Kate Beckinsale Lists Elegant Brentwood Home

Though she’s got a bit of an impulse-control issue in “Jolt,” her latest big-screen action flick, Kate Beckinsale seems more grounded in real life. After all, the English-born actress has enjoyed a 15-year run in the same Brentwood house — a veritable eternity by showbiz standards — before finally deciding to seek new residential pastures. Now on the market, the 48-year-old is asking $4 million for the four-bedroom, five-bathroom digs, only a few pinches above the $3.6 million she paid way back in 2006.

Nestled on a ridge directly above bucolic Mandeville Canyon, and separated from the street by a tightly clumped patch of towering trees and an attached two-car garage, the white-sided and stone-accented house sports a distinctly Cape Cod, East Coast-esque influence. Inside, 3,000-plus square feet of living space is infused with light via banks of glassy French doors. There are a crafty mix of maple and tile floors, and plenty of recessed lights.

A front porch topped by a large portico serves as an entry into the home’s open-plan interiors. Among the highlights: a formal living room anchored by a stone fireplace, plus an adjoining formal dining room punctuated by white wainscoting and taupe walls, and a library/study with built-in bookshelves and additional storage above. Abutting a spacious family room is a gourmet kitchen boasting two islands, stainless appliances, Carrara marble and solid walnut countertops.

Upstairs, the charming master retreat is finished in the same sort of traditional decor style as the rest of the property. In addition to a double-sided fireplace and skylit bath, its most unique feature is access to a private bridge that passes over the grassy lawn below, on its way to a hidden spa tub in the jungle-style hillside above the house. There are three other bedrooms in the house, one of which includes a small loft space accessible by ladder.

Though the backyard is somewhat small and there’s no pool — a bit of an unfortunate omission on a $4 million Los Angeles home — the private, verdantly landscaped grounds are fully private, and boast beautiful gardens, multiple lounging and alfresco dining areas, plus an expansive stone patio with outdoor fireplace and even an outdoor shower. Jade Mills and Alexis La Montagna of Coldwell Banker Realty hold the listing.

Born in London to married actors Judy Loe and the late Richard Beckinsale, Kate has followed in their showbiz footsteps. After some minor TV roles, Beckinsale got her big break with Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” while she was still studying French and Russian literature at Oxford University. She went on to star in numerous movies, including “Pearl Harbor” and “Laurel Canyon,” before she was cast as Selene in the “Underworld” film series in 2003, morphing into a perennial action heroine.