As part of Yolanda’s daily morning routine, we awoke today and perused the latest LA real estate listings. Unfortunately for our poor MacBook keyboard, we spit out an entire mouthful of orange juice upon noticing that revered actress/producer Jodie Foster has quietly (and somewhat surprisingly) slapped a whopping $15,900,000 pricetag on her Beverly Hills residence.
Extra-astute real estate watchers may (or may not) recall that Yolanda first blabbed about this house more than six years ago (via Variety). It was then — back in June 2012 — when we discovered Ms. Foster stealthily paid $11,750,000 (via blind trust) for the secluded property in an off-market deal. Since that time, she and her family have made it their primary residence.
As far as Yolanda knows, Ms. Foster has not yet purchased a new home, so her decision to sell comes as quite the surprise. Where is she moving? Why is she moving? If you know, let us know. Until then, we digress. All we know is that Ms. Foster has hired one of LA’s top agents to shop her roomy abode around, so she seems serious about unloading the spread.
Now in her 50s, Ms. Foster is one of those ultra-rare born-and-raised Angelenos. A child prodigy, she first gained notice for her acting work as a young girl — she was nominated for an Oscar at the tender age of 14 — before graduating from Yale and returning to Hollywood. Her much-acclaimed career has included two Oscar winning roles — The Accused (1988) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) — and a multitude of other successful, award-nominated projects.
Since 2014, Ms. Foster has been married to photographer Alexandra Hedison, an ex-girlfriend of Ellen DeGeneres. Our Ms. Hedison is also the ex-girlfriend of wealthy window heiress Allison Milgard, who famously bought a Hollywood Hills home from Ms. DeGeneres before selling it back to her several years later. But we digress.
Ms. Foster also has two sons, both of whom recently became adults. So maybe this empty-nester is looking for a residential downsize?
Speaking of the real estate, Ms. Foster — a notoriously private lady — is being downright stingy with the listing photographs for her home. There are only seven of them currently floating around the MLS, and only three of those show the home’s interior. So forgive Yolanda, but we’ll try to make the best of things.
Originally built in 1952 as a modest ranch house, the Coldwater Canyon-area structure was greatly expanded by the previous owner — British producer Colin Callender — who added a new second story to the premises, enlarging the interior space to a mansion-sized 7,500-square-feet.
The .65-acre hilltop lot, while relatively spacious on paper, is surprisingly long and narrow, meaning that the house sits rather hard-up on the street. But the property is still supremely private, the home nearly invisible behind a towering hedge. Naturally the entire spread is also walled, gated, and secured with cameras galore.
Inside, there are five bedrooms and six bathrooms. Rooms are done up in what some might call a “modern Traditional” manner — there are hardwood floors stained a trendy dark brown, vaulted ceilings, and rows of glassy French doors accessing various patios and al fresco dining areas.
The impressive double-height foyer features a contemporary chandelier, and the formal living room has a “grand” fireplace. Adjacent to the living room are both a media room/theater and a formal dining room.
Upstairs is the master suite — not pictured — which sports “vaulted ceilings and exposed beams, a fireplace and a large private viewing deck,” per the listing. The ridgetop property backs directly up to Franklin Canyon, so said views take in the Franklin Canyon Reservoir and the faraway LA basin.
Whether this property has appreciated by $4 million in under seven years ain’t for Yolanda to say. We’ll let the market (and our commenters) be the judge of that. But it’s worth noting that Ms. Foster had a real devil of a time selling her previous house, a Spanish-style casa located over in the Bird Streets.
Originally listed for nearly $6.4 million, it took more than a year (and a change of realtors) before that home was sold for just under $5 million to Tammie Arnold, a bigshot financier lady from Laguna Beach. Let’s hope the real estate gods are on Ms. Foster’s side this time around.
Listing agent: David Kramer, Hilton & Hyland
