Monday, May 11, 2009

Natalie Portman Purchases Celebrity Magnet Mini-Mansion in Los Feliz

BUYER: Natalie Portman
SELLER: Estate of LeRoi Moore
LOCATION: Linwood Drive, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $3,250,000
SIZE: 4,866 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Grand Laughlin Park 1930s estate of exquisite craftsmanship & detail. This unique estate has 4 br 2 ba plus 2 sep gst homes, a prvt courtyard entry to main foyer, voluminous rooms or rich wood floors, walls & ceilings leaded sanctuary style windows, Bo trussed ceilings of gallery proportions & leaded glass French doors leading to spectacular stone loggia. Over 18,000sf lushly landscaped grounds w/ a beautiful pool. Systems have been upgraded including state-of-the-art security control system.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Back in early August of 2008, Your Mama discussed (and kinda dissed) Oscar nominated actress Natalie Portman's posh 2-bedroom digs in a Richard Meier designed green glass tower in New York City which she had listed for sale at $6,550,000 and which records show she sold in late November of 2008 for it's full asking price to an unknown entity called Monkway Properties Inc.

Then, a couple of weeks ago Your Mama discussed property in the gated Laughlin Park community in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles which has a long history of celebrity ownership. In 1997, formerly married actors Dermot Mulroney and the dee-veeon Catherine Keener bought the Linwood Drive dwelling from Grammy winning musician Chick Corea. In 2005 Mister Mulroney and Miz Keener went splitsville and sold the quirky but homey house to a business entity we are 99.9% certain belonged to recently deceased saxophonist LeRoi Moore who was a long time member of The Dave Matthews Band.

At the time we discussed the property, which was listed at $3,199,000, it was under contract and we recklessly bet the children our long bodied bitches Linda and Beverly that the star magnet mini-manse was being bought by yet another celebrity. And, at the risk of sounding like we were gloating, Your Mama was right.

Thanks to the Los Feliz Flapjaw (and confirmed with a peep into the property records), Your Mama has learned the Linwood Drive domicile was purchased by none other that fresh-faced Natalie Portman who paid $3,250,000 for the 4 bedroom and 2 bathroom residence which, the children will note, is a bit higher than the asking price leading Your Mama to believe there was considerable interest in the 1930 mini-estate.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice character house. Hope, she redecorates it nicely, but without wiping out the style of the house.

Anonymous said...

#ftw !

Anonymous said...

damn! now more paparazzi in Los Feliz staking out the Alcove and Little Dom's..Natalie, Liv, and Katie Heigl please move!!!

signed, long time los felizer

Anonymous said...

Natalie is not a paparazzi whore - she does everything to avoid them ...

Still shocked she's decamped to the West coast ... she will have made quite a profit from the sale of her apartment. Given that she lived at 165 I would have expected her to go for something modern in LA, obviously not.

Anonymous said...

I think anyone whining about celebrities while living in Los Feliz is the one who needs to move. The celebrities are also "long time Los Felizers".

Joe Gillis said...

didn't all the stars live there in the 20's and 30's before the big migration westward?

Anonymous said...

You can be 100% sure that's who the seller was.
And since that part of Los Feliz is gated, I don't think paparazzi will be a big issue..

Anonymous said...

^

She was referring to the restaurants & cafes on Hillhurst a few blocks away - not Laughlin Park.

Anonymous said...

Also, one could say her choice of Laughlin Park shows how she won't court the Paps. It's a gated neighborhood. No shots coming in and out of the garage possible, a la Lilo and Paris. If you want to slip in and out quietly, this is a great house to do it from. If you want to create the chaos, there are better places to do it from.

I love Laughlin Park. And Hancock Park. Guess I'm getting old when I'm ready to trade the Hollywood Hills view modern for such things...

Anonymous said...

doesn't Lily Tomlin live in Laughlin Park? I saw her in the Mayfair MArket years ago and she gave me the sweetest smile.....

Anonymous said...

Her little love nest with Sean Penn.

StPaulSnowman said...

From the description it sounds like a very interesting and beautiful house.........fitting for one of the most exquisitely beautiful faces, (and necks), ever to grace the movie screen. I could only hope for a large Sargent portrait of the new owner hanging over the mantlepiece.

Anonymous said...

2:18 - Not sure where Tomlin lives/lived but her business manager's office was on Argyle & Yucca not far from the Mayfair (recently renamed to Gelson's. RIP Mayfair).

angeleyes said...

I figured this one would sell quick. 2:18 & 7:00, according to the celebrity address aerial site, Lily Tomlin sold her home on DeMille Dr in Laughlin Park and has lived on Weddington St. in North Hollywood since January 2003.

Babe Parish said...

See, now I think Miss Portman will do quite well here, seeing as she was soo amazing as Anne Boleyn~ she and Sean could play the "laughing too loud in the court" scene over and over. Plus she seems like an orange oil kind of gal... ;)

Anonymous said...

During the 90s, Lily and her partner Jane Wagner lived around the corner on De Mille Drive in a lovely old Spanish estate built in 1920 by oilman Frank Wood. The house was rented in the late 1920s by Maurice Chevalier and was later owned by W.C. Fields. As Joe Gillis said above, Los Feliz has always been popular with celebrities and Laughlin Park's private roads and gates give it the added benefit of privacy.

g said...

Ahead of the press... Today's NY Post headline, "Gotti Go!"

Anonymous said...

By the looks of the interior, I think she's done too many period movies because that is way too much woodwork for me.

Anonymous said...

Where did you seel the interior? I would like to look.

Anonymous said...

Click on the link in Mama's story where she says she discussed the house a few weeks ago.

Michael C. Kathrens said...

This is a wonderful property and I am glad you took a vacation from the glass and steel "homes" where all that matters is the sound system in the exercise room. Who would have guessed you could find something with Main Line feel in this area. Well done Natalie!

TheSeriouslyObssessivelyOrganicVegan said...

Looks like Natty is finally surrendering to the "corruption" and the artificiality of H'wood!!!
She unloaded a beautiful house about two years ago in New York. Gorgeous! Overlooking the ocean!

Poor thing seems rather self-destructive. (Buying a house in Los Feliz!) Deeply angry about Gael's baby with the same woman with whom he cheated on her, not able to find lasting love with any of her eccentric choices ever since, unable to attract interest from the ghosts of boyfriends past, especially not even the "nice Jewish boy" her family liked so well ten years ago!

At first I distrusted the Sean Penn connection. Now I'm not sure. Natalie is pursuing "acting projects" with Brad Pitt, too. In fact she's already signed up for one. I don't care how secure and secluded this house is, Natalie Portman is walking into the eye of the storm, bubbies.

She can kiss any semblance of privacy good-bye! And those rude glances ala Jackie Kennedy, that used to suffice when she went for walks in Central Park, will do her no good with the El Lay paparrazzi contingent. They are a devouring lot. But then, maybe she is buying this huge house for her parents. Oh wait! She already did that in Long Island.

notstanleykramer said...

A very striking home. I hope she can properly maintain and give it the attention it needs. The interior is in need of work.

SOOV get a life. I feel sorry for your kids. You are a bi$$h.

Anonymous said...

It would have been so much more intriguing had she purchased in, say, Austin or Santa Fe or Sedona.

Her housing dollars would go much further and there would likely be no paparazzi around at all.

With her level of fame and success, I can't believe she "needs" to live in Hollywood.

It's more interesting when an actor or actress chooses to not buy in Los Angeles, and live elsewhere. That way, he or she is doing something different and unique, and not just running with the crowd.

Anonymous said...

"... especially not even the "nice Jewish boy" her family liked so well ten years ago!"

Some nice Jewish boys prefer blondes!