaper designers ain't cutting it.

Alessandra said...

I liked almost all of the spring 2007 O&L wallpapers for a powder room. But I'm like a zany purist with my design aesthetic and think there should be one room in every household that is a surprise.

Anyway, no one can beat the house I once saw where they'd hand "papered" the powder room with pieces of aluminum foil. Not wallpaper posing as foil, either. Actual Reynolds Wrap. A surprise, indeed.

Anonymous said...

Hippie, if you must wallpaper then go for the full on psychedelic; that way, if your guests happen to heave whilst in there, no one will notice for a day or to until the odor makes its presence known.

Anonymous said...

Hippie-C,
An option to consider beyond PCH's tasteul suggestion...

Would this one work with your motif? Subtle boarders can be soooo charming. :)

http://www.wallpaper-inc.com/images/full/CHI-BA7028B.jpg