From Greta Garbo and Richard Burton’s chic hideaways to sales launches in Brooklyn, there is always something new happening in the world of real estate. In this roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.
On the Market
Greta Garbo estate comes out of seclusion for $10 million sale
Do you vant to be left alone? Well, good news: Greta Garbo’s former Beverly Hills estate has landed on the market for $10 million with Markus Canter and Cristie St. James of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. The six-bedroom mansion was constructed back in 1937 for the enigmatic movie goddess and her then boyfriend, British conductor Leopold Stokowski. Garbo only lived there for a few years—by 1941, she had retired from filmmaking and, in the 1950s, decamped for New York. Since then, the three-story home has been owned by several entertainment types, including screen heartthrob Tab Hunter and its current owner, Russian movie producer Arcadiy Golubovich.
Celebrity designer Nicole Sassaman gave the house a complete overhaul in the early 2000s, including covering the exterior in stucco. Sassaman didn’t, however, mess with the house’s rather unique curved lines. “By keeping the curvaceous shape of the home and improving upon that style, I worked to meld the worlds of yesterday and today together,” she told Elle Decor in 2009.
Nestled in the highly desirable Crest Streets neighborhood, the residence takes full advantage of its beautiful surroundings, with panoramic views from retractable floor-to-ceiling windows and a trio of terraces, including one off the second-floor primary bedroom. The spacious living room literally opens onto the zero-edge infinity pool. Further out in the yard—and discreetly hidden by landscaping—is a bar and lounge, “an idyllic setting for relaxation and rejuvenation,” according to the listing.
The Upper East Side co-op where Garbo spent her last decades was listed for $7.25 million last year, according to Robb Report, but was taken off the market when there were no buyers.
Yellowstone’s Jen Landon is selling her eco-friendly condo
Actress Jen Landon, who plays ranch hand Teeter on the Paramount powerhouse Yellowstone, has listed her two-bedroom Venice, California, townhome for $1.8 million. The house’s open floor plan links the kitchen, dining area, and living room, according to the listing with Katie Crain and John Podhur of Compass, while oversized windows spread natural light across the ground floor. Upstairs, the primary suite boasts a roof deck, walk-in closets, and a bathroom with both a soaking tub and rain shower.
Built in 2009, the home was designed with an eye toward sustainability, including the use of bamboo floors and energy-saving appliances and the installation of fully plumbed beds on the roof that are ideal for herb and vegetable gardens.
Landon is the daughter of TV icon Michael Landon and made her television debut in the series finale of Highway to Heaven. She’s lived in the house since 2010, when she bought it for a reported $975,000.
Richard Burton’s London mansion comes to market for $9.85 million
The London residence where Richard Burton was living when he met future flame Elizabeth Taylor is up for grabs for $9.85 million. Burton was actually married to his first wife, Welsh actress Sybil Williams, when he lived on Lyndhurst Road in Hampstead Village from 1949 to 1956. Burton and Taylor met at a party in LA in 1953, but reportedly didn’t commence their affair for some years.
Built in the 1860s by architect Henry Davidson, the six-bedroom home welcomed many Hollywood notables while Burton lived there, including James Mason and John Gielgud. Walking distance from the untamed greenery of Hampstead Heath, the semi-detached residence includes a ground-floor drawing room with a marble fireplace, a spacious kitchen with bay window, and a penthouse studio with skylight windows and its own kitchen. A self-contained garden apartment adds two more bedrooms.
The residence “is not only notable due to the provenance of its former famous resident, but it also represents a rare opportunity to purchase a magnificent family home situated in the heart of Hampstead,” says Mark Pollack, cofounding director of UK real estate agency Aston Chase, which is sharing the listing with Knight Frank.
This James Bond–inspired spec house has a hidden room
Every house has its secrets, but a $38 million Hollywood Hills property designed by real-estate power couple Branden and Rayni Williams has one right out of a James Bond movie: a hidden nightclub that’s only accessible by pulling a sword off the wall. The developers have dubbed the entertainment level “Disco Volante,” Italian for “flying saucer” and, not coincidentally, the name of a luxury yacht in the Bond movie Thunderball. It’s also the name of their partnership with Crest Real Estate’s Jason Somers, who collaborated on the six-bedroom new build.
The trio purchased the plot in 2016 and spent over $20 million to bring their vision to life, working with LA architectural firm Vantage Design Group and interior designer Victoria Gillet. “The only budget was there was no budget,” reads a release. “Everything had to be the best.” In this case, the best includes cedar ceilings, titanium travertine floors, African walnut millwork, and abundant use of Brazilian green onyx. It also means crystal “installations”—including amethyst, citrine, and tiger’s eye—that have been blessed by a shaman.
The three-story house was initially known as Stanley 2, a nod to the Stanley House, the spec home the Williamses sold for $33 million in 2018. But the couple settled on the “Californication House,” they said, “because it is the epitome of California living with a homage to Hollywood decadence.”
The façade of this sprawling 12,500-square-foot residence is encased in Arabian slate and Japanese shou sugi ban wood. Inside you’ll find a private movie theater with a green-velvet ceiling, a safari-themed library with a (faux) taxidermied mountain lion, and a primary bedroom with crushed velvet walls and a $40,000 circular bed that rotates 360 degrees.
“By day it’s a serene escape seated right above the palm trees of Sunset,” Rayni Williams says of the larger-than-life abode, “and by night it’s glamorous and sexy.”
San Francisco house where Ansel Adams lived comes into focus
Ansel Adams’s childhood home in San Francisco is up for sale for $5.45 million, the first time it’s been on the market in over a half century. Adams’s parents built the Arts and Crafts–style chalet in 1902, when the now elite Sea Cliff neighborhood was just sand dunes overlooking the Presidio. “I trace who I am and the direction of my development to those years of growing up in our house by the dunes,” Ansel once remarked.
In 1929, the photographer and his then-new wife, Virginia Best, tapped architect Alfred Henry Jacobs to build an annex on what had been Adams’s mother’s dahlia garden. Connected by a hallway, the conjoined homes offer a total of more than 3,800 square feet of living space. The star feature is a grand salon Adams requested, with 20-foot vaulted ceilings, architectural beams, and a wood-burning fireplace. There’s also a kitchen with a glass-atrium dining area, four bedrooms with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands, and an attic-turned-artist’s loft.
The residence at 131 24th Avenue served as Adams’s home base until 1957, according to the listing with Sotheby’s International’s Joseph Lucier and Stacey Caen. At that point the family moved to Carmel and sold the home to developer Edward Eichler. It was last purchased in 1970, to architect Peter Winkelstein, who died in March.
Milestones
72 Park tops out on Miami Beach
On September 13, Lefferts celebrated the topping off of 72 Park, its new Miami Beach condo building. More than 100 guests toasted the occasion at George’s on North Beach before being escorted to the construction site for hard-hat tours.
The 22-story condominium was designed by Chicago-based Built Form with interiors and landscapes by Urban Robots Associates. According to developers, 72 Park is the first new luxury tower on Miami Beach to permit short-term rentals. When it’s completed next summer, it’ll offer 206 units, ranging from 470 to 1,177 square feet, as well as a 150-foot pool, a 35,000-square-foot amenity deck and an outdoor screening area for movie nights. It will also be home to a Miami outpost of Roberta’s, Carlo Mirarchi and Brandon Hoy’s red-hot Brooklyn pizzeria.
Prices start in the $700,000 range, with Cervera Real Estate serving as the exclusive sales and marketing partner.
Sales Launch
Monogram New York makes its mark
Sales have launched at Monogram New York, a 191-unit condo on East 47th Street that marks the debut of Navigation Capital Group, a developer affiliated with Beijing-based Hopson Development. Designed by Ismael Leyva Architects as a modern spin on Art Deco, the 35-story tower is the first in a planned collection of branded residences developed in collaboration with Anthology Group, the team behind some of Asia’s most luxe hotels.
Residents will enjoy a “hotel-centric lifestyle” including access to a full-time concierge, curated library, and the Crest, a rooftop bar and private dining room. The building’s 191 units will offer kitchens with Calacatta marble countertops and Gaggenau appliances and bathrooms with radiant heated floors and Kallista fixtures.
Shanghai-based design studio Neri&Hu handled the interiors—its first residential project in New York—and has curated optional turnkey furniture and decor packages. Initial pricing at Monogram New York begins at $855,000 for a studio, $1.1 million for a one-bedroom, and $1.7 million for a two-bedroom, with exclusive sales and marketing by Core. Occupancy is anticipated in the first quarter of 2024.
The Calyer Greenpoint launches sales
Sales are also underway at the Calyer Greenpoint, a six-story condominium building in north Brooklyn.
In the early 1900s, 171 Calyer Street was the site of a vaudeville theater. PKSB Architects, who also designed 1080 Lorimer around the corner, pay tribute to the neighborhood’s history with the use of red brick, brown cast stone, and double-hung casement windows. The Calyer “presents buyers with the opportunity to own a coveted part of New York City’s captivating history and invest in one of Brooklyn’s most vibrant locales,” sayes Gregory Dweck, director of development at Kassin Sabbagh Realty.
The building’s 21 residences, which range from one- to four-bedroom residences, include a duplex, two single-floor homes, and a full-floor penthouse. Pricing starts at $1,125,000 with occupancy expected by the end of this year.
