Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Writer/Producer Jesse Alexander Puts Quirky Pad Up For Sale

SELLER: Jesse Alexander
LOCATION: Sherman Oaks, CA
PRICE: $2,100,000
SIZE: 4,399 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Sorry Charlies, but pickins are a bit slim in the celebrity real estate world today so rather than a household name, big time billionaire or tawdry tabloid princess let's discuss a decidedly but pleasantly peculiar Sherman Oaks, CA residence owned by television writer/producer Jesse Alexander and listed on the open market this week with a $2,100,000 price tag.

For most of the first decade of the Noughts, Mister Alexander successfully toiled as a staff writer and/or executive producer on a number of hit shows (Lost, Alias and Heroes) that each spawned a rabid cult-like following of fans and, let's be honest chickens, more than a few fanatics. Lost, Alias and Heroes have all been canceled.

Mister Alexander's resume on the Internet Movie Data Base indicates he's won one Emmy–for Lost–but there are actually two Emmy statuettes that on the shelf behind the desk in his self-contained home office that contains a kitchenette, bathroom, and an entire wall lined with video game consoles and pinball machines. Speaking of quasi-nerdy pursuits such as video game console collecting, in addition to his television activities Mister Alexander has participated in the development of various video games as well as written a number of graphic novels.

Property records show Mister Alexander, who is (or was) married–we don't know–and produced a couple of young boy children, acquired the gated and privately situated Sherman Oaks residence in late August 2002 for $1,125,000. We're not sure what exactly the house looked like back in 2002 but listing photographs show the exterior is now a somewhat wacky, wee bit whacked, and not entirely recommended but not altogether displeasing architectural mash-up between a cedar-shingled east coast-ian Cape Cod and a classic SoCal post-and-beam mid-century modern.

The wide gated driveway extends from the street deep in to the property where there's a two-car attached garage, a cramped flag stone entry terrace and and off-center pitched overhang that signifies the front entry. The children will note that Mister Alexander, his wife and/or their nice, gay decorator used a proper crystal chandelier for a porch light, a brazenly glitzy choice that hints of the idiosyncratic, colorful, multi-patterned and very personal day-core splashed about over all the interior spaces.

Double doors open into a hub-like foyer with shallow vaulted ceiling, a stairwell to the lower level, and milk chocolate colored hardwood floors. A wide door way on the right reveals the mostly black and white banquet hall-sized dining room and directly opposite the front door another wide doorway, this one flanked with pony-wall pedestals, festooned with a paper garland, and bracketed by high-contrast red and white curtain panels, steps down into what was probably originally intended for use as a "formal" living room.

Rather than a formal living room that no one besides an occasional guest ever even looks at or goes in to, the Alexander clan re-purposed the "formal" living room in to a casual, put your bare feet on the coffee table-type of library/media room with chunky stone fireplace, walls lined with book-filled book shelves, and a floor-to-ceiling windows and sliders that open to a tree house-like covered veranda. When it's movie watching time, black out curtains pull closed over the windows and an over-sized, ceiling-mounted projection screen scrolls down from the ceiling. Kudos to the papier-mâché wart hog head mounted on the chimney breast and a hip-hip-hoo-ray for the identical wheel-mounted navy blue sofas that thankfully anchor and smooth out the colorfully rough edges of the otherwise cacophonous and chaotic but ultimately cozy space.

The dining room, formal only in size and perhaps palette, has a decoratively daring semi-glossy black band painted below the belly high chair rail, a behemoth butcher block-topped farmhouse table that easily seats 12, and a DIY-ish light fixture fashioned from ordinary plumbing pipes and five polka-dotted lamp shades. Mis-matched frames line two walls and feature a rather extensive collection of cheesy but charming dog portraits.
The lustrous milk chocolate hardwood floors continue from the dining room in to the the all-white and stainless steel kitchen finished with lightly veined white marble counter tops and gleaming white subway tile back splashes that extend–as they should–from the counter top clear to the base of the upper cabinets.
 The kitchen opens to a casual dining area and family room with wood-beamed vaulted ceiling. At one end a built-in breakfast banquette has a cheeky, white tufted leather bench seat. At the other end a Union Jack patterned rug–with the traditionally red stripes replaced with a mossy taupe color–defines the family room area where a wonderfully well-worn club chair-style brown leather sofa manages to make a happy decorative marriage between a flashy white laminate and stainless steel coffee table, even flashier zebra-striped chaise lounger, and black and white honeycomb-patterned curtains that can be pulled closed over the wide banks of floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors that line two walls.
The master suite, adequate in size for Your Mama and the Dr. Cooters needs but downright eensy-weensy by modern-day suburban mcmansion standards, offers a petite sitting area with huge sliding glass doors that open to a deep covered patio and a pair closets where the doors have been replaced with piped valances and white fabric panels. The attached (all-white) bathroom isn't particularly large but is well laid out and certainly luxurious with double sinks, marble counter tops, vintage-style honeycomb tile floors, a separate terlit

The pervasively eclectic and, yes, whimsical, day-core blooms completely in the bedrooms and play room spaces of the Alexander children. In one room, red and black Tartan-print wall-to-wall carpeting clashes perfectly with a camouflage bean bag, rainbow-colored Takashi Murakami flower cushion, wall-mounted cardboard-constructed animal heads, and an entire wall covered in a green and blue toned topological map of the world. It's a visual riot to be sure, children, but it also looks to Your Mama like a highly stimulating room perfect for the educational activities and play time explorations of young children.

In addition to a play room space for the kiddies, the lower level of the house includes a small vestibule with treadmill and a sizable self-contained space with kitchenette, bathroom and direct backyard access. Listing photos show the white-walled room used as an office space with an Eames desk, a Hans Wegner Papa Bear Chair, and the aforementioned wall of video game consoles and pinball machines.
The back yard has four or five distinct areas that include a terraced section (where we'd plant a couple rows of citrus trees) and a bed of bark (or something) with a complicated- and expensive-looking jungle gym contraption, a long narrow swathe of green grass interrupted by a square, island-like deck. A concrete and flag stone-floored covered porch with white-brick chimney breast and raised fireplace/grill continues around the house and extends towards the rear corner of the property where a multi-level terrace surrounds a raised circular spa with rock waterfall that tumbles down to a dark-bottomed, lagoon-style free-form swimming pool. A free-standing, fabric-lined, and semi-permanent cabana established a swell spot to escape the skin-scorching San Fernando Valley summertime sunshine.

listing photos: Coldwell Banker

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Quirky Yes... but livable Yes.. some nice gay decorators could turn this into a lovely abode... great foundation. Thanks for sharing Mamma.

hippie canyon said...

Looks like the typical house you might find in one of the lesser-Hamptons, which would go for double the listing price here. Speaking of old TV shows, seeing this house reminds me of one of my favorite lines from In Living Color: "hated it."

Anonymous said...

What a charming home.
It looks as if real people actually live in it.
Somebody should send the listing to Donald Trump.
Wouldn't he be surprised? But then, he probably doesn't know any real people.

The Aussie

Anonymous said...

Mr. Alexander is indeed married to the lovely Meredith. And, I am not 100% certain but I would bet my bottom dollar that she decorated the home. It is fantastic, as is she!

Anonymous said...

Love the inside!

Little Miss Smoke and Mirrors said...

Looks like it started as possibly a Cliff May or other mid-century fare and then underwent some room additions/structural renovations over the years.

Estate Agents Glasgow said...

haha does need a bit of work, give me an email and I will recommened MY GAY decorators !!

Anonymous said...

Your parties fall around you
Another night beckons to you
Your parties fall around you
Another night beckons to you
Shadows look as you resist the gloom
Faded hues issue forth and bloom

A bed of leaves for a lover
Awake with a kiss and rise asunder
And when the party's over
You retreat in a realm of slumber

In your mind, crystal lights rebound
Wheels spin round and you hear the sound
Of autumn's call at party's fall

Through rose-tinted glass you still remember
The gladness, not sadness, only laughter

In your mind vicious lights rebound
Wheels spin round and you hear the sound
Of autumn's call at party's fall

The smile in the mirror grows weaker
The laughter you heard is growing fainter

Your parties fall around you
The night forgets to rouse you
Your party's fall astounds you
An aura of sadness abounds you

Glad rags sigh
Maybe you're alone inside, don't hide
Hurting all the time, hurting deep inside, don't cry
My happiness depends on knowing this friend is never alone
On your own
A party on our own
We'll have a party all our own inside
No sighs

Anonymous said...

This unrest beats out my breath
Disconnected thoughts jangle in a mess
This unrest crucifies my chest
Without anaesthetic it cuts
Through tumorous flesh

This unrest beats out my breath .......

This unrest beats in my chest
Discordant limbs watch unimpressed
At the aimless walk the mindless talk
The pictures leap out and dance for me
They laugh at me

As your bitterness closes in
You're feeling very old again
Ah just to sleep, without these thoughts
But the angels shout, resurrecting doubts

Ah we meet again, my trusty friend
Demanding new favours for old time's sake
Inside this captive frame
Come and claim your liberty

Metal and flesh will fuse today
These visions jump out and blast my days
Clean away .......

Estate Agents Shawlands said...

Make sure the seller gets a some interior designer stuck into this !!

Blogger Gubug said...

Looks like the typical house you might find in one of the lesser-Hamptons, which would go for double the listing price here. Love the inside..

Online Estate Agents Scotland said...
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