LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE:$2,659,000
SIZE: 3,690 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Usually when a listing surfaces on the open market that announces that it's owned by an unnamed celebrity we usually find out the celebrity sits pretty far down Tinseltown's totem pole of fame. That, howevuh, ain't the case with a recently renovated 1920s center hall Colonial style residence in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles that popped up on the open market yesterday with an asking price of $2,659,000 and is owned by Emmy-winning hospital drama and rom-com actress Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and her country music singing hubby Josh Kelley.
Property records and reports from the time of their purchase reveal the Miz Heigl and Mister Kelley—who recently adopted their second daughter—picked up the walled and gated residence for $2,550,000 in September 2007.
Your Mama happens to know the couple did a major overhaul of the property and, at it's current price—just $109,000 more than they paid—they're looking at a net loss of at least a couple hundred thousand when the renovation expenses, carrying costs and real estate fees are factored in. C'est la vie in the world of house-hopping celebrities who don't seem to blink or bat an fake eyelash at tossing a quarter million clams—or more—down the real estate drain every time they get sick of their house.
Anyhoodles poodles, current listing information, besides calling it "reminiscent of Architectural Digest" and "Celeb-owned," reveals the four bedroom and 3.5 bath traditional has 3,690 square feet with high ceilings, dark wood floors throughout and heavy duty crown moldings and a lot of vintage light fixtures.
The center stair hall—where the stairs are fitted with an awful but probably necessary baby fence—opens on the left through French doors to a glammed up formal living room where there's a fireplace, a lavender velvet sofa, an antique-looking library in the center of the room filled with objet and other tchotchke and two sets of French doors that provide a view of the lattice-lined driveway and the garbage bins.
The back of the central entry hall connects to the less formal and more private open-plan family area at the rear of the residence that includes a spacious center island kitchen that mixes a little bit of modern with a little bit of traditional. There are white Shaker style cabinetry and white subway tile back splashes, gray slab granite—or possibly concrete—counter tops, the usual collection of high grade stainless steel appliances and a stainless steel farmhouse-style sink, lots of multi-paned windows and a Sputnik-style chandelier hung over the center island work space and snack counter.
Thick columns hold aloft what seems to be an architecturally unnecessary archway that divides the kitchen from the breakfast room area. More columns and another seemingly unnecessary archway divides the breakfast room from the family room where there's a white leather sectional sofa that makes Your Mama feel squeamish in our belly, lots of built-in faux-distressed cabinetry and side-lit French doors to connect to a slender grillin' and chillin' deck that runs along the back of the house and over looks the fully landscaped backyard.
The second floor master bedroom has a fireplace, a Baroque, blood red tufted headboard straight out of Auntie Mame's manse, a walk-in closet and a sun-splashed corner bathroom with tumbled stone floors, marble topped vanity with double sinks, white tile accents, a separate soaking tub and an only partially glass-enclosed shower stall that we sorta think might have benefited from being fully enclosed.
A narrow, gated driveway runs up along one side of the house to a tree-shaded flagstone dining terrace with stacked stone outdoor fireplace. A detached two car garage at the very back of the property appears to have been converted to some sort of living space or at least it looks like it's not set up for parking cars anymore. A tall fence and lush plantings separate the driveway/dining terrace from the main part of the high-hedged backyard where there's a wee patch of grass, a sizable spa and smallish swimming pool.
Miz Heigl also owns a second house in the Los Feliz area that was purchased in September 2007 for $2,000,000 and the four bedroom and four bathroom abode is occupied—so we've been told but can not confirm—by Miz Heigl's ever-present mother. The Heigl-Kelleys also maintain a rural and semi-remote spread in a swank gated enclave just outside of Park City, UT that they appear to have purchased sometime in 2011.
Last year, in October 2011, after a long and bumby ride on the bucking bronco of real estate Miz Heigl finally unloaded a 3 bedroom and 2.5 bathroom residence—also in Los Feliz—for $965,000. That's all well and good except that property records show she paid $1,500,000 for the place in May 2006. That's a staggering, $535,000 loss, according to Your Mama's bejeweled abacus, not counting improvements, carrying costs and real estate fees.
See, we told you that some well-compensated celebs—and others with significant cash flow—are so emotionally invested in getting rid of a house they own they are, on a whim or otherwise, willing and able to take a hard hit to their deep pockets. Must be nice, right?
listing photos: Keller Williams Realty / Los Feliz
