Monday, June 11, 2012

Michael C. Hall Splits and Sells

SELLER: Michael C. Hall
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $1,995,000
SIZE: 3,525 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 full, 1 half and 1 one-quarter bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Yesterday, after a long drive home down the dramatic and sunny California coast, Your Mama decided to jump right back in the celebrity real estate saddle and spent a few minutes perusing some of the newer listings in Los Angeles. We quickly came across a contemporary crib in the star-stocked Outpost Estates neighborhood described on current listing information as a "celebrity-owned" and the celebrity owner, as per our rudimentary research, is accomplished stage and screen actor Michael C. Hall who has his hillside house in the Hollywood Hills up for grabs with a $1,995,000 price tag.

Mister Hall, in case y'all don't know, has a background in the thee-ay-tuh and has tread the boards both on and off Broadway in scores of musical productions like Chicago and any number of Shakespearean ditties. His big Showbiz break came in the early Aughts when he was cast as a conflicted and closeted homosexual funeral home director on Six Feet Under. Currently and for the last six seasons Mister Hall has shaken his good-lookin' money maker as a creepy, blood splatter pattern analyst who also happens to be a vigilante serial killer on Dexter, a role that has earned him five Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations (plus one Golden Globe win).

Property records indicate Mister Hall purchased his Outpost Estates residence in April 2008 for $1,750,000. This was just 7 or 8 months before he married Jennifer Carpenter who plays his adoptive sister on Dexter. The couple announced they'd split up in late 2010 and their union was officially and legally terminated in December 2011. The divorce may (or may not) have something to do with Mister Hall putting his L.A. home on the market.

Current listing information shows the three-story house, tucked into a steep, up-sloping lot on a quiet and curvaceous canyon road, was originally built in 1933 and was the private residence of master mid-century modern architect Hal Leavitt from 1964 to 2004. There are a total of 4 bedrooms and 3 full and one half and one quarter bathroom, according to marketing materials.

The main floor entry sits high above the street with a half flight stairs that descend into the voluminous, living room with fireplace, blond wood floors, pitched and painted wood-beam ceiling, and over-sized windows with canyon and mountain views. The original dining room is now a sitting room  with built-in wet bar with open shelving, and the existing dining room was added at the back of the house with a plaid-like pattern of wood beams and sky-lights overhead and a wide glass slider that connects to the terraced backyard entertainment areas.

The fully-updated eat-in kitchen, also at the back of the house, has grey Italian tile flooring, sleek but warm walnut cabinetry, taupe-colored subway tile back splashes, some sort of engineered stone counter tops, high-grade commercial-style appliances (most but not all of which are stainless steel), and a cozy, sky-lit space for informal meals.

The four bedrooms are well-separated for privacy and include two guest/family bedrooms (plus at least one pooper) on the upper level, a main floor master suite with canyon view and sky-lit bathroom with walnut cabinetry and sea foam green tile work, and a possible fourth bedroom on the lower level with cork flooring and built-in bench seating. Mister Hall outfitted the lower level bedroom (with attached facility) with various body fitness devices to keep his muscles firm.

A lounging terrace tucked between the back of the house and the raised swimming pool has a built-in barbecue center and built-in fire pit. A concrete stair and path climbs up the hillside and around the back of the pool to an elevated dining terrace cantilevered over the plunge-sized swimming pool.

Mister Hall's neighborhood is well-known for its celebrity residents (and homeowners) who include surrealist filmmaker David Lynch, new mommy actress Charlize Theron, British action flick stud Jason Statham (who bought his house last year from Ben and Christine Stiller), octogenarian bon vivant, author/esssayist and social commentator Gore Vidal, Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy. Both Orlando Bloom and Kyle Maclachlan own homes in the Outpost Estates and have attempted to lease them out at various times.

listing photos: The Agency

13 comments:

Madam Pince said...

Mayhaps Ms. Carpenter and Mr. Hall are searching for a fresh new love nest, since there have been photos of them out and about acting lovey-dovey.

Carla Ridge said...

Being the ultimate Hal Levitt fanboy that I am, I took two friends and visited the house yesterday. The gym was actually where Hal continued his architecture practice, after closing his office on Robertson Boulevard. There are some wonderful moments in the house -- but so many stairs and steps, my poor old hips cried (it's four stories!). Luckily, the exceptionally charming and handsome realtor told me, there was a shaft for an elevator built at one time on the south end of the house but never outfitted.

When you look at the pool and realize it was built in 1964, it's really something. And there's one decorative detail -- an extravagant art-ceramic tile backsplash that had been over the sink (or stove) was salvaged and framed on a wall in the kitchen as an art piece. I may have to go back and try and convince Dexter to sell it to me. I'd give blood for it!

Ingrid Casares said...

Hey, Mama, did you see the tycoon is selling Casa Casuarina in Miami Beach for 125 millions ???
I think i'm gonna tell the Kabbalah Kween about that...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577448721809222542.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_realestate


Besos from Miami !!

Candy Spelling said...

Mama, enough with these pathetic shacks! We want to know all about the young couple who just bought that hideous garish thing with the gold doorknobs on Sunset! $35 million for that mess and congested street traffic right outside your front door... oh my!

How nouveau riche.

Anonymous said...

Or about who just bought that contemporary crib on Indian Creek Island that was listed for $52,000,000...

Anonymous said...

I'm with Carla Ridge on this one in that I like the house and the provenance that comes with it. Has Gore Vidal sold his house in the area yet? I must buy a map to the star's homes and find out...

Anonymous said...

@Candy Spelling.

I got curious about Candy Spelling (yeah, it's been a boring day). Aaron's widow and I share the same birth date: September 20th; Candy's cake has a few more candles than mine, however.

Candy Spelling said...

Doug darlin', you sure about that? From what I can tell from your photograph, you're no spring chicken yourself.

As for this house, I find it cute, and the neighborhood is nice - although the lack of an elevator is abominable given the plethora of stairs Carla mentions. Also, pity about the yard (or lack thereof). I do think he'll get close to asking, however. xo

Aunty Bev said...

Candy you old bat, all that is known of the gold doorknob buyers is that they are from China. I am sure Sunset traffic has nothing on the Shanghai congestion they are used to.

Little Miss Smoke and Mirrors said...

@Carla Ridge - was the charming and handsome realtor Kennon Earl by change? I just love that guy!

Carla Ridge said...

Little Miss S & M: while I agree that Kennon's pretty stylin', this house is listed by Josh Myler and Jeff Kohl of The Agency.

Little post-script: I took Harold Levitt's former partner through the house today to get his reaction, and he pointed out all sorts of details and features from Hal's own hand that survive today. I think the agents also appreciated being able to gain firsthand information from someone who knew the house from 'way back when', like 2002. In this town that's ancient history!

Anonymous said...

@Candy Spelling

I was born in 1956 and Candy was born in 1945. Candy was only a year shy of her bat mitzvah when I first saw the light of day. I hope I don't look older than Candy in my picture, but I haven't had any plastic surgery either.

ExcitingLA said...

i love all of the uniquely placed windows. the ones over the bathtub and the ones over the dining room add a cool vibe to the place. all the stairs could get tiring, but with the rich history of the home & great location - i do think they'll get close to asking price.