Monday, January 7, 2008

In Response...

...to Mister Big Time's December 23rd query about which celebrity sold the property at 1840 Camino Palmero in Los Angeles.

The answer is Beck. And don't any of you nut cases think it would be cute to be driving by waving, shouting and flashing your boobies because not only would that make you a dip shit, Mister Beck, his family and all their Thetans have long moved on to new digs.

Property records reveal that the quirky singer paid $3,950,000 for the house (pictured above) in June of 2005. The records also show the house measures 4,012 square feet. However, listing information for the property from the time that Mister Beck purchased show the square footage at 5,200 with six bedrooms and six bathrooms. The listing breaks it down as as follows: four bedrooms upstairs (all en suite), a staff room (and bath) on the main floor and the detached guest house out by the long and lovely rectangular pool claims another bedroom and bathroom. Your Mama presumes the difference in square footage between the records and the listing is roughly the size of the guest house.

Built in 1916 and done over in 2005 by a real estate agent with a flair for renovations, the quasi-craftsman style house has a wide wrap around porch for sipping cool cocktails on blistering summer days, a pecan paneled dining room, an "extravagant" kitchen, and three fireplaces (living room, master bedroom and another on the porch).

The children will recall that Beck and his missus Marissa Ribisi recently plunked down $6,750,000 for a big new crib on S. Hudson Avenue in Hancock Park. The couple also own a modest house on Larkspur Lane in the Point Dume area of Malee-boo.

Your Mama would like to thank Beeswax Betty and Lucy Spillerguts for helping us solve Mister Big Time's real estate puzzler.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mama, who's the lucky sod who bought this abode? Guest house, pool, and of course that lovely porch and outdoor fireplace . . .

And look, Mama, no pot rack!

Anonymous said...

I will answer your question, lil gay boy...
The lucky sod(s) that bought this house are a 60-something couple He's a lawyer and she is an executive recruiter. I don't know if I can name names. But, before you tear your hair out with jealousy, relax knowing that this house comes with its share of problems -- among them, it backs up to several apartment buildings filled with old Russians. Its not that I have anything against Russians, but their choice of loud music and the fact that they often hang laundry from their balconys sort of detracts from the charm and privacy of this place. Also it is next to a house where filming is done non-stop and that dark dead end street is a little creepy.
A few more details... since mama loves to follow the exploits of Max Mutchnik, you may be interested to know that pre-Beck and pre real estate agent with a flair for renovations, this house was owned by Mutchniks writing partner David Kohan and his future ex-wife. It was riddled with mold at the time they sold it to the real estate agent with a flair for rennovations. He demolded it and sold it to Beck, who was viewed as a sucker by the real estate community. It sold and resold at a crazy price for that neighborhood and lot size. Lets see what happends when the current owners try to sell it, which should be soon given the high turnover of this house.

Also, if you are ever curious to know about who owns a house I suggest you go to www.propertyshark.com . There are no secrets in real estate, after all.

Anonymous said...

Gee, I guess it's not only real estate agents who lie . . .

Pictures do too.

Anonymous said...

The house hardly seems worth the money from these pics.

Anonymous said...

"Not only real estate agents who lie"...

Why make a comment like this?? The world has liars and bad people all over. Most of the time it's not the agent lying, but the seller failing to disclose everything... HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!

Anyway, in the apartments directly behind live some of my close friends who had their living room redone on "Design on a Dime" tv show). They are anything but Russian. While I agree there are a huge amount of people of Russian decent living there, it is becoming more diverse, if you will.

It is a spooky street and I don't understand why you'd pay that sort of money to live there unless you're headed up Runyon Canyon every day...

Anonymous said...

Hey Mama. Love your site. One question - why do you write more and more in your posts that "you nut jobs shouldn't visit a particular property," etc.

Has that become a problem? Is it being attributed to your website?

Just curious more than anything.

E.

Your Mama said...

No hunny, Your Mama has always discouraged our less stable readers from standing outside a celebrities home making fools of themselves.

Anonymous said...

If you had 4.5 - 5 million, or whatever Beck sold it for (which I assume was substantially more than he paid)
would you live in that part of Hollywood?
Really, people are crazy.

Anonymous said...

That's right Mama. Your actual chilruns wouldn't do such things. And that time I was chased away from that lady's bushes, I was just getting a closer look at the rhododendrons. There was no need to call the police. I am an actual certified amateur rhododendronologist. They tried to make an issue about the ladder and the glass cutter. Part of the rhododendronologist's kit! Ask anyone! Well, what a fuss. It made me very empathetic with those surfers who were blocked by that nasty man in Hawaii. Inocent people going about their business in pursuit of their passions. And it was never proven that I was attempting to gain entrance to her potting shed to make cuttings of her azaleas. Forensic science is not all that reliable if you are to believe that those ugly mud-caked boots were mine. I wouldn't be caught dead in Hush Puppy rubbers. The idea! Well, anyway, as Mama says there are some crazy people out there and one can never be too careful.

Anonymous said...

Hollywood Mayor:

I only made that comment in juxtaposition to the one about the photos; they certainly are oddly cropped, don't you think?

And frankly, I don't care who my neighbors are or what they do to make themselves feel at home; I'm sure some of my shenanigans would make their hair stand on end!

Live and let live.

Anonymous said...

P.S. Perhaps that Hershberger be-otch could lend my neighbors a hand with their hair-raising problems; personally, I wouldn't let her near me with a Tiffany butter knife, let alone a pair of scissors.

Anonymous said...

I just stopped my car in front of Beck's new home on S. Hudson, got out, and mooned him. ;)

Anonymous said...

I also had friends renting in that building on Fuller and never noticed an overwhelming ratio of russians (or their music/laundry).

Now back in the early 90s, I rented a dive apartment near the Magic Castle and the building was chock full of single, young, viral russian men hoping to become rock stars. Never bothered me at all. Especially those warm summer afternoons of them romping in the pool..

Aunt Mary, I'm sure if you had just asked Faye Dunaway, she would have had you in for tea and given you cuttings.

Anonymous said...

I think you all are missing the point. It doesnt matter if the people in the apartment building are old Russians or uber cool gay decorators, it matters that for 5 million bucks you shouldnt have an apartment building looking down on top of you. No matter how much friggin bamboo you plant, you know it when youve got a building full of people behind you. I dont care if its The Nutcracker Symphony or Judy Garland blasting,
If you can shell out big bucks, you want to get away from pesky people no matter who they are.

Anonymous said...

Camino Palmero is a cool street with a fantastic Old Hollywood vibe, but it's stranded in a kinda weird location. Strike one.

And because of a zig in the property lines, this house's rear yard gets to deal with a pair of adjacent apartment buildings. Strikes two and three. I agree with 9:29 that I don't want so many of anybody in such close proximity for my however-many-millions.

Anonymous said...

I agree - "love thy neighbor" stops when they cast a shade across the property line . . .

Anonymous said...

Looks like Beck got a permit to build a "6' High Block Wall Along Rear Property Line" a month after he bought the house.

Also looks like the house is in a high-risk location for wildfires!

Anonymous said...

It is part of the eclectic nature of the Hollywood Hills that you can have expensive houses right next to apartments or hovels long occupied by hermits. I know the bitchy children will be tapping furiously on their keyboards that it ain't so above the strip but the non-Angelino children need to understand that the Hollywood Hills extends a long way east of Laurel Canyon.

And bottom line...He sold it. So obviously someone thinks it is worth what he was selling it for.

Anonymous said...

Beck seems to move every two or three years (based on this and other reports). I wonder if he can sell the houses for more because he lived there? Does L.A. real estate work that way? That is, does ownership by a celebrity tend to add to the price?

Anonymous said...

Aunt Mary,

RE: Being chased away ...

I had tears I was laughing so hard.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

My dearest Aunt Mary, I know exactly how you feel. I just finished physical therapy not long ago after being chased out of Little Nicky's Newport Beach nightmare of a manse(and I do mean little). Anyway, a court order is a court order and I've learned my lesson. Unlike some people, who pay ex-whore-bitant prices to live in what, honest-to-god, looks like a dolled up version of Ma & Pa Kettle's old digs. And on Camino Palmero no less. Yes, I lived in the area years ago(St.James Apartments anyone?) and had many wonderful neighbors of every cultural background (including young-n-hung Russians). So I can hardly say its beneath me to live on or near that street. But for $4M I'm going to live within spitting distance of the low rent district? Not this hippie!

Anonymous said...

Do you know what I say, Hippie? Court order, schmourt order! But do be careful of Russians, I know it's not enlightened to say this, but I've never trusted them since that Faberge egg incident.

Anonymous said...

Like the song says Aunt Mary..."one less egg to fry."