Though they acquired it only a bit more than two years ago, filmmaker (and sometimes actor) Taika Waititi and his producer wife Chelsea Winstanley are already looking to sell their showbiz-pedigreed home in the foothills above L.A.’s Studio City community with a $2.75 million price tag.
The part Māori New Zealanders, who both received an Oscar nomination in 2020 in the Best Motion Picture of the Year category for the acclaimed film “Jojo Rabbit,” for which Waititi took home a coveted statuette in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, seek a modest profit on the unpretentious though hardly inexpensive midcentury residence they picked up in late 2018 from powerhouse television creator Marti Noxon for $2.4 million, a smidgen more than the $2.39 million asking price.
Originally designed by illustrious architect Gerard Colcord, built in 1963 on a precipitous parcel of more than one third of an acre, and tucked into a pin-drop-quiet ridgeline cul-de-sac with leafy and serene views across rustic Fryman Canyon, the extensively updated home features cork tile flooring throughout. Divided from the entrance gallery by a recently added waist-high planter that’s in keeping with the home’s midcentury vintage, the airy living room showcases a soaring wood-beamed vaulted ceiling and an imposing asymmetrical raised-hearth fireplace newly sheathed in pale, rough-cut natural stone. A solid wall of south-facing windows ensures the ample room is infused with plenty of natural light.
It’s a few steps down from the living room and entrance gallery to a dining room that looks over the canyon through a huge picture window. Open to the dining area but situated a few steps higher, the kitchen is outfitted with gleaming white counters on simple white cabinets accented by a sea foam-green tile backsplash. A small walled courtyard off the kitchen is a convenient spot for the barbecue.
The slightly more than 2,300-square-foot home’s four bedrooms and three renovated bathrooms are nicely separated for privacy and flexibility. Two roomy guest bedrooms, one with backyard access, and a shared hall bathroom are discretely positioned behind the living room, while a third is nipped away off the kitchen along with a snazzily tiled bathroom. Less that optimally situated right off the dining room, the cozily proportioned main bedroom includes a roomy en suite bathroom where the shower is daringly set into a curved wall of floor-to-ceiling glass.
The backyard includes a classic kidney-shaped swimming pool lined with antique bricks and an elevated semicircular deck of the living room includes a curved bar from which there is a tree-framed view over the canyon.
The property is listed with Elisabeth Halsted at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties.
Waititi, who previously rented the house next door, will likely upgrade to another home more in keeping with his skyrocketing success — he’s currently directing the next installment of the “Thor” franchise, and was tapped to direct an as yet titled upcoming “Star Wars” film — while Noxon, who signed a lucrative overall deal with Netflix a couple years ago, remains the owner of another, slightly larger and more secluded midcentury ranch-style home in Studio City’s celeb-favored Fryman Canyon neighborhood that she scooped up in 2014 for a tetch more than $2.8 million.