SELLER: Persia WhiteLOCATION: Studio City, CA
PRICE: $1,529,000
SIZE: 4,200 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Over the weekend between racing around to family parties and building a chicken wire contraption to keep the damn raccoons from snatching the fruit off my tomato plants in the middle of the night Your Mama took some time to peruse the Los Angeles area real estate listings. In truth, we didn't come up with much but we did turn up a property in the hills above Studio City listed for $1,549,000 and owned by actress/musician/artist Persia White.
From 2000 to 2008 Miz White starred on the boob-toob series Girlfriends with Golden Brooks and Tracee Ellis Ross, the daughter of Miss Diana Ross, thank you very much. Although she hasn't worked much since her gal pal program was canceled, she does, as per her resume on the Internet Movie Data Base, have a few movie projects underway and in the hopper. In addition to her ack-ting Miz White, a staunch and vocal advocate for environmental, human and animal rights, also makes music–she released a solo album in 2010 called Mecca–and paints emotionally charged images that often depict women curled up in the fetal position, bent over backward, or in otherwise taut state of heartbreak and/or longing.
Property records show girlfriend for Girlfriends–married a time or two and the mommy of one–acquired her two-story hillside house in June 2004 for $1,135,000. Built in 1990, the contemporary cottage encompasses 4,200 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and nearly unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains during the day and glittery lights of San Fernando Valley at night.
At first glance the tile-roofed residence looks a little (too much) like Grandma's house for Your Mama's particular and persnickety taste in real estate. It ain't easy for us to get past the unnecessarily horrific white wrought iron fence of uneven heights that runs along the front of the property. When we do mange to squeeze our eyes past the ugly fencing, a closer inspection reveals an attempt to present a more modern edge on the front facade that's dominated by the odd coupling of a red Spanish tile roof and a smoked glass and aluminum garage doors.
An entry deck connects the driveway to the commercial-style smoked glass and aluminum front door, shaded by the overhang of a deep eave and roof projection with very post-modern circular detail that may or may not be a window (we're not sure). In order to get that sentence right, puppies, y'all must roll your eyes with self-righteous architectural disdain when you read the words "post-modern circular detail."
Anyhoo, the interior spaces of Miz White's domicile have been stripped down to an Armani Casa-like simplicity with prominently grained ebonized wood floors, large planes of gallery white walls and divisions between some rooms obliterated by opening up doorways to the full height of the ceiling. A chunky double-sided fireplace with veined black marble surrounds and hearths divides the living and dining rooms. Both room have extra-side wood-framed glass doors that slide open to a narrow wrap around deck with oblique view to the distant mountains at the northern end of the San Fernando Valley. A built-in wet-bar in the dining room should elate all the booze hounds like Your Mama who, rather than join the congregation of party guests in the kitchen looking for a snippet of sausage or hummus, gravitate towards to liquor cabinet for three fingers of gin.
The galley style kitchen has taupe-gray tile floors, traditional black raised panel cabinets somewhat successfully zhushed up with black paint, black and brown flecked granite counter tops and medium-grade stainless steel appliances. This is not what Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter with fifty grand to spend on a kitchen re-d0 but it ain't awful. It's certainly better than a faux-Tuscan extravaganza with a gigantic pot rack that drips with fake grapes, Chianti bottles and coppeer pots. For what it's worth–and it's not worth a goddam thing–we the kitchen day-core might be vastly improved by simply swapping the snooze of a rug shown in listing photo with some sort of antique Turkish kilim rug.
The master suite includes a good-sized bedroom with fireplace with granite surround, wood floors, two sets of French doors that lead to a private view deck, and two custom-fitted walk in closets, one with glass fronted shoe cabinets for displaying the Brian Atwoods and Jimmy Choos. The large but lackluster attached crapper has a lot of beige tile work, two sinks, separate shower and jetted tub and a wide-window with tree-top view.
A short stair connects a small lower level deck along the back of the house to an entertainment and lounging deck built around a narrow tree trunk. Additional features that a potential buyer might find enticing include a non-toxic paint on the walls, a finished 3-car attached garage with additional storage space, video surveillance security system, two-zone heating and cooling systems, water purification system, and an unfinished storage area that listing information suggests would make an ideal studio, gym or media room.
listing photos: Re/Max Execs
