While the east coast real estate nuttaroos go batty about the possibility that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick might be buying a twenty plus million dollar doo-plex in New York City, the west coast real estate freaks are getting goose pimples over the rumored and reported purchase of a beast of a house in Los Angeles' Brentwood area by supermodel turned media mogul Heidi Klum and her man-mate and baby daddy Seal.
The 12,300 square foot house they're said to be in contract for, sited on an 8.5 acre hill top parcel in a small gated enclave called the Brentwood Country Estates, had been owned by an investment banker who went belly up and let the custom built estate sink into the ugly jaws of foreclosure in early 2010. After failing to sell at a June auction, the estate was placed on the open market in mid-October with an asking price of $13,400,000. The listing agent did not reveal the specifics of the deal or name the buyers but did tell the Hollywood Reporter that, "There were multiple buyers" and a "bidding war" and that the house is in contract for "significantly more than the asking price." Well, good for the damn bank then.
Anyhoo, listing information shows the Mediterranean mansion has a total of 8 bedrooms and 9.5 poopers including a massive master suite with dual poopers and a pair of custom fitted closet/dressing room areas. Other notable amenities include a gore-may kitchen with La Cornue brand range and a fireplace mantel from Scotland that dates all the way back to 1603 and a formal dining room from the Pierre Hotel in Paris that the former owner purchased in its entirety, had dismantled, shipped to the United States and put back together again. Let's not look over the cigar room with its separate filtration system, a wine cellar and tasting room and the domed library with a fireplace said to be from Napoleon's farmhouse.
The expansive and terraced grounds include a curving gated drive, circular motor court, boxwood lined formal gardens, a campy pillar lined lap pool and spa, wide stone terraces that wrap around the back of the house, large rolling expanses of lawn, and a delightful little playhouse for the kiddies.
Should they do the deed and sign on the dotted line, Miz Klum and Mister Seal's new neighbors will include Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver and supermodel Gisele Bündchen and her professional pigskin tosser huzband Tom Brady who are currently building a colossal compound that Your Mama has a sneaking suspicion they will find too big when it gets finished.
In 2006, after Miz Klum and Mister Seal sold a contemporary hilltop home in the hills above Bel Air to Nick Lachey–remember him, folks?–the salt and pepper pair moved to a 6 bedroom and 9 pooper mansion with swimming pool and tennis court located at the tail end of a long private drive in the Beverly Hills Post Office area. Presumably this house will be hoisted up on the market once whatever renovations Miz Klum and Mister Seal might want to make on their new mansion in Brentwood.
UPDATE: The deal was completed, according to information sent to Your Mama by Our Fairy Godmother in Beverly Hills, on the 3rd of December 2010 for $14,200,000. That's well over the asking price, sure, but maybe not such a bad deal when you consider that in August of 2008 supermodel Gisele Bündchen and her quarterback man Tom Brady paid $11,750,000 a 3.6 acre vacant parcel across the street and a few doors up the hill.
listing photos: Luxury Style Photography for Hilton & Hyland