Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Elton John Buying and Selling in Los Angeles

BUYER: Elton John and David Furnish
LOCATION: Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: $7,695,000 (list)
SIZE: 4,216 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Back in the mid-1990s when current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was First Lady of the United States she tried to teach America—or tell America, depending on your point of view—that It Takes a Village to raise a child. Maybe it does or maybe it doesn't but Your Mama is here to tell y'all it does indeed sometimes take a village to put together the disparate pieces of a celebrity real estate puzzle.

The other day the New York Post tattled about new gay daddies Elton John and David Furnish selling their high-floor, two-unit condo-crib at the star-studded Sierra Towers apartment complex in West Hollywood, CA and "looking for an LA mansion" where they'll have more space to bring up baby.

Being a curious celebrity real estate beaver, Your Mama jumped on our beloved but bedraggled princess phone and did some dialing around. It wasn't long before we heard back from two of our better-connected Beverly Hills real estate insider informants—let's call them Frick and Frack—who told us that Misters John-Furnish and Furnish-John were not looking for a mansion in Los Angeles but had already purchased one.

Public transaction records don't yet reveal a purchase price but according to both Frick and Frack the magnificently bespectacled—and allegedly bewigged—U.K.-based superstar and his filmmaker man-mate/baby daddy just picked up a recently re-done residence in the terrifically trendy and hideously expensive Trousdale Estates area of Beverly Hills.

Your Mama has yet to have a helpful soul slip the purchase price under our proverbial door but we do know from listing information kindly provided by Our Fairy Godmother in Beverly Hills that the single-story sprawler was last listed with an asking price of $7,695,000.

Listing information indicates the walled, gated, and vaguely boomerang-shaped house—described rather gauzily in the listing as a "Soft Contemporary" with the "essence of Ralph Lauren"—was originally built in 1966, measures 4,216 square feet and currently includes 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms plus a staff bedroom with attached lavatory and a separate pool cabana with lounge, fitness area and additional bathroom.

Luscious white oak floors and long runs of gallery white walls run throughout the open plan main living areas that include a "formal" living area with fireplace, "formal" dining space, and family room with wall-mounted flat-screen tee-vee. A wide opening in the family room connects to the breakfast room open to the all-white and expensively-equipped, galley-style center island kitchen.

Wide banks of floor-to-ceiling windows and sliders blanket the rear façade and provide panoramic city views and access to the deep and wide covered portico that runs along the rear of the residence. In addition to the slightly-bigger-than-plunge-sized sunken swimming pool, the pancake flat backyard has an unusually broad expanse of lawn perfect for the installation of a celebrity-style jungle gym set for Misters John and Furnish's growing baby boy.

Frick told us the reason for the move from a condo to a single family residence is because Misters John and Furnish would like to add more children to their family mix and their two (converted to one) bedroom condo at the Sierra Towers just isn't large enough to accommodate an expanding family, not to mention the considerable cadre of private staff they employ and tote to their various residences around the globe. Frack told us he expects the decoratively decadent men will spend a few more pennies on additional improvements and renovations.

In addition to his west coast holdings, Mister John is known and reported to maintain homes in seaside city of Nice in the south of France, the canal criss-crossed pièce de urban résistance of Venice (Italy), and the southern city of Atlanta, GA where he has long-owned what's been described in the local press as a "12,000-plus-square-foot," high-floor condo at the Park Place on Peachtree complex where other previous high-profile residents of the rather dour-looking tower have included Janet Jackson and Her Majesty Oprah Winfrey. Mister John's primary residence in the U.K., a 37-acre estate in the Windsor area just west of London's Heathrow Airport, was reportedly acquired back in 1975 for £400,000 and includes, amongst other structures, a massive Queen Anne-style mansion said to have 8 bedrooms.

No official listing for Mister John's two-unit pad at Sierra Towers is available and we don't yet know at what price it will be listed if it ever actually comes up for sale on the open market. However, the colorful and art-filled, Martyn Lawrence-Bullard-decorated aerie was photographed in all its high-glam 1970s-inspired glory for the glossy pages of Architectural Digest in December 2009 and, children, no matter what you may think of all, it is a juicy feast for the eyes.

photos: Pacific Coast News

22 comments:

Carla Ridge said...

Welcome to the neighborhood, Dame Elton! (and Lord Furnish).

Take a good look at the current day-kor, kids, if you like it; it's probably the last time we'll see its muted tones and restrained palette. Expect a riot of art, color and objets...which I think the place sorely NEEDS.

Oh, one last word: The street the house is located on was named for one of Jean Trousdale's poodles, LOL.

Anonymous said...

OH this is no shocker to the well heeled and well pressed in the Weho Circles! Madam Elton does not like to share the elevator with others and is known to have his handlers kick off anyone else as he rides up and down in Sierra Towers and the subsequent SoHo House across the street above BOA Stakehouse. Madam Elton has his "team" push all aside as he leaves and enters Sierra to and from his chariott (Escalade-Color Cherry Red-Wheels-Crome Bling)

I imagine we can imagine more snakes on the wall decor in this heavenly abode in the clouds high in trousdale.

P.S. Neighbors If you see an extended wheelbase Escalade blacked out and cherry red... move to the shoulder of the road! , hide your mens... Elton and possee and in town

Anonymous said...

They should be in a gated neighborhood. The looky loos, tour vans and paparazzi can park right out front 24/7.

Anonymous said...

WHY would he buy this?? Its boring and not a secure property. I love Elton, but I do not understand the paternal thing, except that hes done everything else. Elton should have just procured a second aprartment in Sierra for the Nanny...

Anonymous said...

"Mansion" Mama??? I know the economy stinks, but is THIS now the definition of mansion??

Anonymous said...

Nice canvas to work with. It needs some color, and I'm sure it will get it!

Anonymous said...

Opeah never lived in Park Place. She owned it and allowed Coretta Scott King to live there until she passed away.
M in Atl

Anonymous said...

An attractive house for an ugly man.

a Fan in Dallas said...

Oh GUUUUUURL! Love the Architecture, but HATE the Day-Core!!!!
Just because it's all white and bland does NOT make this serene and eleganza to match the stunning 1960's style of the abode.
Looks like the furniture was leftovers from the helps yard sale in East LA.
Mr's Johns/Furnish, may I suggest Dallas's own Emily Summers to do this place up right.

Rosco Mare said...

Mama Dearest, when I saw the tagline and photos, I looked forward to cousin Carla Ridge's comment, and I wasn't disappointed!

I like the house, and Elton's music and charity work, but dislike the day-core of the condo. (Simply not my style.)

Carla: When will your Trousdale book be available?

Anonymous said...

Knowing how much Elton loves art, and very expensive furnishings, I would safely bet that this house was staged after he moved out. So mostl likely, none of these things were ever his. It's probably all rented.

Anonymous said...

This is a boring, bland and small tract home, no matter how much you charge for it.

Anonymous said...

Is there room for David's tricks? Seriously. That's no secret.

Anonymous said...

Too bad they didn't buy the Kronish house - then they could have lived next door to Madge, knocked a hole in the fence and had pot lucks...

Ernesto said...

oooohhh anon 7:48...do tell!!!!

Anonymous said...

"Elton should have just procured a second aprartment in Sierra for the Nanny..."

Maybe they're moving to be in the Beverly Hills school district. And it's not like they can't keep Sierra Towers as an alternative. In her later years I hear Mae West used her beach house every day but always returned to the Ravenswood at night.

Dale Trous said...

Martyn will certainly schlick this one up and give it some sexiness. The house is vanilla at the moment, but that is much better than Vegas-looking which many of these redos end up feeling like. The house is private enough - it just needs a tall fence/hedge.

Anonymous said...

7:13 Good point..I had not thought about that. Undoubtedly Sierra will be used for Eltons extra marital rendezvous's huh?

Carla Ridge said...

Mon Cher Rosco Mare! Well, mercy buckets for the mention.

First let me say further, I'm a little perplexed by this purchase, because I happen to know there are some Trousdale STUNNERS on/about to come on the market. I mean, the best of the best. One's already being shopped quietly in the $12.9 million range, but perhaps the John-Furnishes were bargain hunting? EJ's no stranger to the occasional cash flow problem, though I haven't heard of any in a while. And YES to several of the posters above, the first thing the new property needs is a perimeter fence/wall and gates. I have faith the eventual decor will be fun.

Now, as to the release date of "Over The Top", the publisher is shooting for Spring 2013 but I'm pushing them to move it up so it's out in time for Modernism Week In Feb 2013. What MidCent Modernist like myself WOULDN'T want to be the Toast of Palm Springs!

For those of Mama's chirren unfamiliar with my little tome on Trousdale Estates' architectural histoire marveleuse, I hope Mama won't be affronted by a little pimpin':

You can get a taste at our website: www.Trousdale-OverTheTop.com

...or a relative banquet at our FaceBook page -- full of Trousdale news and other morsels that won't fit into the book: http://www.facebook.com/pages/OVER-THE-TOP-the-Architectural-History-of-Trousdale-Estates-Beverly-Hills/325296184579

And thanks again!

Anonymous said...

I love Trousdale... what house is about to hit the market?

Steve Mawson said...

oooweee anon 8:26, don't you sound like a used and discarded little piece of Elton trade still upset that he tossed you off for the rather eekish Miss Furnish. Whatever you think of his 'lifestyle' Mr E.J. has produced good music and entertained many people in his life AND CONTRIBUTED MILLIONS TO WORTHY CAUSES. You ? What have you ever done in your sad and miserable little life, other than being sad and miserable, and probably little too.
Take a pill honey and go back to watching the Karstupidians.

Kellitbkf said...

This is a boring, bland and small tract home, no matter how much you charge for it.