Stefani Buys J.Lo's Digs
In Beverly Hills, Calif.
Pop singer Gwen Stefani, the lead singer of the band No Doubt, has bought a Beverly Hills home once owned by actress and singer Jennifer Lopez.
Ms. Stefani and her husband, Gavin Rossdale, the former lead singer for the rock band Bush, paid close to the $15.5 million asking price, according to the seller, film producer and businessman Sam Nazarian. Ms. Stefani and Mr. Rossdale had their first child in May. Ms. Stefani's spokesman confirmed that the couple bought the house but had no further comment.
The four-bedroom house, which was built in 1998, is in The Summit, a development off Mulholland Drive. The two-acre property includes a tennis court, basketball court, pool and screening room. Mr. Nazarian says the 10,000-square-foot home, which he put on the market in April, is "designed for a celebrity" because of its privacy: Not only is the community gated, the house lies at the end of a separately gated, 250-foot driveway.
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Mr. Nazarian, whose SBE Entertainment Group produced the Edward Norton film "Down in the Valley" in 2005 and owns hotels, restaurants and nightclubs in California and other states, bought the house from Ms. Lopez in 2004 for a reported $12.5 million. He said he is selling to move to Hollywood Hills, next door to Leonardo DiCaprio, although his new home isn't quite finished. "We anticipated it taking a little bit longer to sell," Mr. Nazarian says, adding that he'll hardly be homeless in the interim: "Luckily, I have nine hotels in L.A."
House That Mac Built
The former Los Gatos, Calif., home of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has just gone on the market for $10 million.
Mr. Wozniak built the house in 1986. He included many unusual features, such as a padded office, an elaborate attic play area with an electric extending staircase leading up and a fireman's pole going down, and an artificial cave with stalactites and dinosaur footprints. He sold the house for about $5 million in 2004, reportedly because of poor cellphone reception.
The current owner, developer Larry Willard, says he spent about $3 million renovating and modernizing the house, which he said was "very 1980s" when he bought it. Mr. Willard left intact many of Mr. Wozniak's amenities, including the cave, attic and arcade. The five-bedroom, 7,100-square-foot home also features a wine cellar, pool, and an iPod docking station in most of the rooms.
Gary Clark, who is listing the house with Mark Thomason and Asante Real Estate Group in Los Gatos, said Mr. Wozniak wasn't involved in the renovation but has toured the house since its completion. Mr. Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs and designed the company's early computers, now serves as chief technical officer for Acquicor Technology, a group he helped found last year that aims to buy technology companies.
Casa Kennedy
Matthew Maxwell Kennedy, son of the late senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, has put on the market his six-bedroom home in Hyannis Port, the Cape Cod, Mass., town where the Kennedys have spent their summers since the 1920s.
Mr. Kennedy, who is known as Max, and his wife, Vicki, are asking just under $6 million for the 1929 shingle-style house, which they bought for about $1.5 million in 1998, according to public records. Ms. Kennedy says the couple renovated the house extensively, adding windows and glass doors to the ocean side, which had been left nearly windowless by the original owners to save on heating costs. In addition to the 3,354-square-foot home, the 1.43-acre lot features a Jacuzzi, pool, pier and 290 feet of beach. It is around the corner from the main Kennedy compound and overlooks Hyannis Harbor and Nantucket Sound.
Mr. Kennedy, who considered a run for Congress in Massachusetts in 2001, now lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on a book about World War II. Ms. Kennedy said she and her husband are selling because they can no longer spend as much time on Cape Cod, although they still plan to spend several weeks each summer with Mr. Kennedy's mother.
Paul Grover of Kinlin Grover GMAC Real Estate has the listing.
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