A celeb-pedigreed compound tucked up in the foothills at the rear of the low-key but high-cost Serra Retreat enclave in Malibu has been sold, according to property records, in a hush-hush, off-market deal by reality television super-producer Mike Fleiss for a few dozen roses more than $11.6 million.
Fleiss, who created, writes and produces the long-running and wildly popular “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” acquired the property in September 2012 for a smidgen more than $9.2 million. The seller was Mel Gibson’s ex-wife Robyn, who retained ownership of the estate after their 2011 divorce.
Listing details from the time of Fleiss’ purchase show the gated and heavily secured 2.5-plus-acre spread is anchored by a luxuriously appointed 5,400-square-foot hacienda-style main house with half a dozen bedrooms and as many bathrooms. Additional structures on the property include staff quarters, a couple of office suites, a trio of guest houses, a gym, and an al fresco entertainment pavilion with fireplace and outdoor kitchen, while the casually but carefully landscaped grounds offer tree-shaded terraces, a swimming pool and spa, soccer-pitch-sized lawn, lighted tennis court, organic gardens and a fruit orchard.
We can’t say whether it had anything to do with Fleiss’ decision to sell, but he had been engaged in a feud with his neighbor, “Baywatch” actor David Charvet. The story goes that Fleiss became fed up with Charvet’s constantly barking pooches, and retaliated by blaring recordings of howling dogs from huge speakers aimed at Charvet’s estate, an aggressive maneuver that got him arrested for disturbing the peace.
In any event, the reality TV honcho, married to former Miss America Laura Kaeppeler, has since decamped to substantially smaller, although considerably more expensive, bluff-top digs in the celeb-saturated Point Dume area of Malibu. That deal, too, was done off-market via a corporate entity linked to Mister Fleiss that appears to have scooped up the property for just under $14 million.
