File this one along with Halloween candy appearing on the grocery shelves on Labor Day and Christmas decorations showing up before Halloween. We have our first major summer beach lease, already on the market before the smell of turkey has faded from my Thanksgiving kitchen.
Browne Greene, a powerful consumer attorney whose firm bears his name, has listed his 8,000-square-foot Santa Monica beachfront home at $100,000 a month for the summer. The home is furnished and sits on one of the most storied stretches of beachfront in the world. The triple beach lot – 17,000 square feet – was bought by Leana and Browne Greene in 1996; the Greenes took three years and rebuilt the home.
They own properties around the world and expect to do some traveling.
Greene is a senior partner in Greene Broillet & Wheeler and has been listed in Woodward & White’s “The Best Lawyers in America” every year since its first edition in 1987. His trial record includes numerous seven- and eight-figure verdicts involving product liability, medical malpractice, police misconduct, car and truck accidents, and workplace incidents. He co-founded the California Arbitration Plan, now a statewide feature used in the California court system.
Magnus Hellberg of Partners Trust, Brentwood office, has the listing.
Price Drop
Gary Mehlman has relisted his 3,100-square-foot Beverly Hills home at $2.25 million. It had been on the market at $3.5 million before the market turned south.
Mehlman spent the past 30 years developing and marketing movies, both for major studios and his production companies. His production company worked for Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios; at one point, he became head of Anthony Quinn’s production company, QUI Inc.
He is founder and president of Longstocking Industries, which specializes in family entertainment and produced “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking.” He was a Viacom Pictures vice president, overseeing six to eight movies a year. In the mid-1990s, he was based at Sony Studios and partnered on a number of horror films. He executive produced “The Bridge to Nowhere.” He was elected to the Motion Picture Academy Arts and Sciences, and has been an active member in the producers branch since 1984.
The home he has listed is a French country-style estate with sweeping canyon and magnificent ocean views. It has two master suites, one on the main living level. There are also three smaller bedrooms and a maid’s room. The downstairs master suite has sliding French doors that lead to an outdoor patio/spa and pool. The property is terraced and fully landscaped with 21 fruit trees, and rose and flower gardens. There is a gated motor court.
Madison Hildebrand of Coldwell Banker, Malibu, co-listed the property with Ginger Glass, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills North office.
Beverly Park Sale
While it wasn’t a Perfect 10 of a sale, Norman Zada – who publishes the adult magazine of that name – finally sold his Beverly Park mansion that sits on 6.9 acres for $16.5 million. It was once listed at $24.5 million and more recently on the market at $19.5 million.
The Richard Landry-designed contemporary has 20,000 square feet and 18 bedrooms, dispersed between a 15,000-square-foot main house and a 5,000-square-foot guest house connected by a glass and stainless steel columned bridge. The dining room has a grotto with a waterfall and there are gallery-size walls throughout. Zada is moving to a smaller home in Bel-Air.
Zada, who made his fortune as a hedge fund manager, is founder and publisher of Perfect 10, a skin magazine that boasts that all its models are naturally endowed. He is also known for as-yet unsuccessful litigation against search engines that he claims lead viewers to copyright-violating material, including images from his magazine.
He also drew national media attention in 1996 when he offered $400,000 to anyone who could refute his claim that balancing the federal budget would be an “economic disaster.” I don’t believe the Tea Party has invited him to its gala fundraiser.
While he used to surround himself with a crowd of Perfect 10 models and other young beauties, he was recently romantically linked to Joan Rivers in media reports.
Brian Adler of the Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills listed the home. Matthew Altman and Joshua Altman of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer.
Santa Monica Listing
Veteran TV executive Stuart Bloomberg, who spent more than 30 years as a top executive with ABC Entertainment Television Group, has listed his 4,200-square-foot Santa Monica home at $7 million.
Bloomberg currently has a production deal with the ABC network and ABC Studios to develop comedy, drama and alternative series. Under this deal, he has executive produced the series “Life as We Know It,” “In Justice” and “In the Motherhood.”
From 1999, he served as co-chairman of the ABC Entertainment Television Group, and as chairman of ABC Entertainment from 1997. He joined ABC in 1978 as a program executive, supervising the production of comedy and variety programs.
Bloomberg was responsible for the development of “The Wonder Years,” “Roseanne,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “Home Improvement,” “Full House,” “Who’s the Boss?,” “NYPD Blue,” “My So-Called Life,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Spin City” and “The Practice,” among others.
Solar panels provide about 85 percent of the electricity for this Spanish-style home. The residence has six bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. Designed by Roy McMakin, the home has a chef’s kitchen with stainless steel appliances and a family room that opens to an outdoor patio. The property is gated for privacy. There are built-in cabinets, furniture and art nooks throughout. The property has a detached guest house, a half-basketball court, a pool and hardwood flooring throughout with original tiles in the bathrooms.
The home is listed by F. Ron Smith of the Partners Trust real estate agency.
Ann Brenoff can be reached at [email protected]
