LOCATION: Hidden Hills, CA
PRICE: $2,850,000
SIZE: 7,000 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Always working actor and Tinseltown scion Beau Bridges–his father is Emmy-nominated Lloyd and his younger brother is Oscar-winner Jeff–briefly had his house in the horsey Hidden Hills enclave in the far western suburbs of Los Angeles, CA on the market in the spring of 2010 with an asking price of $3,250,000. Alas, there were no immediate takers and the 1.16 acre estate was taken off the (open) market. In real estate what comes around often (and doesn't sell) often comes back around at a lower price and sure enough Mister Bridges and his wife Wendy have recently re-listed their long-time estate with a new and much lower price tag of $2,850,000.
Mister Bridges successfully skipped around Hollywood since the early 1960s with a professional resume a mile or more long. Over the course of his long career he's earned 10 Emmy nominations, mostly for guest appearances on hit shows (My Name is Earl, Desperate Housewives, The Closer) plus three Emmy statuettes for starring roles on a trio television mini-series (Without Warning: The James Brady Story, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, The Second Civil War).
The 70 year old actor shows no sign of retirement from the Business of Show. He's got a number of film projects in the hopper and in the last couple of years Mister Bridges has appeared numerous times on both the big screen (Rockford Files, The Descendents) and the small screen, most notably on Brothers & Sisters, a guest starring role that earned him yet another Emmy nomination.
Property records indicate Mister and Missus Bridges purchased his house in the upscale, semi-rural equestrian community back in May 1988 for $1,200,000. Current listing information shows the multi-winged Marshall Lewis-designed English Tudor-style residence measures around 7,000 square feet and includes a total of 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms.
The open-plan main living areas have wood (and wall-to-wall carpeted) floors, stained glass windows, wood ceilings criss-crossed by heavy wood beams. Many of the main rooms pinwheel around a monumental brick and mortar fireplace and include country-casual formal living and dining rooms, a billiard room with curved carved wood staircase, and a massive L-shaped family room with wet bar and sunken conversation pit with fireplace.
Despite the basket weave-patterned brick floor, heavy wood beams and lethal-looking pot racks, the eat-in kitchen takes on a (more) contemporary vibe with streamlined Shaker-style Poggenpohl cabinets, granite counter tops, and every high-grade appliance money can buy including Viking-brand warming drawers, double ovens, side-by-side Sub-Zero fridge and freezers. In kitchen dining and snacking can be done at the snack bar or in a greenhouse-style breakfast nook with garden view.
Listing information indicates four of the six bedrooms are on the second floor and include three sizable family/guest bedrooms each with direct access to a bathroom, all with vaulted and beamed ceilings and at least one with a sleeping loft accessed by a tightly spiraled staircase. The expansive master suite has a massive brick fireplace, sitting area, high-pitched beamed ceiling, a stained glass window or two, multiple closets plus dressing room, private bathroom and adjoining office with steeply-peaked wood-beamed ceiling, green and black marble fireplace and wine closet lined with custom-built bottle racks.
The acre-plus grounds are mostly landscaped and include a long drive way that sweeps around to motor court at the side of the house with three-car attached garage, wide-swathes of gently undulating lawns dotted with mature shade trees and at least one hanging tepee, extensive vegetable gardens, a greenhouse, a fountain or two, and a big ol' brick-lined entertainment terrace with built-in barbecue that extends off the rear of the house. Between the house and the fenced tennis court there's an azure blue heated swimming pool and spa. Beyond the swimming pool and spa there's a tennis court but what there isn't, unlike the vast majority of the other estates in Hidden Hills, are equestrian facilities.
Currently listing information does not include many photos but the fine folks at Luxist presented the property back in April 2010 and many images of the interior spaces and grounds can be seen there.
Property records show that Mister Bridges has owned a 6.25 acre spread a fair distance from the beach near Kilauea on the Hawaiian island of Kauai since at least May 1997.
listing photos: Sotheby's International Realty
