Hot Property: Moby buys Wolf’s Lair
Moby, as DJ and singer-songwriter Richard Melville Hall is known, has purchased Wolf’s Lair, a Hollywood Hills castle-like fortress with views of downtown, Griffith Park, the Hollywood sign and the ocean, for $3.925 million.
The sellers are Lionsgate Entertainment’s Jay Faires and Debbie Matenopoulos, former co-host of “The View” (1997-99).
Wolf’s Lair was built in 1927 by Hollywoodland developer L. Milton Wolf. Moby, who will be moving from the East Coast, plans to restore the property in keeping with its period charm. Details include coffered ceilings, stenciled beams, linenfold paneling, turrets and gable windows.
The eight-bedroom, 51/2-bathroom main house, guesthouse and pool house apartment have a total of about 6,500 square feet of living space. The structures sit on 3.3 acres, walled and gated, above Lake Hollywood. The black-bottom swimming pool is shaped like a heart, and the pool terrace has a pergola-covered seating area. The two-bedroom guesthouse was designed by architect John Lautner.
Moby, 44, has seen his 1999 electronica album, “Play,” sell more than 10 million copies worldwide.
Faires, 47, is president of music at Lionsgate and founder of Mammoth Records. The buyer and sellers are acquainted. Moby has recorded in the home’s living room in the past.
Television host Matenopoulos, 35, also did a stint on “Good Day Live” (2001) and the E! Entertainment celebrity gossip series “The Daily 10” (2006).
The property had been on and off the market since May 2008, when it was priced at $7.5 million. It had been most recently listed at $4,295,000.
The listing agents were Ernie Carswell and Christopher Pickett of Teles Properties, Beverly Hills. Nancy Osborne of Pardee Properties, Marina del Rey, represented Moby.
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