The longtime Beverly Hills home of the late Jimmy Stewart finally has been sold for just under $6 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The seven-day, all-cash escrow closed a week ago. The asking price had been $6.7 million. His name isn't being disclosed, but the buyer reportedly is a Beverly Hills resident who recently sold his company to Mellon Bank and is a member of the New York Stock Exchange.  

The new owner hasn't decided what he will do with the Stewart property, which comprises 1.3 acres and a 6,300-square-foot house with five bedrooms, two staff bedrooms, and a three-bedroom guest house, all behind walls and gates. The house, built in 1928, was Stewart's home for more than 40 years. The Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Gloria, bought the English country-style home shortly after their marriage in 1949. He died in July at 89; she died in 1994 at 75. The couple's estate sold the property. Don Robinson, Joseph LaPiana, and Victoria Risko, all of Sotheby's International Realty in Beverly Hills, shared the listing, and Myra Nourmand of Nourmand & Associates in Beverly Hills, represented the buyer.

Reality hardly bites for Ryder

Imagine being 26. Imagine being able to afford a house at age 26. Now imagine being able to purchase a $2.5 million house at age 26. That's just what actress Winona Ryder did recently when she bought a 4,000-square-foot home in Beverly Hills. Not bad.

Ryder's new home, built in the 1930s, has four bedrooms and city-to-ocean views. The house reportedly received multiple offers the first day it was on the market with an asking price of $2.8 million. Apparently, those offers were no match for Winona. And she's only 26.

Ryder is a two-time Academy Award nominee. Her first nomination came in 1993 as best supporting actress for her performance in "The Age of Innocence." The second nomination came the following year in 1994 as best actress for her role as Jo in the remake of "Little Women." And speaking of Oscars, Ryder is now dating actor Matt Damon. Their meeting was orchestrated by Ryder's friend, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who's dating Damon's "Good Will Hunting" co-star and longtime friend, Ben Affleck.

Ryder still owns her previous home nearby. That home was built in the 1920s, has 2,000 square feet, three bedrooms, and is Spanish-style. No word on whether or not she plans to sell the home.  

Her new digs are a far cry from the surroundings in which Ryder was raised -- a commune. In fact, Ryder's godfather was countercultural philosopher Timothy Leary. Ryder has said, however, that she wanted to be "like the other kids" and "live in a little house."

"Little" is a relative term, of course.

Think you can't afford this home? Think positively ...

Tony Robbins, motivational speaker and author of three bestsellers, and his wife, Becky, have placed their home, the Del-Mar Castle, on the market. The couple reportedly plans to "entertain offers" in the range of $2.5 million to $3.4 million, Realtors say. The couple has owned Del-Mar Castle since 1987. It was built in 1926 by architect Richard Requa, who designed many homes in the San Diego area but is probably best remembered for designing the 1935 Exposition site in Balboa Park.

The 7,300-square-foot house, sitting on two acres, was designed in "Spanish Revival style" resembling a castle, with massive, carved-entry doors and 2-foot-thick walls. It has five bedrooms and six baths. The house has a history, having been the site of the first telephone in Del Mar with a number -- No. 1, according to sources. During World War II, its rooms were rented out to relieve a local housing shortage. Katie Ritto and Tricia O'Brien of the Prudential California Realty, Del Mar, are sharing the listing on the house.      

Robbins, now in his late 30s, directs La Jolla-based Robbins Research International but has received particular notoriety for his best-selling motivational books "Unlimited Power" (1986), "Awaken the Giant Within" (1991), and "Personal Power" (1995). His motivational seminars, frenetic in nature, include encouraging (brave) participants to walk barefoot on hot coals, using positive thinking to avoid getting burned.     

In 1995 Robbins agreed, while denying any wrongdoing, to pay franchisees more than $200,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that he sold motivational seminar franchises based on inaccurate and incomplete financial information. Later that year, Robbins settled out of court with several disgruntled franchisees and also was summoned to Camp David, Md., for a consultation with President Clinton.      

Robbins, the founder of eight companies and a resort in Fiji, continues to serve as a personal consultant to major corporations.     

A taste of Italy

Internationally recognized fashion and fragrance mogul Bijan has just purchased an Italian palazzo-style home on Los Angeles' Westside for approximately $6 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.      

The 12,600-square-foot house, which sits on an acre overlooking a golf course, contains a master suite with a sitting room and two baths, plus four other family bedrooms and four staff rooms. The house was built in 1929 with fine attention to detail; the home contains hand-carved ceilings, Portuguese tiles, high ceilings, and a large courtyard with a fountain.    

Raymond Bekeris of John Bruce Nelson & Associates and Melissa Schupp of John Aaroe & Associates, Brentwood, had the listing, and Schupp also represented Bijan.

'L.A. Story' actress heads West      

Actress Victoria Tennant, former wife of actor Steve Martin (the two co-starred in "L.A. Story" in 1991), and her husband, Warner Bros. attorney Kirk Stambler, have purchased a Westside home for close to its $1.8-million asking price. The couple were married in 1996 and rented a nearby home before taking the plunge.

Their new home is modest by celebrity standards: Built in the 1940s, the two-story, 3,700-square-foot home, described as country-traditional style, contains three bedrooms, a den, an office, and a circular drive. Natalie Janger and Judy Leach, both of Dalton Brown & Long in Beverly Hills, represented both sides of the deal.      

British-born Tennant, 44, is the late Laurence Olivier's goddaughter. She wrote the script and produced the 1996 HBO movie "Edie and Pen." She played the mistress of Victor "Pug" Henry (Robert Mitchum) in the 1980s miniseries "The Winds of War" and its sequel, "War and Remembrance."

Published: March 24, 1998

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