After less than two years of ownership, John Wells has sold his elegant Hancock Park estate for $7.3 million. While that’s more than the $7 million the prolific TV creator (“Shameless,” “The West Wing,” “ER”) paid in January 2020, it’s also significantly less than his nearly $7.9 million asking price, and an arguably very fair deal for a designer-renovated home in one of L.A.’s most exclusive neighborhoods. And as it turns out, the discount-minded buyers were prominent Hollywood actress Alexandra Daddario (“The White Lotus,” “San Andreas,” “Baywatch,” the “Percy Jackson” series, Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive”) and her partner, film producer Andrew Form.
It’s not surprising that the Daddario-Forms would be in the mood for a pricey real estate purchase, as both badly needed a new home. Last December, Daddario, 35, sold her Los Angeles “starter” house — a $1.5 million, unassuming midcentury bungalow in the Hollywood Dell neighborhood. As for Form, 52, he previously lived with his wife Jordana Brewster in a $10 million Brentwood mansion. The couple’s divorce was finalized in June, and Brewster subsequently bought out Form’s 50% share in that house.
Resting mid-block on one of Hancock Park’s most celeb-popular streets and hidden behind manicured hedges, the house was built in 1927. From the sidewalk, a stairway leads past two majestic Italian cypresses and a pair of gnarled olive trees standing guard out front. Per the listing, the house is “French Mediterranean” in style, with exquisite grounds “reminiscent of the French countryside.” (Indeed, the property looks like something that walked out of Alfred Hitchcock’s “To Catch a Thief” or climbed down from the hills of France’s Côte d’Azur.)
But the old-world style ends with the home’s exterior, because inside things are decidedly contemporary and on-trend. That’s thanks to the people who sold it to Wells — high-powered L.A. architect William Hefner and his wife, the late Japanese interior designer Kazuko Hoshino. It was Hoshino who designed the 5,300-square-foot home’s interiors, which are elegantly restrained and somehow manage to successfully tread the narrow pathway between formal and casual. Subtle decorative flourishes throughout the house complement, rather than clash with, the overall package’s clean lines.
Brett Lawyer of Hilton & Hyland held the listing; Jonah Wilson of Hilton & Hyland repped the buyers.
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Image Credit: Redfin Out front, behind the hedges and cypresses, a “hidden” courtyard includes a tranquil fountain and seating area for moments of quiet reflection.
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Image Credit: Redfin The living room opens directly to the gardens and a private terrace, and features limestone-sheathed windows and a wood-burning fireplace.
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Image Credit: Redfin Sunlight dances on the pale blue walls in the formal dining room, which offers direct access to an al fresco dining patio.
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Image Credit: Redfin Euro-chic minimalism defines the kitchen, with its grayish blue cabinets and restrained — but assuredly expensive — Calacatta marble countertops and backsplash.
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Image Credit: Redfin French doors open to an al fresco dining patio.
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Image Credit: Redfin The primary suite lies upstairs, with its airy bedroom warmed by an oversized fireplace. Included in the package are a dressing room with custom built-ins and a marble bath. Two private “view terraces” have gorgeous views of the backyard’s century-old sycamore tree.
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Image Credit: Redfin The flat lot spans just under a third of an acre. Out back is a lap pool, plus a variety of patios and grassy lawns.
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Image Credit: Redfin Out back, a two-story guesthouse is perfect for live-in staff or a cranky mother-in-law. Inside are a living room, guest bedroom, dual marble bathrooms, plus an bonus room upstairs that currently functions as a gym.
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Image Credit: Redfin Wells, 64, is a longtime real estate aficionado whose portfolio is frequently in flux. In addition to his just-sold home, he owns a second Hancock Park mansion — this one English Tudor in style — that popped up for sale last year and was last offered at $9 million, though it’s since been removed from the market. The Virginia native also owns an estate in Vail, Colorado, and a 372-acre ranch spread on the Hawaiian island of Kuaui that remains available with a $40.5 million list price.