Hot Property Newsletter: The temperature is rising

It may be toasty in your neighborhood, but we’re just approaching the dog days of summer as far as the piping-hot real estate market is concerned. There will be a lot more escrows closing before the month is out. Among recent properties to move into the “sold” column are an actress’ Hidden Hills home with dogs in mind, the digs of a “Grey’s Anatomy” doc and a ballad singer’s place perched above Puget Sound.

Listed for $35 million, the 4.5-acre Mt. Olympus-area estate featured as our Home of the Week has a James Bond vibe and panoramic views that will take your breath away. But the 9,204-square-foot 1990s house is being marketed as a tear-down — a testament to just how insane L.A.’s ultra-luxury market is these days. Walk through it with a video tour from Fox 11.

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 J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale

Gone to the dogs

Actress and animal activist Denise Richards has sold her customized home in Hidden Hills for $4.75 million.

A chandelier-topped dog “hotel” with built-in kennels and a pet-washing station is among the features added during Richards’ ownership.

The fenced and gated spread centers on a Traditional-style home with more than 8,300 square feet of interiors including six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a formal dining room and an over-the-top kitchen with a pizza oven.

Outdoors, there’s a lagoon-style pool with two swimming areas and an 800-square-foot entertainer’s pavilion that holds a kitchen and dining area.

Richards, 47, starred as Bond girl Dr. Christmas Jones in the 1998 film “The World Is Not Enough.” Her other credits include “Starship Troopers” (1997), “Undercover Brother” (2002) and “Scary Movie 3” (2003).

A classic makes a comeback

A Beverly Crest compound built for filmmaker King Vidor, and later owned by actors John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, has returned to market for $19.5 million.

The acre compound contains a roughly 7,000-square-foot Spanish Revival-style house, two guest cottages and two live-work apartments.

A living room that was once used as an aviary, a wine cellar and a cigar lounge with a bar are among the features. Including the detached structures, there are seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and two half-baths.

Barrymore owned the property at the time of his death in 1942. The stage and screen actor is remembered for his silent film roles in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1920) and “Sherlock Holmes” (1922) as well as the Hollywood epic “Grand Hotel” (1932).

His latest rerelease

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Usher has relisted his home above the Sunset Strip in Hollywood Hills West for sale at $3.75 million. He bought the house three years ago for about $3.37 million.

The restored Spanish-style villa, built in 1926, has contemporary details yet retains such original features as stenciled beams and handcrafted iron work.

The 4,261 square feet of interiors contain a media room/home theater, a dining room, an updated kitchen, a breakfast area, five bedrooms and six bathrooms.

Usher, 39, gained fame in the 1990s with the album “My Way.” Among his scores of hits are “Nice & Slow” and “U Remind Me.” He won his two Grammys for R&B vocal performance.

Hanging up her stethoscope

Actress Ellen Pompeo’s Spanish villa has traded hands in the Hollywood Hills for $2.765 million. The “Grey’s Anatomy” star bought the property in 2005 for $1.35 million.

An Old World-style front door kicks off the interiors — 2,456 square feet with arched doorways, exposed-beam ceilings and balustrades.

Two sets of French doors brighten the master suite and open to a second-story terrace with city views. One more bedroom and bathroom round out the floor plan.

Sculpted hedges and olive trees surround the home and saltwater pool.

Pompeo, 48, has appeared in the films “Old School,” “Daredevil” and “Life of the Party.”

They super-sized it

Artemesia, known for being one of the largest Arts and Crafts houses in America, has sold in the Hollywood Hills for $12.1 million.

The 1913 Craftsman measures in with 13,290 square feet of living space. The mahogany-walled entry opens to spacious interiors that contain a 2,000-square-foot ballroom, a dining room that can seat 40 and a 1,200-square-foot master suite sitting room.

There are nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms including the guest/carriage house.

The 1.8 acres of park-like grounds have mature trees, a stream bed, a waterfall, pathways and a swimming pool.

A sound from the past

A property on Puget Sound that was once the home of folk and ballad singer Burl Ives has sold in Anacortes, Wash., for $1.4 million.

The two-story residence of more than 7,900 square feet sits off a gated circular driveway and has a walk-out basement at the back. The living space includes living and dining rooms, a loft library, a wet bar, skylights, a sauna, seven bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms. Built in 1964, the house was renovated in 1990.

The 1.7 acres of grounds have 200 feet of waterfrontage, water views, a gazebo, a greenhouse and a spa.

Ives, who died in 1995 at 85, got his start as a traveling singer. Among his hit recordings were “Blue Tail Fly,” “On Top of Old Smoky” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas.”

From the archives

Ten years ago, Cher listed her home along Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway for $45 million. The actress-singer’s 14,000-square-foot mansion evoked the Italian Renaissance and sat on 1.7 acres on a bluff high above the Pacific.

Twenty years ago, actress Bo Derek put her 31-acre Santa Ynez home of almost two decades on the market at $2.5 million. The estate included a main house of about 5,000 square feet, two caretakers’ apartments and a 2,000-square-foot barn with six stalls.

What we’re reading

Hamptons real estate on New York’s Long Island has long had a certain celebrity appeal. For $50 million, the Sandcastle Bridgehampton estate, with a 17,000-square foot house on 11.5 acres, can be yours, notes CandysDirt.com. Among those who have taken it for a test drive: Beyoncé, Jay Z and Madonna have stayed here.

Styles change. Realtor.com says it’s time to put the modern farmhouse housing trend out to pasture. Among the features they’ve seen enough of are kitschy signs, sliding barn doors and apron sinks.