Having upgraded to a much more expensive century-old richly celeb-pedigreed home in the Los Feliz area, media power couple Jon Lovett and Ronan Farrow have unsurprisingly hoisted their Los Angeles starter home, a stylishly dressed 1926 Spanish bungalow just off perennially trendy Melrose Boulevard, in the heart of the Fairfax District, on the market at close to $2.1 million.
Lovett, a former aide to Barack Obama who co-founded the politically left-leaning media company Crooked Media and co-hosts the popular “Pod Save America” podcast, and Farrow, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, acquired the home not quite four years for almost $1.9 million. The couple’s engagement was unconventionally announced in Farrow’s 2019 book “Catch and Kill: Lies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators,” in which he recounts the difficulties he faced while reporting on the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Described in listings held by Jenna Cooper of Compass as a “perfect urban hideaway” that blends “classical 1920s design and creative modern details,” the modestly sized 1,900-square-foot home is invisible behind a dense hedgerow and wooden gates. Fronted by thick lawn and a colorfully tiled courtyard patio, the home’s turquoise trim around the arched and mullioned windows stands out against the classic white stucco walls and red roof tiles.
Interior highlights include refinished original hardwood floors and a barrel-vaulted ceiling in the living room, which also boasts an exposed brick fireplace. Floral-patterned wallpaper in the dining room is offset with a sleek, donut-shaped light fixture, while the galley kitchen sports marble counters atop stainless-steel cabinets.
There are three bedrooms and two baths in the main house. The primary bedroom includes what’s described in marketing materials as “an artfully designed en-suite bathroom,” and another of the bedrooms, painted teal, is furnished as a den with French doors to the backyard. A detached garage has been converted to a poolside cabana, with another bathroom, plus a small kitchen.
Fenced and ringed by immense hedging that make it extremely private, the grassy backyard, with lush tropical plantings, offers a pergola-covered deck that overlooks the swimming pool and spa, and another terrace with a pull down screen for al fresco movie watching.
Coupled for more than a decade, Farrow and Lovett have long kept a place in New York, currently a three-bedroom West Village condo they picked up about three years ago for $5.65 million. The couple’s new digs in Los Feliz was purchased earlier this year, in an off-market deal valued at more than $6.7 million, from Vanessa Hudgens. The walled and gated home was previously owned by Gary Oldman and, so the stories goes, was originally built by motion picture pioneer Cecil B. DeMille for his longtime mistress, actress Julia Faye.