United Talent Agency chairman and pre-Oscar night party thrower Jim Berkus has his Beverly Hills home up for sale with an asking price just shy of $5 million. The mega-agent, who represents a Hollywood who’s who that includes the Coen brothers, Wes Anderson, Barbra Streisand, Owen Wilson and Channing Tatum, purchased the circa-1927 Spanish-style casa just over three years ago for $3.2 million. Current listing details show the house, just a few doors down from David Geffen’s Tinseltown pedigreed 10-acre estate, stands behind gates on a compact, 0.16-acre midblock lot in convenient lower Benedict Canyon, and measures in at not quite 4,300 square feet, with three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.
The double-height foyer with original stained-glass windows is complimented by a step-down living room with fireplace, vaulted ceiling and clay tile flooring. There’s a separate family room and adjacent workout room, and the cove-ceilinged formal dining room leads to a breakfast room with built-in dining banquette and spacious center-island kitchen — with all the bells and whistles to be expected in an expensively maintained $5 million house in the 90210. Large-paned glass doors open to a tree-shaded and paver-tiled courtyard, with tiled fountain, outdoor fireplace, multiple lounging and dining areas and a swimming pool.
It’s not such a surprise Berkus and his wife have decided to sell their Benedict Canyon digs, since they quietly upgraded their residential circumstances earlier this year with the $11 million acquisition of a far more grand and freshly renovated 7,125-square-foot mansion on a palm-lined street in the ever-more-popular and increasingly pricey Flats area of Bev Hills.
listing photos: The Agency
