Hot Property newsletter: Show houses and princely sums

This week’s sellers and buyers include names known around the world and a $125-million price tag. And though you won’t find Waldo here, we’ve got an entertainment titan, a royal pair who just can’t stop making headlines and assorted actors from TV and film.

Our Home of the Week is a metal-clad compound in Venice. A mural wall, polished concrete floors and exterior staircases resembling fire escapes give the property the feel of an urban warehouse. The more than 3,400 square feet of living space includes a separate studio. The asking price is $8.25 million.

Once you’re done reading about these deals, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week.

— Neal Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale

The rich get richer

Jeffrey Katzenberg has wrapped up the third-priciest home sale in California history, unloading his Beverly Hills compound in an off-market deal for $125 million.

It’s a huge return on investment for the DreamWorks Animation co-founder. Records show the movie magnate paid $30 million for the property in 2009 and three years later erected a more-than-26,000-square-foot mansion.

The sale of the 6-acre estate is topped only by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ $165-million purchase of the famed Warner estate this year and Fox Corp. Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch’s $150-million purchase of Bel-Air’s “Beverly Hillbillies” mansion last year.

Katzenberg, 69, spent a decade as chairman of Walt Disney Studios before co-founding DreamWorks Animation with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. He left as as the studio’s chief executive in 2016 to lead the media and tech investment company WndrCo before founding Quibi in 2018.

The royal treatment

Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle have zeroed in on a home in the Santa Barbara area.

The $14.65-million Montecito estate sold off-market in June. Tax records for the 7-acre property match limited liability companies previously created by the Duchess of Sussex, according to records obtained by The Times.

Built in 2003, the sprawling estate is hedged and gated from the street and reached by a winding drive. Beyond the vine-covered entry is a coffered-ceiling living room, a billiards/game room, a home theater, spa facilities, an elevator and a gym.

There are nine bedrooms in the roughly 14,500-square-foot main house. A two-bedroom guesthouse, a teahouse, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a custom jungle gym are among on-site amenities.

Selling the family home

Actress Joanna Kerns, who gained fame in the 1980s and ’90s family-oriented sitcom “Growing Pains,” and architect-author Marc Appleton have sold their home in Montecito for $8.35 million.

Designed by Appleton and built in 2006, the graceful Mediterranean takes its cues from the country estates of northern Italy and southern France. Beamed ceilings, wrought-iron fixtures and arched French doors grace the living spaces.

Decomposed granite pathways wind through a rose garden, a pool pavilion, an arbor and a potting shed.

Kerns, 67, pivoted to the director’s chair in recent years, helming episodes of “Pretty Little Liars,” “Scrubs” and “The Goldbergs,” among others.

Uprooted from his canal

Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas, known for the “American Pie” film franchise, has sold his canal-view home in Venice for a little over $2.55 million. He bought the place in 2016 for about $2.59 million.

The blue-shingled bungalow, which dates to 1910, has high ceilings, exposed beams, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Skylights flood the updated kitchen and living spaces with natural light.

A rooftop deck overlooks the canal and a patio.

Thomas, 39, has been busy of late with appearances on such shows as “This Is Us,” “Outmatched” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” The series “Scorpion” and “American Dad!” are among other recent credits.

San Fernando was her Valley

A Midcentury home in Encino once owned by Maureen O’Hara has sold for $1.505 million.

The “How Green Was My Valley” actress, who starred in dozens of films during the Golden Age of Hollywood, took a loss on the property in the ‘90s, buying it for $650,000 in 1993 and selling four years later for $525,000.

The all-white house is tucked behind gates on a secluded hillside lot of nearly an acre. The front of the property has three garage spaces and a pair of stone lions guarding the entry, while the back contains a swimming pool.

A skylighted foyer, a rounded wet bar and four bedrooms are among features of the 3,400 square feet of living space.

O’Hara, who died in 2015 at 95, was known for her collaborations with director John Ford and actor John Wayne, with credits including “Tripoli,” “The Wings of Eagles” and “Big Jake.”

From the archives

It was 30 years ago when actor Mark Harmon and his actress-wife Pam Dawber cut a deal in leafy Mandeville Canyon, selling their home of two years to film director Barry Levinson for “close to its $7.9-million asking price.” Harmon and Dawber have since moved on to a graceful Tudor-style home in the Brentwood Park area. The 1920s residence was once the home of silent film actress Marjorie Daw.

Twenty years ago, actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen headed to the beach for a short-term stay when they leased a home in Malibu. The five-bedroom home was described as one of the original Malibu beach houses and had been listed for lease at $50,000 a month. The rental was necessary because Danson had sold his Malibu home the year prior to actor Michael Madsen.

It was 10 years ago when “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Jennie Garth and “Twilight” actor Peter Facinelli listed their Toluca Lake home for around $6 million. Designed by Paul R. Williams, the traditional-style home was once owned by country singer and actor Tex Ritter and was the childhood home of late actor John Ritter. The property would eventually sell for $3.99 million in 2013 — the same year Garth and Facinelli went their separate ways.

What we’re reading

A Paris mansion that sold for about $41.2 million this year came with a very unwanted feature — a corpse. Renovation work in the basement uncovered the body, thought to have been there for 30 years, CNN reported. The building had been abandoned since the mid-18th century.

Architectural Digest took readers inside the Pacific Palisades home of actor Sam Page and his wife, Cassidy Elliott. Their down-to-the-studs renovation resulted in farmhouse chic-style interiors that complement the Craftsman exterior.