The Mellor Law Firm, APLC

This Riverside County midcentury modern gem hit the open market with a $1.299 million ask on Christmas Eve and was gone before New Year’s Eve. It is likely that the offer exceeded the asking price. Even a cursory look at the home reveals why. The midcentury-style remains hotter than hot, and this Rancho Mirage home has been transformed into a faithfully engineered and comprehensive representation of the style. It is, in fact, a residential time-travel machine set to 1958.

Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot is the new owner of this condo in Malibu. Gadot shelled out $5 million for the oceanfront retreat, which is the top floor unit in a four-unit, vaguely modern-style building located near the Pier. The building was completed in 1984; its simple lines and open living style has weathered the years well. Gadot’s condo measures a touch under 2,000 sq. ft., and contains two bedrooms and three baths in a flat layout.

The nuptial Palm Springs retreat of Elvis and Priscilla Presley sold this winter after over six years on and off the market. The so-called ‘Honeymoon House’ modern shared by the couple on a rental basis in 1966-67 was initially listed by its now most recent former owner in 2014, asking $9.5 million; it was subsequently reduced to $5.9 million and by January of this year, it was asking $3.2 million. It closed this month for $2.6 million. The residence was, at the time of its completion, dubbed ‘The House of Tomorrow’ by Look Magazine, and its stylized formality retains much of its original verve. Designed by William Krisel and commissioned by Palm Springs developer Bob Alexander as a family home, it employs a central motif of a circle, a symbol of cycle that culminates to a wing-like roof design.

Actor Zach Woods is the new owner of the French Provincial-style home in Studio City, California. The star of The Office and Silicon Valley shelled out $1.73 million for the bright, refined house, which contains three bedrooms and three baths in just under 6,000 sq. ft. of interior living space. The 1946-built home begins with a gated doorway set into a privacy wall. A walkway wanders through landscaping that is very lush; it is designed to surround the living styleand contextualize itwith green and growing.

Last month, this Mediterranean-style in Tarzana, California, hit the open market courtesy of retired Los Angeles Lakers player Derek Fisher. The five-time NBA champ listed the property with a $2.495 million asking price, but didn’t have to wait too long for a buyer. The sale closed this month at $2.3 million. The stucco home measures around 5,000 sq. ft. A few of its more attractive features include the turret staircasethe treads are finished in cherryand the kitchen island. Both bring a welcome splash of color to the interiors. Other details include wall niches, ornamental arches, and natural-toned hardwood.

Last month, comedian and political commentator Dennis Miller and his wife Carolyn Espley-Miller sold their sizable estate in Montecito for $49 million. According to the Wall Street Journal, the buyers were Montecito-loving duo Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, who closed the deal with cash. The Miller estate features a Dutch mansion on a 4.3-acre lot. The property was a labor of love for the couple, who spent about a decade designing and building it; the result is an escapist destination. There are five buildings on the estate, including a 9,000 sq. ft. main house and a guest house. A few weeks later, DeGeneres and de Rossi’s investment coffers were refilled following the sale of their custom Balinese contemporary in Montecito. That property sold for $33 million against the couple’s $27 million purchase price.

The Palm Desert, California, retreat of seminal jazz vocalist Frank Sinatra surfaced on the open market recently with a $4.25 million asking price. It appeared on the market back in 2015 with a $4 million price tag; the ask dropped to $3.9 million the following year before going up to $4.5 million in 2018. The property is titled ‘Villa Maggio’ after the character Ol’ Blue Eyes played in From Here to Eternity to Academy Award-winning acclaim. The compound occupies a lot that spans nearly eight acres. It features a tennis court, helipad, two detached guest houses, a swimming pool, and an entertainment pavilion.

In the summer of 2019, producer David Geffen purchased a one-acre lot in a particularly desirable corner of Beverly Hills. The property is located on Billionaire’s Row, and was priced accordingly; Geffen closed the deal for $30 million. This fall, Geffen passed the parcel on for $34 million. When Geffen purchased the lot, the sale included a blueprint of a 25,000 sq. ft. house. The floor plan of the trophy home included a nightclub, a bowling alley, and a home cinema, as well... as a 140-foot pool as a backyard centerpiece. Geffen is a real estate mogul in his own right. Earlier this year, he purchased a superb architectural in Beverly Hills for $68 millionnearly half its original ask of $125 million. A few years prior to that, he set a Malibu record with the sale of his beachfront compound for $85 million.

This fall, multiple-SAG Award-winner Ariel Winter sold one Studio City residence and picked up another. In the Modern Family star’s back pages is a contemporary farmhouse in Studio City, which the actress sold for $2.8 million earlier this month after listing it in October for $2.9 million. The incoming property is a somewhat larger contemporary farmhouse in Studio City, which was completed earlier this year and listed at $3.6 million before Winter came along with the offer o...f $3.45 million which closed the sale. Its façade features a black-on-white first level and a cedar-shingled upper level. Inside the 5,369 sq. ft. house, the cozy familiarity and varied patterns of the style are in full flower. A traditional staircase and natural-toned wide-plank hardwood are defining features, while a broad spectrum of natural stone figuring embellishes the living style. The living room fireplace and the walls of the master bath are both remarkable additions to the five-bed, seven-bath home.

MLB World Series winner Mike Moustakas listed his Southern California retreat this holiday season with a $1.499 million asking price. The 1,831 sq. ft. Malibu townhome is located off the PCH, near Trancas Beach and local hiking trails. The interiors of this renovated property feature an open main living area with newer walnut floors and understated gray scale toning. The kitchen should garner considerable attention at showings; it boasts superb granite countertops, an island with a secondary sink, a bit of stainless, and cabinets that extend to the ceiling. The two upstairs bedrooms include a master with an in-wall fireplace and a private balcony with views of the ocean. The property also features a patio.

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, otherwise known as Sycamore Valley Ranch, was a long time selling. The property which had been the retreat of the pop icon since the 1980s was listed by his estate in the spring of 2016 with a $100 million asking price. The place is an ideal spot for a resort or a corporate assetit was even floated to the State of California as a potential State Parkbut the controversial nature of Jackson’s life seemed to affect the property’s appeal; as a... result, over five years elapsed, and several steep price cuts were levied. The ask was chopped down to $67 million, then to $31 million, before a buyer stepped up to claim the estate as their own. The buyer was none other than investor Ron Burkle, who over the past few years has accumulated several historically important residences that have, for one reason or another, languished on the open market and consequently been available for a relative pittance. The list includes a pair of homes once owned by Bob Hopeincluding the Lautner-designed ‘Mushroom House’ in Palm Springs, which initially listed at $50 million before selling to Burkle for $13 millionas well as Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Blade Runner’ Ennis House, which Burkle picked up as a dilapidated but architecturally significant wreck for $4.5 million in 2009, restored, and sold in 2019 for $18 million. Meanwhile, back at the ranchBurkle paid $22 million for Neverland, according to the Wall Street Journal. The property encompasses 2,700 acres in Los Olivos, and includes a series of residences designed in various styles that culminates in a six-bedroom, 12,600 sq. ft. chateau. The estate also features stone arch bridges, a lake, and a railroad or two. What Burkle plans to do with the property should stir genuine curiosity. Although the answer is likely a mundane one: hold it, or parcel it out.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are in the process of purchasing this waterfront lot in Indian Creek, Fl. The property is listed at $31.8 million and is at the time of writing in pending status. The lot is situated within the heavily guarded Indian Creek Village community, in the small corner of Miami known as Billionaire Bunker. It measures about 80,000 sq. ft., which converts to a little less than two acres. At present it is a grassy expanse dotted with mature trees. Among the lot’s features are good views of Biscayne Bay and around 200 feet of water frontage. The lot was offered for sale with this additional possibility: the purchase of additional adjoining lots that would bring the total acreage to well over seven acres of prime land.

Actor Zac Efron appears to be leaving town: this week, he listed his modern-style knockout of a house in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles on the open market. Rumor has it that Efronwhose film credits include 2017’s Baywatch and last year’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vileis selling in order to relocate to Australia. For whatever reason, the house in question is up for sale at $5.9 million. The home is a marvelous high modern that was completed in 1964. It begins with a set of abstract impressionist-inspired gates; a driveway hemmed in by tasteful retaining walls leads to the property’s motor court.