Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Cynthia Watros Gilliland's Hancock Park House Is Lost On Us

SELLER: Cynthia Watros Gilliland
LOCATION: S. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $3,799,000
SIZE: 3,572 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: 1920s French Country style reminiscent of the romantic Loire Valley updated to modern expectations w/ exquisite finish work & detailing throughout. Exclusive Hancock Park 5 BD + 4.5 BA home w/ separate GSTHSE; For DR; LR w/ FPL; Wood-paneled LIB; HWD & custom tile flrs; Gourmet eat-in kitchen; Expansive grounds feature swimmer' pool; Spa; Cabana; Grassy yard & outdoor patio w/ built-in BBQ area; Gated & private.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Cynthia Watros who? Your Mama didn't have a clue who this ladee is until we took to the internets. We thought she might be some minor actress with a rich huzband, but turns out behatcha has a bonified career with a long list of credits.

Cynthia Watros Gilliland is perhaps one of the few lucky women in Hollywood. Not only is she a working and successful ack-tur-us who has been fortunate to have a regular pay check for most of her career, she has not been pushed to act like one of the many deeply tanned mindless bimbets that wander the streets of Los Angeles with puffed up lips and unnaturally round boobs screwing producers and hoping for a career in front of the camera.

Miz Gilliland has won a Daytime Emmy award for her 1990s role on Guiding Light and subsequently appeared on such small screen programs as Titus and The Drew Carey Show. Most recently she plied her trade as Libby the psychologist on the cult favorite program Lost. But before we put a halo over her head, let's recall that in late 2005 the mother of twins was pulled over and arrested on DUI charges along with her naughty Lost co-star Michelle Rodriguez. Both women were axed from the show shortly after, but producers swear their exit had nothing to do with their illegal activities.

Anyhoo, let's move on to the real estate. Miz Gilland and her huzband, a restaurateur/real estate developer, purchased their Hancock Park house in March of 2003 for $1,430,000. Which means that if the couple get anywhere near their asking price, they'll pocket around $2,000,000 and become instant net worth millionaires. Yes children, we know the Los Angeles real estate market has been scorching hot the last six or seven years, and more recently the Hancock Park area has had a resurgence in popularity and a hike in prices, but let's be honest, this just seems plain greedy.

Your Mama has never been to the Loire Valley, so we can't confirm or deny whether Miz Gilliland's Hancock Park house is or is not reminiscent of the rural area, as the listing states. But we will say that if this is what the Loire Valley looks like, we don't care to go there. No offense to the French (we love Paris, the Jura and the South), but this house just does not jive with Your Mama's sense of things.

It's not that we hate this house, it's decor, or even that we think the place is done up in bad taste. It's not. It's just that Your Mama does not understand this sort of interior decorating at all. See hunnies, Your Mama would never dream of having a floral print sofa, a quartet of blue leather wing back chairs surrounding a game table, or a free standing bathtub with a ledge wide enough for the backsides of all but the most obeast. However, we expect that all the traditionalist Francophiles out there will think this place is lovely, cozy and homey. C'est la vie.

The back yard, with it's lovely rectangular swimming pool is nice and the brick surround is nice too. The listing states there is a guest house, which of course Your Mama appreciates, and we like the little cabana with it's striped roof. But it's all pretty ordinary for a house pushing up on a $4,000,000 price tag.

With all due respect to Mister and Missus Gilliland, Your Mama thinks we could do a lot better for this amount of money.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mama? did you misplace your glasses again? This house is no lovefest. You didn't mention those ugly light fixtures, than ridiculous hanging fern or the worst of all, those nasty BLACK draperies outside!

Anonymous said...

And the furniture is all kwrap!

Anonymous said...

The virtual tour here helps (a little)

http://www.buildatour.com/tour/buildatour-full.html?id=13741&u=1

It isn't my taste. This is one where one of Mama's gay decorators needs to get a hold of the place. Do the kids NEED their names over their beds to know who belongs where or is that so their mama knows who is who?

The listing also says the sf is 4700. Maybe that is including the guest house. The lot is over 12,000 sf. That is a plus.

They will probably get their price and the new owners will gut and remodel.

Anonymous said...

It appears she also owns a home on S. Rossmore Ave. according to public records.

Anonymous said...

I have to admit that I'm a sucker for cabbage roses (much to the dismay of the men in my life, so the florals stay in my study) but that is one butt-ugly sofa.

I'd probably slip and break my neck trying to climb into that bathtub, too. I'm sure it's the height of something, but really, what are people thinking?

Anonymous said...

I think it's wishful thinking to say this house is reminiscent of the romantic Loire Valley - I'd believe "inspired by", but the French have much better taste than this.

The house itself isn't at all bad, but it has the appearance of a home where the owner proudly announces that she "did all her own decorating" then you say "Oh, really? It's lovely" while really thinking, "Yeah, I'd believe that."

Anonymous said...

i like the floors & the ceilings & nothing inbetween.
the pool is cool.

Anonymous said...

Why do you need four people to play chess? I know this is Hollywood and all -- do you need your agent to make 10% of your moves? Does each of you need a move-stylist? Do you need to consult your therapist while playing to figure out what issues you're avoiding? Perhaps each of you has a lawyer for the inevitable suit that will follow?

Nice touch to have the Emmy on the shelf, in view of the chess board, btw. In the houses of really successful people, the chess pieces are all Emmys.

Anonymous said...

Oh, mama, you made me so happy with this one! I am a "Lost" junkie and I've lived in the Loire Valley, so this post is like Christmas to me!

I was surprised she could live in a house like that. Cynthia Watros made most of her $$ on Guiding Light, I'm sure. Her restaurateur hubby must be successfull. She was really good as Libby on "Lost," and she was horrified and very apologetic by the DUI.

I like the house - sorry. Slight French country vibe, nothing too permanently wacky. Except that tub. HOW do I get in or out of that tub???

Looks like a really nice LA home actually lived in by a family. I'd rip out the tub, put in a new jacuzzi for 2, and happily move in!

Anonymous said...

There is a house a few blocks away on Plymouth that has the rectangular version of that tub. I believe it had been put in as part of the house being a "design house" in the early '00s. I didn't like that tub either. Just goes to show those gay decorators aren't always right.

Anonymous said...

Layler, I thought exactly the exact same thing about that bathtub. And I agree that it's a perfectly nice house.

It could actually go all the way to charming if you follow the architecture's lead -- replace the front lawn (at least partially) with a flower garden and get rid of the obviously modern windows. That low-maintenance cladding and insert-a-pane look isn't doing the facade any favors. And I'd get some climbing vines growing on that strangely blank space above the first-floor windows to the left of the door. Also, since the cream paint is a little pristine, maybe something a bit darker. Very superficial stuff, but it could make all the difference.

. said...

Anon 9:42, funny! I like the style of the house. I, too, love me a cabbage rose , pretty ones. The interior seems dark for all those windows. Poor photos? The tub is a monster. I think you need a sling chair on a block and tackle hanging from the ceiling to lower you in and out. I like those geriatric tubs you can walk into and shut the door and fill it up. Life's short. Don't split your head open getting out of the tub. But on the whole it's poorly decorated. I agree with the poster who suspects the missus thought she could do better than a nice gay decorator

Anonymous said...

Just wondering??? What does everyone think of the dining room chairs???? Do they need a CHEEZY monogram? Or do the frabric covered chairs seem classy??? We have seen this in numerous homes before. It seems a southern tradition (I am from Louisiana), however, I have seen too much of the same thing in LA.

so_chic_darling said...

gut it

Anonymous said...

I kind of like this house, except for the furnishings. Too pseudo-French country. The dining room floorboards are beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I think she's hot, so give her the 2 mill upgrade!