Maura Tierney Lists Venice Architectural

After nearly 13 years in residence, Maura Tierney has hung a not quite $4 million price tag on her light-filled architectural home in L.A.’s Venice Canal Historic District, a scenic and sought after neighborhood developed in the early part of the 20^th century to evoke the appearance and romance of Venice, Italy, but in the artsy and famously eccentric beachside community of Venice.

Property records show the primetime drama veteran, an Emmy-nominated alum of “ER,” who more recently starred in the NBC sitcom “NewsRadio” and earned a Golden Globe Award (as well as a second Emmy nomination) for her role in “The Affair,” purchased the striking canal-front residence in 2008, just before she wrapped up her 189-episode run on “ER”, for a teensy shard more than $3.06 million. Listings held by Emil Schneeman at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties indicate the approximately 3,000-square-foot property comprises a three-bedroom and 2.5-bath main house plus a self-contained apartment atop the detached two-car garage.

An eye-catching assemblage of concrete, wood and glass designed by Yale-trained designer Emily Kovner Moss, and completed in 2005, the micro-compound makes astute use of almost every square inch of the postage-stamp-sized .08-acre corner parcel, while a butterfly roof that dynamically caps the two-story main house more than nods to the midcentury modern ethos imbued throughout the home.

The front door opens economically, though somewhat abruptly, directly into a 25-foot-wide loft-like great room dominated by a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows that folds open to a tree-shaded terrace that abuts the pedestrian path that runs along the canal. A minimalist smooth concrete fireplace anchors the great room’s lounge area, and the dining space flows around an L-shaped snack bar into the kitchen where eggshell-colored solid surface countertops on snow-white cabinets are complemented by a dark-denim-blue tile backsplash and an up-to-date array of stainless steel designer appliances. The main floor is completed by a powder room and a home office lined with custom built-ins.

Upstairs a couple of guest bedrooms share a combination bath/laundry area, and the primary bedrooms offers a long built-in cushioned banquette, a small balcony with open views over the canal and a bathroom sheathed in wheat-colored tiles and flooded with light thanks to a ribbon of clerestory windows.

Just off the kitchen, and perfect for the barbecue, a compact courtyard separates the main house from the garage and second-floor guesthouse that is complete with kitchenette and bath. A glass door in the guesthouse opens to cleverly cantilevered external staircase that climbs to a glass-railed roof terrace with wrap-around views over the neighborhood. The property also includes a private boat landing for kayaks and row boats.

Tax records indicate Tierney, set to appear in the forthcoming Showtime series “Rust,” retains ownership in a turn-of-the-20^th-century townhouse with a ground floor retail space on a plum, tree-lined block in the New York City’s charming and bohemian (if nowadays immodestly expensive) West Village that she and her now ex-husband, former actor/director Billy Morrissette, rather presciently picked up, financially speaking, in 1997 for a wee bit under $1.1 million.