Chris Colfer: Buh-by Hollywood Hills Starter House

SELLER: Chris Colfer
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $1,150,000
SIZE: 2,462 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: We've now heard from several snitchy informants who let Your Mama know that out and proud Glee star Chris Colfer has put his starter house in the Hollywood Hills up for sale with a $1,150,000 price tag.

If y'all clear out the cobwebs and/or put on your thinking caps the children may recall that the singing and dancing Golden Globe winner purchased the house in the hills just over two years ago, in March 2011, for $860,000.*

Current digital marketing materials show the three-story residence with its—ahem—rusticated base, faux-quoining, and shingled mansard roof sits hard up on the street, as do many homes in even the swankiest sections of the Hollywood Hills. There are three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms in 2,462 square feet of fairly recently remodeled interior space.**

A secured (and not particularly attractive) iron gate secures a walled and gated entry courtyard just barely big enough to accommodate two people. The front door opens directly in to the mid-floor "formal" living room where a low slate-tiled platform plays paltry substitute for a proper foyer. There are honey blond wood floors throughout the house and sliding glass doors at the back of the living room lead out to a wrought-iron railed deck that runs the full width of the house and hangs knee-knockingly over the steep canyon below.

A circular staircase with an industrial-ish stainless steel banister and more than a half dozen small windows ascends to the upper level bedrooms that include a couple of guest/family bedrooms—one is currently staged as a home office—that share a fairly compact three-quarter bathroom with corner sink situation and glass-enclosed stall shower.

The master bedroom, also on the upper level, has lovely canyon and sky views and a fitted walk-in closet. The attached private bathroom is outfitted with a slate tile vanity with two frosted glass vessel sinks,**** and a triangular-shaped jetted tub—it's almost heart shaped, really—set into a ebony pebble tile-walled corner. A separate but open shower appears to be fashioned from poured concrete but, for all this nimrod property gossip knows, it may very well be a far less humble material.

The house's main living space on the lower level encompasses an open, loft-like space that spans the full width of the house. At one end a family room has a (gas) fireplace with bulky slate tile surround, a built-in sofa bench (that we sorta love as a reading nook), and sliding glass doors that open to a second wrought iron-railed deck that, like the one above it, also spans the full width of the house. In the middle of the long, low-ceilinged space is a tight dining area—currently staged with a bothersome bar-height table for four—and a wet bar with itty-bitty sink and under-counter wine and booze fridge. The kitchen at the far end of the room has Shaker-style cherry-toned cabinetry, golden-beige solid surface counter tops, and a weirdly shaped center island with a curved glass breakfast bar. The kitchen is also equipped with and expected suite of mid-range stainless steel appliances, a shimmery stainless steel kick panel under the breakfast bar, and—an honest to goodness excellent feature—an over-sized walk-in pantry.

Your Mama has no idea what future real estate plans Mister Colfer may have but the obviously staged interiors of his starter place in the Hollywood Hills and the empty closets more than suggest he's already packed up and moved on..

In other Glee-related real estate news:

We first heard it on the 5th of September (2013) a from a gabby gal we'll call Bea A. Sporte and we've subsequently heard word on the celebrity real estate street is that back in March (2013) the show's property mad creator, writer and executive executive producer Ryan Murphy, shelled out $9,000,000 for a fixer upper in the rustic-swank celebrity-saturated Sullivan Canyon area that snakes up into the Santa Monica Mountains between L.A.'s tony Brentwood and Pacific Palisades communities.

It appears the whole thing went down on the down low because Your Mama was unable to turn up any easily available online listings from the time of the time of Mister Murphy's surreptitious property procurement. However, we did manage to turn up loads of information about the 1.4 acre, horse-zoned spread from the time the sellers purchased the property just over a year earlier. At that time the residence was billed as a "Santa Barbara mission style home" that was built in 1991 with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in just over 7,200 square feet with "soaring architectural spaces" and "Arizona flagstone floors throughout." Other amenities of the multi-winged mini-mansion included numerous fireplaces, mature and private gardens, a swimming pool and spa set well back from the rear of the house, a putting green, garage parking for six cars, and a two two story guest house perched atop the gated entry gate.***

*Our research indicates stone tiled security wall at the front of the house as well as the faux-quoins were added subsequent to Mister Colfer's ownership, which means he poo-pooed Your mama's unsolicited and rather more modern solution (scroll towards the bottom) to the front façade problems.

**With the exception of the courtyard-creating wall at the front of the house, the addition of the ersatz quoins, and a fresh coat of paint,  a quick comparison of current listing photos with those (still available online) listing photos from the time of Mister Colfer's 2011 purchase suggest Mister Colfer may not have undertaken any other significant cosmetic improvement projects. Listing details go on to note that the house has "newer copper plumbing, electrical and roof" but Your Mama, of course, has no idea how new these newer—and costly and important—mechanical upgrades are.

****Keep in mind, children, we have it on good authority that Mister Murphy has already embarked on an extensive overhaul of the property and the result, which will surely be in a fashion publishable in a glossy shelter magazine, may or may not adhere to the above mentioned measurements and features.

****Your Mama can't help it but we just get a decorative rash from this vessel sink mega-trend that we really, really, really hope soon reaches its expiration date. 

listing photos (Colfer): Lighthouse Property
listing photos (Murphy): PostRain Productions for Gibson International

Real Estate Housing Market - Oh, It Is Just Back to Normal - Yea, Right!

"It's just back to normal', "Just a seasonal slow-down', "A normal minor adjustment', "A great time to buy, with a much wider selection', "A cooling market'", "A soft landing", "A slight tapering off" etc. Yes, these P.C. phrases are now replacing the "We should have a strong market for the foreseeable future" industry line prevalent just a few short months ago.
The sad fact is people are still in self-denial here. We're "special" because of our weather. We are known as America's Finest City after all. It's still common to hear someone say, "If you don't buy now, you're going to get priced out of the market!"
Talk about your irrational exuberance in the Southern California real estate market. In a 2004 summer poll in the LA area, residents believed prices would continue to go up by more than 20% a year for another decade!
What will be the industry P.C. phrases we'll be hearing in about six to nine months? "It may well go as: "This home is a great buy, why just nine months ago you would have paid $25,000+ more...what a great savings." Naturally, you would be talking to a buyer. For a seller (who has owned for some years) you might say: "Well, you are still making a profit. Who could have even known that the market would have turned down so fast?" For the downtown high-rise buyer who though they got a real deal on the final phase of their Gas Lamp digs, a real estate agent may be saying: "Well, because the resale value is actually below your 100% interest only trust deed, you really should consult a real estate attorney and/or meet with your lender to propose they accept your deed in lieu of foreclosure".
Are you reading this and thinking I'm way off base? Here are a few recent headlines:
National Association of Realtors reports, in part: Total existing-home sales - including single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops - were down 5.7 percent in December from November.
Time Magazine reports that 'Vegas Condos Go Cold."
The Washington Post reports "Real estate groups in the Washington area have also reported declines to varying degrees."
"The bloom is definitely off the housing rose. Housing peaked last summer and has been weakening ever since," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently said the real estate market was slowing "dramatically" and only a "miracle" could stop soaring mortgage rates from eating into housing prices. "The real estate market is slowing down dramatically and we're going to have a problem down the road," Bloomberg said.
"If people who want to sell their houses have to wait a longer time before someone comes along and buys it, it would be a miracle if prices didn't start to go down," he said.
"'The market has definitely peaked,' said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the L.A. County Economic Development Corp. 'The fever has broken and now the question people are asking themselves is if there is a crash ahead.'"
This is my own opinion on a realistic view of what lies ahead as far as the San Diego real estate market: A multi-year depreciation that could easily take 30% off the highs which reached this market's peak during the summer of 2005! Plus, I foresee headlines, maybe even national, announcing how the San Diego high-rise downtown boom has turned into a foreclosure city!
As a realistic San Diego Realtor, I provide these facts to my sellers. If their property is not generating meaningful activity within the first month of being listed, it would be prudent to consider a revised marketing plan similar to what many San Diego real estate developers are doing. This would be a combination of value-range reduction as well as agent and buyer incentives to position the property as the best total value for the area.
I think as Realtors we must adapt and not deny. To otherwise will have a dramatic impact on your financial health and community reputation
Copyright 2006 - http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com All rights reserved. any additions/modifications/hyperlinks added to this article will be considered a copyright violation & subject to immediate legal action without further notice.

Kid Rock Lists Malibu Mini-Compound

SELLER: Robert "Kid Rock" Ritchie
LOCATION: Malibu, CA
PRICE: $13,450,000
SIZE: 8,305 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to a long-time tipster we've always referred to as The Rolling Stone, Your Mama learned that five time Grammy-nominated country-rap rocker Kid Rock heaved his Bali-inspired mini-compound in Malibu, CA on the open market with an asking price of $13,450,000.

Property records (and other online resources) show Mister Rock—a rare and active political conservative in the Shobizz mecca of bleeding heart liberals—acquired the walled, gated, and no-doubt heavily fortified 1.54 acre property in the heart Point Dume in October 2006 when he shelled out $11,600,000 for the two-story residence that's tucked discreetly in to the tail end of an angled cul-de-sac. Current digital marketing materials show there are five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 8,305 square feet plus a separate guest house.

Carved wood front doors—Your Mama imagines they could have been imported from somewhere in Indonesia or were perhaps purchased at one of the gajillions of places in Los Angeles that hawk Indonesian-y architectural artifacts—serve as the primary portal to and predominant design motif throughout the airy, interconnected living spaces.

A foyer with black and white mosaic tile floor steps down in to an amply proportioned formal living room that, thanks to hidden high-tech a/v equipment, does double duty as a screening room. Mister Rock and/or his team of lady and/or nice-gay decorators did up the living/screening room with a cozy combination of earthy caramel-toned leather club chairs and an over-sized roll-armed sectional sofa heaped with a hodge-podge of decorative cushions in a variety of suzani textiles. Not surprisingly, there's a high-brow and—because Mister Rock can actually play it—fully functional grand piano set prominently in front of an impressive wall of floor-to-ceiling windows hung with cinematic red velvet curtains that frame an up-close view of verdant, jungle-like surroundings.

A double-sided fireplace, one of at least four fireplaces in the house, divides the living/screening room from a spacious, open-concept kitchen/dining room. The dining area has rustic, glass-fronted breakfronts for tableware storage and and a lengthy, picnic-type table that easily seats a dozen diners. The kitchen fittings veer towards the sleek with straight lines, a shiny stainless steel center island, and industrial-style stainless steel appliances. Slightly variegated wood cabinets and a floating wood plank breakfast bar add a necessary bit of organica to the otherwise very contemporary cook center.

Numerous wood-framed French doors in both the living and dining room allow transition the interior living areas to a goodly-size and partially covered stone-tiled terrace that overlooks a thick stand of trees and shrubs.

As far as Your Mama can tell, each of Mister Rock's four guest/family bedrooms has direct access to a terrace, patio or veranda of some sort as does the large—but not forbiddingly so—master suite comprised of bedroom with sitting area and fireplace—not to mention a rather romantic, canopied bed—two walk-in closets, and a roomy bathroom complete with two sinks, a soaking tub set in front of a picture window, and a separate, partially glass-enclosed steam shower.

A detached guest house offers additional living and sleeping space and, like the main house, opens to a deep shaded veranda and over looks the rectangular swimming pool that's sunk simply into a flat patch of very green grass. A vine-draped nook bedside the pool has built-in cushioned seating and looks to Your Mama like a wonderfully shady spot to escape the sunshine and/or whittle away a breezy afternoon with a stack of gossip glossies and a giant bowl of penny candy.

Your Mama isn't sure where Mister Rock plans to live once he sells his Malibu estate but his personal property portfolio certainly doesn't suffer from a shortage of private residences. In January of 2012 the kids at Curbed Detroit (via the Detroit Free Press) revealed that the long-haired rock star paid an unknown amount of money for an elegant but tired 6,000-ish square foot waterfront mini-mansion in Detroit. (The last known asking price was $465,000) The very next month, as José Lambiet of Gossip Extra first reported, Mister Rock dropped $3.2 million for an ocean front fixer-upper in Jupiter Inlet Colony, FL, the same affluent enclave just north of Palm Beach where Olivia Newton John owns a house she almost sold to Rosie O'Donnell. Your Mama's research indicates Mister Rock also owns a townhouse-type condo in Nashville, TN, that he picked up in mid-2005 for $824,000, a 400-acre spread in Alabama, as well as a pair of adjoining, multi-acre equestrian estates northwest of downtown Detroit, in Clarkston, MI. One he picked up in October 2000 for $1,180,000 and the other a few months later for $600,000.

listing photos: Coldwell Banker

Your Mama Hears...

...from a well-placed source, let's call her Tina Tattletale, that 16-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter David Foster his fourth wife, Dutch-born former model Yolanda Foster of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills notoriety are very quietly showing their bluff-top spread in Malibu, CA to a select group of people with an astronomical asking price of $27 million.*

Property records indicate Miz Foster, the ex-wife of Beverly Hills mega-mansion developer Mohamed Hadid, paid $4.5 million the 3.25 acre ocean-view property in June 2007, shortly after she and Mister Foster hooked up but long before they officially (and legally) hitched their wagons in a lavish wedding attended by a busload of high profile music industry bigwigs.

The couple custom built the 11,600+ square foot mansion that property records show was completed in 2009 and has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

Committed reality t.v. watchers may have seen Miz Foster on RHOBH picking lemons, arranging flowers, throwing ladies luncheons for the other "housewives," and otherwise pitter-pattering around as the pampered but unexpectedly sensible stay-at-home mother/housewife that she is.

Tina Tattletale went on to snitch to Your Mama that the Mediterranean-style mansion is "pretty amazing" with a "super crazy long [gated] driveway" and plaza-sized motor court and back in January Miz Foster toured the Bravo cameras through the sun-splashed and salt air-licked residence that includes formal entertaining spaces—with a grand piano, natch, a paneled study, and a super-sized center-island kitchen with marble slab counter tops and a somewhat famous glass-doored and marble-lined walk-in chiller (see picture 23). An adjoining family room has a full-wall of built-in bookshelves and another wall of wood-framed glass doors that fold open and connect to exterior living areas that include deep loggias for outdoor living, a broad, amorphous lawn, a rectangular negative edge swimming pool, two fire pits, and terraced citrus and avocado orchards, all with panoramic views of the Pacific.

Mister and Mister Foster luxuriate in a massive master suite that includes a boutique-style closet and dressing room (seen here) with floor-to-ceiling shoe racks; stacks of t-shirts and sweaters; drawers full of belts, sunglasses and lingerie; bunches of cubbies filled with dozens of designer handbags; and a long wall of meticulously organized glass-fronted wardrobes including one that's just for Miz Foster's collection of leather coats.

Other noteworthy features according to our tattletale include a home theater, a recording studio, and an extensive fitness complex with gym, spa, massage room, sauna, and hot and cold plunge pools.

Some of the children may recall that just a coupe months ago Mister and fourth-Missus Foster put their 4,200 square foot penthouse in downtown Victoria, B.C. on the market with a $5,250,000 price tag.

*Full disclosure: Your Mama first heard the ask was $18 million, then we heard it was $29 million, and then we finally heard $27 million.

aerial photo: Bing

Dinner on the Fly

"Hello?" I said holding the phone to my ear while juggling four bags of groceries. 

"Let's do dinner at home tonight," the deep voice of Mr. Wonderful said. 

"Sounds great."

"Brian and Chad will be joining us."

"Sounds busy--"

"We'll be there in 20 minutes."

Sounds crazy!

After a long week of work, meetings and extra phone calls to plumbers who could--then could not--do the job in our backyard trench, I was looking forward to a quiet, stress-free Friday night. Clearly Mr. Wonderful had other plans and they included his ravenous 30-something friends, Brian and Chad eating, and yours truly cooking. 

In Los Angeles everyone says "I'll be there in 20 minutes" but everyone knows they're lying. Going from point A in the city to Point B in 20 minutes is--to be blunt--impossible. In fact, getting from the Santa Monica Pier to the adjacent Santa Monica Beach takes 45 minutes, give or take an hour for parking. 

The only exception to this 20-minute rule was Mr. Wonderful driving from the work studio back home. For that one journey, the man had a knack for doing it in 20 minutes. Which meant I had exactly 20 minutes to prepare a meal for the hungry hordes. 

I acted in steps:

1) First, I put the groceries away, aka I dumped the bags into the fridge.

2) Then I counted the mouths to feed. We would be just four adults but three men's mouths equals nine women's mouths. Suddenly I was cooking for 10.

3) What fed a lot of people? Pasta, of course! Luckily I keep a stash of pasta on hand at all times. Tonight was no exception. Congratulated myself on being so organized.

4) Put pot of water on stove top to boil said pasta.

5) Searched pantry for pasta sauce. Found none. Cursed pasta sauce hoping it would magically appear in pantry if I cursed enough. (It didn't.) Cursed myself for being so unorganized. Remembered seeing eight tomatoes growing in the backyard that morning. Ran to veggie patch only to discover The Squirrel had eaten all eight of my tomatoes. Cursed The Squirrel for making my life harder and for eating enough tomatoes for 20!

6) Remembered I had a lemon shrimp pasta recipe. 

7) Defrosted shrimp, cut parsley, squeezed lemons. Cut finger. Cursed The Squirrel because all this was his fault.

8) Checked clock. I had five minutes until their arrival! Set table, uncorked wine, set out two bowls of nuts to nibble on.

9) Sprinted to closet, changed clothes--six times.

10) Dumped everything into pots and pans while using my left left foot to put on lipstick.

11) Mr. Wonderful walked through the front door with two famished friends in tow.

12) I dished up the food and the 10, I mean four, of us sat down at the table outside, under the stars.

Watching the men eat and hearing them marvel over the flavor of the food, warmed my heart. They raised their glasses and toasted to the cook. I smiled and thanked them before adding:

"Twenty minutes ago when my husband said he was bringing two friends home for dinner, I told him: 'that sounds… perfect'."

And it was.

Weekend This and Thats...

As far as we know, the property gossip lady at the L.A. Times was the first to reveal that sassy and sexy Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears and his long-time man-friend, film maker Chris Moukarbel (Me @ The Zoo), dropped $1,920,000 for the Ulm House, a Streamline Moderne-style residence—sometimes attributed to architect Milton Black and other time to designer/builder William Kesling and built in 1937 in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles (CA). Listing details indicate the 2,309 square foot has a total of four bedrooms and four bathrooms on three levels of hillside living space with a curving glass-block wall, an illuminated magnasite stairway, and "dazzling city views."

listing photo: Sotheby's International Realty

::::::::

After unsuccessfully attempting to rent it out at $8,500 per month boy bander (turned satellite radio dj) Lance Bass listed his one bedroom and two bathroom condo-crib in New York City's Chelsea nabe with an asking price of $2.2. million. Mister Bass, who recently became engaged to his L.A.-based boyfriend according to the kids at Curbed, picked up the 1,300 square foot pad in the spring of 2010 for $1,495,000. Some of the notable amenities and creature comforts of the 10th floor apartment include almost a dozen closets plus loads of additional built-in storage, a windowless office with built-in Murphy bed for over-night guests, at least two flat-screen television flush-mounted into custom cabinetry.

The building, which couldn't be more convenient to the very same Whole Foods where Your Mama and The Dr. Cooter shopped when we lived in the Big Apple, is home to a number of other high-profile peeps who include Kyle MacLachlan and Tom Cruise's third ex-wife, Katie Holmes, and their fashionista toddler, Suri.

Our brief and entirely unscientific research shows Mister Bass has previously owned homes in Orlando (FL), Nashville (TN), and Los Angeles (CA), and currently maintains a home in his home state of Mississippi.

listing photos and floor plan: Corcoran

::::::::

Countess Luann de Lesseps of The Real Housewives of New York City recently busted up with Jacques Azoulay, her French man-friend of three years, and, according to the kids at Curbed, has once again jumped on the real estate merry-go-round and (re-)listed her 2.2 acre spread in Bridgehampton, NY with an asking price of $9,999,000. (The manners-obsessed reality star and royal-by-marriage attempted to sell the estate in 2009 for $9.5 million.).

Current listing details show the 6,500 square foot cedar-shingled farmhouse has living and dining rooms—check the Warholian portrait of the Countess in the dining room, a well-equipped country kitchen, separate den, six bedrooms—including a main floor master suite with dual baths, sauna, and direct access through French doors to the backyard, 7.5 bathrooms, and at least three fireplaces. Outdoor entertainments include spacious terraces, vast lawns, a swimming pool with adjacent, self-contained pool/guest house, a three-car detached garage, and, in the front yard, a sunken tennis court.

listing photos: Brown Harris Stevens

End of Week Pick Up Sticks: Brad Grey

SELLER: Brad and Cassandra Grey
LOCATION: Los Angeles (Bel Air), CA
PRICE: $27,500,000
SIZE: 10,616 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Paramount chieftain and all-around Showbiz power player Brad Grey and his second wife, Cassandra, have listed their stately white-brick Georgian-Colonial mansion in L.A.'s tony Bel Air area on the open market for $27,500,000.

Mister Grey acquired the house in the wake of his split and subsequent divorce from his first wife, Bonnie, in an off-market deal a bit more than four years ago for $22,000,000. The Hollywood honcho's top producing real estate broker told the property gossip gals at the Wall Street Journal that his client made several modifications and upgrades to the house including landscape refreshment, dining room renovation, sitting room addition on the second floor, and professional projection equipment installation in the formal living room so the glammed-up salon can do double duty as a de riguer screening room.

Current listing details show the 10,600+ square foot mansion was originally designed by L.A.-based mansion specialist Richard Manion and built in 2006 on 1.1 gated acres enclosed by electronic drive gates, high stucco walls, and and and even taller row of trees and privacy hedges.

Main floor living and entertaining spaces include: a double height foyer guaranteed to impress guests and pizza delivery people, roomy; sophisticated, cocktail and dinner party accommodating formal living and dining rooms; a cozy paneled office/library; a family room dominated by a gigantic, U-shaped sectional sofa; and, finally, an all-white kitchen with stainless steel appliances and an industrial-sized pot rack that looms over the super-sized center work island.

In addition to the master suite that's complete, according to digital marketing materials, with dual closets and bathrooms, there are three bedroom suites on the second floor clustered around a sitting room, perhaps the above mentioned one he added. One bedroom and one bathroom staff quarters, probably wedged tightly behind the kitchen near the laundry facilities and garage, bring the bedroom total to five.

Other features of note include three fireplaces, a fitness room plus a separate Pilates studio with private bathroom, a three car attached garage with off-street parking for a dozen or so more cars, and a state-of-the-art security system equipped with closed-circuit surveillance cameras.

Being in the prime East Gate section of Bel Air Mister Grey's estate is surrounded by a whole lotta L.A.-based money and power. Next door on one side is the Gothic Tudor mansion once owned by Nic Cage and on the other side is the almost four acre fully landscaped estate Beny Alagem who started Packard Bell and currently owns the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Across the street, funnily enough, are Rick and Kathy Hilton—that would be Paris's parents and the heirs to the Hilton Hotel fortune. Next door to the Hilton's is the home of music industry executive Jerry Moss and few doors down (and across the street) is Mi Patria, the nearly 9,000 square foot hacienda-style mansion another music industry executive, Freddy de Mann, sold to H. Ross Perot Jr. earlier this year for $18,000,000. Just around the bend one way is Michael Eisner's long-time estate while just around the corner in another direction is the newly re-worked estate of Terry Semel whose across the street neighbor is (charity-oriented lady-who-lunches) Alexandra Dwek who bought her big house in 2011 from Giannulli Mossimo and Laurie Laughlin for $16,600,000.

So the reportage goes, Mister Grey and his younger, fashion-oriented second missus have decided to custom build a brand spanking new contemporary residence designed by Napa Valley-based architect Howard Backen on a mostly flat and superbly located 2.3 acre parcel in the heart of the Holmby Hills 'hood that Mister Grey purchased in late 2010 for $18.5 million and where the couple hosted their glitzy, star-studded nuptials in the spring of 2011. The property, directly across the street from the former Walt Disney estate that private investor and Houston Dynamo co-owner Gabriel Brener has made available as an off-market listing with a hair-straightening $90 million price tag, once had a elegant and beautifully proportioned if somewhat shabbily maintained hacienda-style Monterey Colonial on the property that once owned by Frank Sinatra. Alas, after failing to flip the fixer-upper in 2011, when he put it up for sale for $23,500,000, Mister Gray opted to raze the 8,613 square foot red brick residence* and then—once again in vain—tried to sell the newly vacant parcel for $20,000,000.

Mister and Missus Grey also own a 3,000 square foot, full-floor spread in the tower section of the perfectly swellegant (if a mite stuffy) Carlyle hotel and residences in New York City that they bought almost three years ago for $15,500,000.**

*For better or worse, depending on your point of view, the house was not protected under any historical statute or designation.

**The provided floor plan for Mister and Missus Grey's New York City pied-a-terre was retrieved from still available digital listings as it was organized at the time of their 2011 acquisition. For all Your Mama knows, they've radically rearranged the layout. 

listing photos: Everett Fenton Gidley for Westside Estate Agency