Hot Property newsletter: A flurry of closings rings out the old year

Remind us: What time of year typically experiences a luxury real estate sales slowdown? Because it’s possible we blinked and missed it. This week sees NFL players, actors and others moving on or moving in.

Our Home of the Week in La Jolla is all about curved shapes and walls of glass. The 9,200-square-foot contemporary is set on a bluff with unobstructed ocean views. The asking price for this front-row Pacific perch is $12.795 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

Their $28-million view

Aaron Rodgers, a two-time NFL most valuable player, and former race car driver Danica Patrick have bought a beachfront villa in Malibu for $28 million.

The bluff-top property contains two structures: a three-story main house and a two-bedroom guesthouse/garage.

Concrete floors, glass walls and wood accent the interior, which centers on an open floor plan living room, dining area and kitchen. Four bedrooms and four bathrooms — including a master suite with a massive deck — complete the main home.

A swimming pool sits between the two houses, while resort-style decks overlook the ocean.

Rodgers, 36, boasts the league’s highest career passer rating at 102.7 and the lowest career interception percentage at 1.5%. The quarterback led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl championship in 2010.

Patrick, 37, became the only woman to win an IndyCar Series race in 2008.

Checkout time in Encino

Former Chargers tight end Antonio Gates and his wife, reality television personality Sasha Gates, have sold their modern mansion in Encino for $6.5 million.

The multilevel house, built in 2016, was updated during their ownership and features an open-concept floor plan with 15-foot ceilings and skylights. A two-way fireplace divides the family room and kitchen. A glass-enclosed wine cellar and tasting room fill one wall of the family room.

A home theater, six bedrooms and eight bathrooms complete the 8,500-square-foot interior.

The grounds encompass two-thirds of an acre and center on an infinity-edge swimming pool with a spa, a fireplace and a built-in barbecue.

Antonio Gates, 39, is the Chargers’ all-time leader in receptions (960), receiving touchdowns (117) and receiving yards (11,882).

Sasha Gates was on “Wags,” a reality TV show that documented the lives of the spouses of professional athletes, from 2015 to 2017. More recently, she appeared in the romance-drama film “Kinky.”

Time to make the rounds?

Actress Ellen Pompeo, best known for her starring role in “Grey’s Anatomy,” has sold her modern farmhouse in the Hamptons for $2.995 million.

Designed by Pompeo and built in 2013, the house spans 2,400 square feet and sits on eight acres in Sag Harbor, N.Y. A wood deck descends to a pool surrounded by lawn.

The five-bedroom home features hardwood floors, white-painted beams and paneled walls. There’s a two-story living room, a breakfast nook and an expansive dining porch.

Pompeo, 50, has played Dr. Meredith Grey in “Grey’s Anatomy” from 2005 to 2020. She has appeared in the films “Old School,” “Daredevil” and “Life of the Party.”

‘Breaking’ with his old place

Aaron Paul of “Breaking Bad” fame has sold his home in Hollywood Hills West for its latest asking price of $2.198 million.

Owned by the actor for about eight years, the Spanish-style spread sits up from the street and has a view of the downtown cityscape.

Saltillo-tile floors, beamed ceilings and arched doorways are common throughout the 2,864-square-foot floor plan. There are four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.

Paul paid $6.95 million last year for the Los Feliz home of “The Big Bang Theory” actor Jim Parsons.

Splashes color, moves on

Indie-folk singer-songwriter Lourdes Hernández, who performs under the name Russian Red, has sold her Los Feliz abode for $2.125 million.

Hernández bought the chic spot in 2017 for $1.2 million, records show, and added splashes of color. Old hardwood and tile flooring were swapped for oak herringbone.

The Mediterranean-inspired cottage has living and dining rooms, a music room, three bedrooms and three bathrooms within its 2,000 square feet. Outside, there’s a saltwater swimming pool.

Hernández has released four studio albums including 2017’s “Karaoke.”

Her favorite room

Actress Diana Maria Riva, of “Sunnyside” and “Dead to Me,” enjoys the serenity of the backyard “room” she created at her Spanish-style house in Burbank. Her “comfort space” is a small area with a fire pit, ceramic end tables and a set of chairs built by her son.

Actress Diana Maria Riva enjoys spending time in her backyard.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

From the archives

Ten years ago, Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez listed his Manhattan Beach house for sale at $3.6 million. The NFL player promised to include a nice accessory for a full-price offer: a new Porsche 911 Cabriolet.

Twenty years ago, Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates sold her Hollywood Hills home for close to its $859,000 asking price to actor-writer Jon Cryer. The country English-style house, built in 1930, had about 3,000 square feet of living space.

Thirty years ago, singer Engelbert Humperdinck listed his Holmby Hills home, once owned by the late movie star Jayne Mansfield, at $8 million. The eight-bedroom, nine-bath mansion on 1.25 acres became known as the “Pink Palace” after the platinum-blond actress painted it her trademark color in the ‘60s. Humperdinck repainted it a bright pink.

What we’re reading

A Massachusetts mansion that was once the home of a descendant of two U.S. presidents was destroyed in a fire, reported CNN. Charles Francis Adams III owned the 6,500-square-foot Concord property until 1952. He was the great-grandson of John Quincy Adams, the sixth U.S. president, and the great-great-grandson of John Adams, the nation’s second president.

They made us look. Curbed picked its top prefab homes of 2019. The tiny residences included one that floats on the water and an airplane-inspired aluminum-and-timber dwelling that starts at $34,000.