Rachel Griffiths has her comprehensively upgraded and casually sophisticated mid-century pavilion on a discreet cul-de-sac in the upscale foothills above L.A.’s Encino neighborhood available at just under $1.75 million. The “Six Feet Under” and “Brothers & Sisters” star, a 1999 Oscar nominee set to make her cinematic directorial debut in the biopic “Ride Like a Girl,” purchased the property in 2005 for just under $1.3 million. Listed with Nicole Nash at Rodeo Realty and measuring in at about 2,800 square feet, the low-slung residence was built in the early 1960s on more than one-third of an acre with four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.
With a mix of polished stone tiles and hardwood floorboards, the house features airy living spaces with walls of glass that flow seamlessly into one another and incorporate a step-down living room with a massive masonry fireplace and a dining area lit by a sputnik-style chandelier. The bright, high-end kitchen, with minimalistic, furniture-grade cabinetry and commercial-style appliances, opens to both a breakfast room and a den. Two of the three guest bedrooms have built-in beds, and the master suite has a room-wide row of windows with a serene view into the surrounding treetops. Outside, there’s a rooftop terrace above the two-car garage as well as a shaded loggia that spills out to a flat and grassy backyard that comprises a sunken terrace with fire pit, a tree-shaded dining patio, a vegetable garden and a long, slender swimming pool bordered by verdant plantings and an unattractive yet practical child safety fence.
After about a decade as transplants in Los Angeles, Griffiths and her husband, accomplished painter Andy Taylor, revealed in 2016 they’d officially returned to her hometown of Melbourne, Australia, where, as of late last year, when it was featured on vogue.com, they’d settled into a custom-renovated Victorian terrace house that’s filled with contemporary artwork and chic designer furnishings in the beachside suburb of St. Kilda.
