Texas-born and Missouri-bred interior designer and newly minted reality TV personality Bobby Berk has splashed out $1.4 million for a radically rebuilt, turn-key contemporary in the Franklin Hills area of Los Angeles between the Silver Lake and Los Feliz communities. One of the five endlessly energetic co-stars of the Netflix series “Queer Eye,” the thrice Emmy-winning 2018 reboot of the groundbreaking mid-aughts Bravo series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” Berk appears to have faced stiff competition for the property; he coughed up more than $200,000 above the just under $1.2 million asking price. Grandly positioned high above the street with eastern views of the surrounding hills and painted in two shades of gray set off by a rugged bit of unpainted wood fencing, the boxy two-story villa has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in close to 1,600, sleekly finished square feet.
A discreet gated staircase next to a street-level single-car garage leads to expansive multilevel terracing for al fresco entertaining with an outdoor fireplace and an over-the-rooftops view unfortunately laced by telephone wires. Compact, open-concept interiors feature pale blond hardwoods, chalky white walls free of architectural embellishment and floor-to-ceiling accordion-fold glass doors that lead to a covered balcony. Arranged around a work island with a three-stool snack bar, the almost entirely all-white kitchen incorporates an eye-catching black-and-white patterned tile backsplash. One of the two guest bedrooms has a room-wide bank of floor-to-ceiling accordion-fold glass doors that open to a slender balcony with a panoramic cross-canyon view. The master suite incorporates a fitted walk-in closet and all-white bathroom fitted with a glossy, laminated vanity and snazzy, chevron-pattern tile-work in the combination tub and shower.
An exterior staircase accessible through one of the guest bedrooms and the master bedroom closet climbs up to a sun-drenched roof terrace with wrap-around mountain and city vistas that include the tips of the downtown skyline and a tree-framed view of the Griffith Park Observatory.
listing photos: Sotheby’s International Realty
