A covert communiqué from eagle-eyed tipster Fränk Ferder let us know, and property records confirm, that animated film powerhouse Dean DeBlois, creator of the “Lilo & Stitch” film and television franchise, shelled out $2.8 million for a not-quite-5,000-square-foot Queen Anne Victorian-style residence in the affluent foothills of La Cañada Flintridge in Los Angeles.
The four-bedroom and three full- and two half-bathroom home, set privately down a long driveway and powered by a state-of-the-art home-automation system that can be controlled from a smartphone from anywhere in the world, was built in 2000, but thanks to a slew of authentic, Victorian-era architectural details — such as inlaid hardwood floors, mahogany pocket doors, leaded and stained-glass windows, and intricate gingerbread fretwork — the residence appears as if it could have been built at the turn of the 20th century.
A center-hall entry leads to formal living and dining rooms, the former with a corner fireplace and a turreted bay. There’s a bead-board paneled office/library and open-plan family quarters along the rear of the home, a spacious center-island kitchen, and an informal dining area. A family room with a fireplace has French doors that open to a deep, wide veranda that overlooks the woods-ringed backyard with a swimming pool and a detached four-car garage.
The two-time Oscar-nominated writer/director/producer of the “How to Train Your Dragon” animated films, which have generated more than $1.1 billion in worldwide box office receipts, additionally owns an almost 2,500-square-foot house on a winding canyon road in nearby Glendale that was acquired in 1997 for $475,000, per property records, as well as a four-bedroom log-cabin-style home in Big Bear Lake bought in 2011 for $900,000.
listing photos: Sotheby’s International Realty
