Questionable mls pictures on otherwise cute homes for sale

This is 916 N. 6th Street in Burbank.  It's currently for sale at $549,000.  Although it's not my listing, I've been in this home several times over the years. In spite of the creepy Alice-in-Wonderland-with-a-knife, it's really nice -- it has 3 beds in 1481 square feet and lots of original details have been preserved.  Only one bathroom, though.  This house and the two next to it (one of which I sold) were built by the same builder in the late 1920's and it's in a great Burbank hillside neighborhood.  The current owners are selling this at a loss.  Now, I know weird listing pictures are nothing new at all, but for the sake of marketing, don't you think this interior picture of Alice (there are four angles) should have been left out?  Somehow, weird interior pics just don't make me want to buy otherwise splendid character homes.  Other shots show Frankenstein's monster in the living room, skeletons, etc.

Kate Walsh Gives It Another Go

SELLER: Kate Walsh
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $3,995,000
SIZE: 5,940 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Sitcom star turned hospital drama denizen Kate Walsh (Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, The Drew Carey Show) must really want to sell her 1928 Spanish mansion in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, CA because she's just put it back on the open market with an asking price of $3,995,000, just over three-quarters of a million bucks less than she paid for the celebrity-style casa in June 2007.

Miz Walsh plunked down $4,750,000 for the 5,940 square foot house just a few short months before she officially hitched her romance wagon to entertainment industry executive Alex Young. By December the following year the 15 month marriage had done swirled down the unforgiving Tinseltown Terlit of Love.

The ginger haired actress–who recently roasted Charlie Sheen–first pushed the property on the open market in May 2010 with an asking price of $4,295,000. Five months later the property was de-listed. Since then Miz Walsh has done some redecorating–particularly in the formal dining room where she replaced a hulking square table with an oval one that matches the shape of the plaster ceiling detail–and this week she slid the sophisticated crib property back on the market with an asking price of $3,995,000.

The double-gated mansion maintains many of its original architectural details and features a double-height foyer ringed by a second floor gallery that's sure to impress guests and the hunky UPS delivery man. The main rooms include a step-down formal living room with fireplace, over-sized dining room, family room/den with beamed ceiling and rows of arched windows, and an eat-in center-island kitchen that's open to another sitting room with glass panels that disappear into the walls and open the room like a porch to the entertaining terrace with built-in barbecue center.

Listing information shows a total of 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in the main house. The ballroom-sized master suite as gleaming wood floors, lots of windows, a fireplace, sitting area and high-glam sky-lit bathroom with freestanding soaking tub, double sinks and mirrored vanity table. Miz Walsh converted one of the four bedrooms, as per listing information, into a celebrity-style walk-in closet/dressing room lined with shoe racks and glass-doored accessory cabinets.

A single-story 3-room detached structure with arched colonnade and updated bathroom expands the living space and is currently configured as two offices plus a sky-lit fitness studio with vaulted ceiling, mirrored walls, and full complement of matching Pilates equipment, much of which bears a striking resemblance to the sort of contraptions one might find in a fetish club.

Several terraces and covered patios encourage outdoor living and the backyard comes complete with grass patch for the pooches, in-ground swimming pool, spa, and a large terrace with pergola-shaded dining area and outdoor fireplace.

We really have no idea where Miz Walsh wants to move but wherever it may be she's willing to take a giant hit to her designer pocketbook to get there. Best of luck, darlin'.

listing photos: Teles Properties

Your Mama Hears...

...from Lenny Longisland that beleaguered media billionaire Rupert Murdoch has finally, at long last sold Rosehearty, his historic estate in the über-swank Long Island (NY) community of Oyster Bay.

The News. Corp. fat cat and his whip smart and super-feisty misssus Wendi Deng first purchased the prime piece of waterfront property in 2003 and first heaved it back on the open market way back in June 2007 with an asking price of $14,800,000. Over the last four and some years the price tag of the bucolic 4.6 estate has been taken off and put back on the market several times while the price tag tumbled to $9,995,000.

Our informant Lenny Longisland snitched to Your Mama that word on the Oyster Bay real estate street is that the fully fenced and electronically gated estate sold for $9,100,000.

The stately and blue-shuttered 1900s Colonial main mansion–with day-core done by Oval Office decorator Michael Smith–measures around 10,000 square feet and includes 11 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms plus a 950-square foot guest house.

Rosehearty's grounds spread out over 4.6 acres of rolling lawns dotted with mature shade trees, a 50-foot swimming pool with pool house, waterside lit tennis court, several outbuildings, garaging for 8 automobiles, and an achingly charming beach cabana for stashing kayaks, water weenies and chaise lounges.

Property records do not yet reflect a transfer, kiddos, so for now this is just rumor and gossip.

Mister and Missus Murdoch still own and maintain a behemoth Fifth Avenue triplex bought in 2005 for a mind-numbing $44,000,000 as well as a secluded estate in the mountains above Beverly Hills (CA) that includes a stunning 8,651 square foot Wallace Neff-designed mansion with 11 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms.

listing photos: Daniel Gale / Sotheby's International Realty

Burbank - Toluca Lake townhouse of the week

This unit is located at 330 N. Maple #D in Burbank and the pictures don't quite do it justice.  It's a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath, with a large bonus room that leads directly to a common parking garage.  The bonus room would make a great office, media room, etc.  Plus, this is in a great location -- it's just down the street from Warner Bros and close to all Toluca Lake restaurants, Starbucks, etc.  The master bedroom is large and sunny and -- oh, I'm gushing.  Plus, the HOA is $309.  Oh yes, the price is $369,000 but I bet the owner would listen to all offers.  Seriously, although the decorating needs some updating, this has lots of potential.