Guess Jeans Chairman Zips Up Beverly Hills Home

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When it comes to denim jeans, there is one name you need to know – and it isn’t Levi Strauss. It’s Maurice Marciano, chairman of Guess jeans. If you don’t believe me that these are the real go-to denim in your life, just ask your skinny teenager.

Marciano just plopped down $10 million for a 9,000-square-foot home in Beverly Hills. The mansion was recently redone by developer John Bersci and his group of merry high-end house flippers who operate in the Platinum Triangle, with a special place in their hearts for Holmby Hills. The remodel took what was a rundown midcentury home and pretty much gutted everything, including the pool. Now the residence is a contemporary with lots of glass, clean lines and white marble floors. In its new incarnation, it has a horseshoe shape with five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, six fireplaces and off-street parking for 20 of your closest friends – all wrapped around an interior courtyard with a pool and spa.

Marciano still owns an almost 20,000-square-foot home in Benedict Canyon that sits on 2.7 acres, as well as other properties in Beverly Hills.

He founded Guess Inc. in 1981. And, of course, the company’s reach extends well beyond its famous jeans. Guess produces all sorts of women’s apparel and accessories including handbags, belts, watches and jewelry. There are 45 full-price Guess by Marciano stores, as well as outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

Jeeb O’Reilly of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, and Stephen Resnick of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, share the listing.

Just Like Jersey

Nothing gets this Jersey girl’s juices flowing the way a nice multimillion-dollar listing in the greater L.A. community that most reminds me of those affluent Jersey suburbs: Pacific Palisades. I suspect the good people of the Palisades would have preferred I compared them to Martha Stewart’s Connecticut, but so be it. At the end of the day, we all tease our hair the same way, don’t we?

New to the market is Thomas and Susan Whitesell’s seven-bedroom, five-bathroom home for (add a Jersey low whistle of admiration here) $5.9 million. The 5,457-square-foot home was built in 1938; the Whitesells bought it in June 2005 for $5 million, according to public records.

Thomas Whitesell is a founding principal at White Hat Capital, a private equity company that provides equity and debt placement, consulting and advisory services to financial institutions, investors and borrowers. Whitesell spent 11 years as a senior vice president at Fremont Investment. Under his leadership, his division became the nation’s leading construction lender, with $7 billion in originations in 2006.

The charming house is right out of the East Coast, with a nice green rolling lawn and a porch. Note I didn’t say deck; we have porches where I come from. There are hardwood floors, high ceilings, open spaces and enough room for the baby grand to be unobtrusive. The chef’s kitchen has a center sink island, whitewashed cabinetry and a window seat. The yard features a pool and outdoor kitchen, dining room and living room with a fireplace. It’s one of those homes where the outdoor area is just as nice as the indoor one.

Malibu Mediterranean

The Malibu home owned by the principals of Plus Delta, named by Inc.com as one of the fastest-growing private companies in 2009, has come on the market at $2.1 million.

Samantha and Jeremy Lurey work with businesses as consultants, helping them to find ways to improve the bottom line. Plus Delta was founded in 2002 and headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in San Francisco. Its clients have included the Los Angeles Department of Health Services, Kaiser Permanente and NASA.

The private, gated Mediterranean-style home the Lureys are selling was built in 2006 and has four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. The home features ocean views, high ceilings, hickory wood floors and a ton of upgrades. It is also available for lease at $8,600 a month, according to the MLS.

Madison Hildebrand of Coldwell Banker, Malibu, is the listing agent.

Syd Flips

Don’t tell Rodeo Realty owner-broker Syd Leibovitch that this isn’t a market to buy and sell homes in. The man practices what he preaches. He and his wife, Linda, just sold a four-bedroom, two-bath home in Calabasas for $740,000. They paid $552,000 for the property just 10 months earlier. Not a bad profit in a market that has the more timid hanging out on the sidelines.

Syd Leibovitch bought six properties in 2009, including some in Malibu that he leases out.

Rodeo Realty Inc. is the largest single-owner real estate firm in California with more than 900 agents. It has 10 branch offices and owns its own real estate school (Paramount Properties School of Real Estate). Leibovitch also owns Encore Escrow Co. and L.A. Mortgage Inc.

Something to Furnish

The vice president of UMA Enterprises, one of the largest importers and wholesalers in the home decor industry, recently closed escrow for $2.2 million on a 4,136-square-foot home in Rolling Hills.

Naval Bansal bought a five-bedroom residence that was built in 1964. He previously served as president of Add2Home.

Bill Ruth and Francesco Funiciello, both of Keller-Williams Realty, Palos Verdes, handled the sale.

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