SELLER: Ben Feldman
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $1,489,000
SIZE: 2,030 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
YOUR MAMA’S NOTES: It was our old pal and celebrity real estate confidant Babbling Babette who first sent word that “Superstore” star Ben Feldman was fixing to list his house in the Hollywood Hills and, sure enough, the property has indeed come up for sale at $1,489,000. The former “Mad Men,” and “Silicon Valley” actor purchased the property in October 2009, right about the time he landed a six-season run on “Drop Dead Diva,” for $1.14 million. The late 1950’s post-and-beam-built hillside residence, described as a “Mid-century young Hollywood tree house on an exclusive cul-de-sac” near hiker- and dog-thronged Runyon Canyon, modestly measures in at 2,030-square-feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Like many houses in the mountains and canyons of Los Angeles, the house sits close enough to the street there’s rally no front yard at all, just some raised planters and an itty bitty cement apron in front of the two-car garage that’s fronted by an opaque glass paneled roll-up door. The front door, an abrupt few steps up from the street, opens with a narrow entrance hall with a downright unique wall-mounted light fixture. A switch back staircase at the end of the hall climbs to an open-plan main living space on the upper floor where heavy wood beams crisscross the painted wood ceiling in the living room area that flows directly into the dining area where there’s a rather funky “chandelier” dangling with spoons. A work island with integrated two-stool snack bar is all the separates the dining room from a slightly compact but sky-lit and efficiently arranged kitchen that features slab marble counter tops, up-to-date stainless steel appliances and wood cabinetry accented with milky glass panels in the doors.
A petite and possibly windowless office space on the ground floor with built-in bookshelves and a circus-like gray and yellow vertical stripe paint treatment is joined by a bathroom and guest bedroom with separate entrance that allows overnight guests to discreetly come and go at any time of day or night. A second guest or family bedroom on the upper floor has a marble-topped built-in desk area and the master suite, also upstairs and plenty large enough to accommodate a cozy sitting area, offers an exposed wood ceiling, fitted walk-in closet, and a marble-accented bathroom with double-sink vanity, soaking tub and separate glass enclosed shower stall. Usable outdoor space is limited to a slender, partly trellis-covered deck that hugs the back of the house and includes a built-in grilling station while the wicked steep hillside that rises behind the house has been terraced and fetchingly planted with a variety of succulents and other lush looking plants.
That Mister Feldman and his wife, Michelle Mulitz, would opt to put their Hollywood Hills house up for sale isn’t a great surprise to avid celebrity real estate watchers who may have already heard they recently shelled out $2.55 million to purchase comedian and actor Joel McHale’s former home, an updated 1940s traditional of 3,451-square-feet over three floors in the star-studded Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.
Listing photos: Sotheby’s International Realty
