In addition to playing hunks on TV shows like “Desperate Housewives,” “Dallas,” and “Passions,” the actor Jesse Metcalfe renovates and flips homes in his spare time.
In 2017, Metcalfe paid $1,158,500 for a West Hollywood home built in the 1920s, and immediately got busy on a renovation.
He updated the charming house with modern fixtures and hardware, updated and lightened up the color scheme, and refinished the original hardwood floors.
The following year, after Metcalfe had worked his magic, the music manager and real estate investor David Benveniste paid $1,807,000 for the West Hollywood jewel. The sale price proved to be a sizable return on investment for Metcalfe.
Now, two years later, Benveniste has put the place back on the market for $2.25 million. It’s a celeb-pedigreed modern makeover, with oodles of old-school charm.
The cozy bungalow measures in at a relatively petite 1,330 square feet. It boasts a wide-open great room, with a living room, dining space, and kitchen area.
A true highlight is the fact that the home boasts two master suites, each with its own bathroom.
Great room of Jesse Metcalfe remodel in West Hollywood
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Master suite
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Second master suite
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Out back, a detached structure has been converted to a separate bonus room with a bathroom. It could serve as an accessory dwelling unit, a studio, or extra bedroom.
Detached studio
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There’s a sweet little brick patio in back, and the home is surrounded by drought-resistant landscaping.
Brick patio
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Special attention was devoted to the open kitchen, which now features professional-grade appliances. It also has an enormous black marble, waterfall-edged island, plus plenty of custom cabinetry for storage space.
Kitchen
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The stylish abode is located in the heart of West Hollywood’s “Norma Triangle,” a chic little pocket bordered by the famous streets Doheny Drive, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard.
On the border of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, this home is within walking distance of many of the area’s upscale shops and restaurants.
Benveniste is CEO of Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group, which represents a number of top musicians. His company also includes a publishing branch and record label. The bungalow flipped by Metcalfe is one of several luxury real estate properties that Benveniste has invested in.
In addition to renovating, flipping, and starring in the aforementioned TV shows, Metcalfe has been starring in the in Hallmark Channel’s hit series “Chesapeake Shores.”
The property is listed with Josh Morrow of the Aaron Kirman Group at Compass.
Now that the actor Shia LaBeouf has picked up a posh new pad in Pasadena, CA, he’s ready to shed his longtime Sherman Oaks residence. The “Transformers” star has listed his midcentury modern retreat for $2.25 million, Variety reports.
LaBeouf, 34, purchased the three-bedroom home in 2009 for $1,825,000.
Built in 1958, the home has a 2,463-square-foot layout that features walls of glass, an open floor plan, and exposed beams. The interior includes a sunken living room with a fireplace, and glass doors that access the patio.
The upgraded chef’s kitchen features stainless-steel appliances, a wine fridge, and a center island with a breakfast bar. The kitchen flows into the dining area, which looks out to the backyard.
The luxe master bedroom has a fireplace, walk-in wardrobe, spa tub, and steam shower. One of the other two bedrooms has been transformed into a paneled library, with custom bookshelves.
An office has a built-in desk and shelving, almost a necessity in today’s housing market.
Home in Sherman Oaks, CA
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Sunken living room
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Upgraded chef’s kitchen
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Dining area
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Bedroom transformed into a library
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Office with built-ins
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Master bedroom opening to the backyard
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Pool
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Set on a half-acre, the serene space boasts a pool, spa, sauna, and city and mountain views.
Along with the landscaping, the gated property opens to a two-car carport, and is “very private,” the listing notes.
Meanwhile, LaBoeuf has left the building. The Los Angeles native upgraded to a pricey Pasadena property in early March for $5,475,000. The brand-new home he purchased evokes the area’s 20th-century Mediterranean style, with all the modern amenities.
With over 4,000 square feet, the four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom layout includes a huge kitchen and family room that flows to a patio outside. The main bedroom on the second floor, which can be accessed by elevator, opens to a private balcony.
Outdoor space includes landscaped grounds and an expansive patio area with a kitchen, large dining and entertaining area, and a grassy yard.
The actor’s brand-new Pasadena home
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The actor and performance artist wrote and starred in the 2019 film “Honey Boy,” which received critical acclaim. His upcoming projects include “The Tax Collector,” “Pieces of a Woman” with Vanessa Kirby, and “Don’t Worry, Darling,” directed by Olivia Wilde.
Over the past few years, Portland, OR, has emerged as an epicenter of hipster cool and one of the nation’s hottest housing markets. Lower home prices and a thriving startup scene lured cost-conscious residents from pricier Seattle as well as San Francisco and other California cities.
More recently, Portland has been in the news for something else entirely: persistent and highly volatile protests in support of Black Lives Matter. Federal agents dispatched there by President Donald Trump in July to keep the peace have themselves been accused of civil rights violations and inflaming tensions.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced on Wednesday that the agents would be withdrawing.
“They have acted as an occupying force & brought violence,” she said in a tweet. However, Trump appeared to contradict that in a tweet of his own the next day.
At a time when Portland’s downtown, like other urban business districts, is suffering from a coronavirus-fueled recession, it would seem that the ongoing, violent disruptions might drag down the area’s real estate values. After all, many people have soured on the idea of cheek-by-jowl urban living during a pandemic, and now there are added clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
Can Portland’s housing market, particularly downtown, survive the combination of the coronavirus and civil unrest? The answer, of course, is complicated.
“For a lot of the condo and apartment [dwellers], this is extremely disruptive,” says Gerard Mildner, a real estate finance professor at Portland State University. “To be a resident of downtown is quite challenging, given the noise and the violence.”
The boarded-up storefronts, empty office buildings, and growing homeless camps present other issues for would-be residents.
However, “the entire city is not in flames,” says real estate agent Deb Counts-Tabor of Portlandia Properties. She’s been participating in the protests, which are mostly peaceful during the day and held in a predominantly commercial and office district with few residences. “The majority of the protests are happening in a four-block section of downtown Portland around the federal building.”
That may be why home prices, for now, remain on the rise. Median prices in the Portland metropolitan area, which includes nearby towns and suburbs, increased 5.3% annually, to $499,950, according to realtor.com® data.
Within the city limits, median prices also remained strong despite the turmoil, rising nearly 7% year over year, to $524,000 in the week ending July 25. However, prices continued their yearslong fall in the downtown ZIP codes closest to where the protests are held.
“Our inventory is so low, and has been so low for long, and money is so cheap, neither the virus nor the uprising has had much of an impact on the market,” says Counts-Tabor. She was referring to record-low mortgage interest rates below 3%.
“South downtown, near the protests, the pandemic dropped our sales numbers from last year by about 20%, and the protests don’t seem to be adding to that,” she adds.
Prices for properties sold in south downtown fell nearly 3% for homes sales that were completed May through July of this year, compared with the same period last year, according to data Counts-Tabor pulled from the local multiple listing service. (List prices were up about 15% annually despite sold prices being lower.)
The number of sales in south downtown also fell from 34 from May through July 2019 to 26 over the same time frame this year. However, there were 11 pending sales, which are transactions that have yet to close.
“If there are people fleeing the center of the city, they’re being replaced,” says Counts-Tabor.
The protests contrast with Oregon’s history of racial discrimination
The outrage fueling the protests may be at least partly inflamed by Portland and Oregon’s long history of discrimination against minorities.
Portland is overwhelmingly white, with white residents making up more than 77% of its residents. Less than 6% of the population is Black, although that’s a higher concentration than the state overall, which has 2.2% Black residents, according to the U.S. Census.
The reason for that imbalance dates to 1844, when the territory of Oregon banned Black people from the region. Those who were there as slaves had to be freed within three years—and then leave the state. It was more because white workers didn’t want the labor competition than any abolitionist sentiment. This attitude was later enshrined in the state’s constitution, which stated, “No free negro or mulatto, not residing in this State at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall ever come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate, or make any contract, or maintain any suit therein.”
“A lot of people in the Portland area are aware of the history of racial exclusion,” says Katrine Barber, a history professor at Portland State University. “It’s very definitely fueling why people are out in the streets. There’s a kind of reckoning happening fueled by that history.”
After the Civil War, Black residents migrated to the Portland area.
“But they were never able to overcome that initial hostility that the pioneer period created,” says Darrell Millner, a professor emeritus of Black studies at Portland State University.
The Ku Klux Klan was very active in the state in the 1920s. Gov. Walter Pierce, who was elected in 1922 and went on to represent the state in Congress, was a member.
It wasn’t until World War II that Blacks moved to the city in earnest to take jobs in the burgeoning ship building industry. But once the war ended, many of the Black workers were let go to free up jobs for the returning white soldiers. White authorities and residents made it clear through redlining and deed restrictions that prohibited Blacks from buying homes in white neighborhoods, harassment, and general hostility that Blacks weren’t welcome. By 1950, more than three-quarters of the Black population had left the area, estimates Millner.
The state refused to ratify the 15th Amendment, which allowed Black men to vote, until 1959.
The Blacks who remained settled in the northeastern swath of the city where redlining permitted. But due to rising prices and gentrification, many have since left.
“Very few communities of color still exist that aren’t gentrified in Portland,” says Kymberly Horner, executive director of the Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives. The city-funded organization owns and operates about 700 affordable housing units and single-family houses. “In order for you to be here, the economics really don’t pan out for folks without really well-paying jobs.”
Will fewer folks want to live in downtown Portland?
Downtown living may not be as desirable at least for now.
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If the federal agents do not return, Portland’s downtown protests could become less heated and the overhead helicopters could move on. That could help spur sales as buyers feel more comfortable moving in.
But even if the disruptions of the protests are ratcheted down, the urban core will still have to contend with the ongoing impact of the coronavirus, as the number of cases has been on the rise over the past few weeks.
As long as residents feel cooped up in their condos and apartments and surrounding businesses remain closed and boarded up, living downtown just isn’t as desirable. That’s a problem faced by cities across the country, as suburban areas offering single-family houses with additional square footage and private backyards have become more popular.
“COVID-19 would be the impetus for more changes than protests,” says real estate broker Blake Ellis, who works for Windermere Realty Trust in Portland. “None of the [downtown] listings I’ve taken have been fear-based.”
The market paused in March and April, but has since been coming back, he says. Demand never wavered for single-family homes, as folks sought more space and distance as the pandemic dragged on. The higher-end condo market suffered more, but has begun rebounding in the past few weeks, says Ellis, who lives in downtown Portland.
“It’s like a perfect storm,” says Horner. “We’re just not sure where the real estate industry is going to go.”
In the olden days, one-room schoolhouses were common across the country, many of them simple wood-frame buildings painted white.
Katy Young’s one-room school is going be a dome.
Ms. Young, who lives in the suburbs outside Berkeley, Calif., recently set up a 24-foot-round geodesic polyhedron in her backyard to host a small group of kindergarteners. An Airstream trailer parked nearby will serve as an administrative office.
The dome was built by Ms. Young’s husband, Randy, for use at Burning Man, the annual outdoor art festival in the Nevada desert. But with Burning Man canceled this summer, the structure is being repurposed for her kindergarten son and five classmates, whose Mandarin-language school has switched to distance learning in the fall.
“We’re calling it ‘dome school,’ ” said Ms. Young, a lawyer.
With thousands of schools across the country moving to partial or full remote learning in the fall, parents are racing to form small at-home schooling groups or “pandemic pods,” groups of children who will be taught together. Some parents are hiring teachers to help guide the students through remote learning, while others plan to devise lesson plans on their own.
But finding a place to host the mini schools is proving to be a challenge. Even for parents that have the space, hosting students inside seems iffy because of social-distancing guidelines. Plus, many parents are working from home and don’t want the distraction.
Liam Honigsberg set up a school for his 6-year-old son and his classmates on a side street in Davis, Calif.
Nadia Honigsberg
For parents without the space or financial means for elaborate setups, the challenge can be even greater. Shauna Causey, founder and chief executive of Weekdays Micro-Schools, a website that helps organize schooling pods, says some families are retrofitting their dining rooms or basements, or taking over local parks.
Holding school outside comes with its own set of issues: What about Wi-Fi and bathroom access? Is there enough space for students to sit 6 feet apart? What happens when it rains?
Parents are devising workarounds. In Davis, Calif., Liam Honigsberg rolled out several Ikea benches and chairs, and erected a shade canopy at the end of a small side street for his 6-year-old son and his friends for the coming school year. Mr. Honigsberg said he suspects that setting up in the street is probably illegal.
If it gets too cold in the winter, the class might end up in down jackets in his open garage.
“The spirit of American innovation is sort of the centerpiece of where I was going with this,” said Mr. Honigsberg, who works in education technology.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently mandated that most school districts across the state begin the academic year with full-time distance learning.
Sage Cohen, the mother of a sixth-grader in Portland, Ore., thought her recently renovated garage would make the perfect location for a home school. Portland Public Schools is planning a fall schedule that is largely remote, and she didn’t want her son to toil alone.
Ms. Cohen’s space has several windows that can be opened during the summer months and closed during the wet ones.
Then she stumbled onto a problem: she didn’t have anywhere for children to go to the bathroom. She is considering bringing in a port-a-potty or installing a compost toilet. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said.
In Renton, Wash., Lynzora Lowmax cleared her basement of her families’ belongings and converted it into a home-school pod for her young children and a couple of neighbors. “They’re not used to being down there, so when we go down, they know it’s time to get on schedule,” she said. Ms. Lomax plans to teach the class herself.
Lynzora Lowmax of Renton, Wash., converted her basement into a home-school pod.
Weekdays Micro-School
In cities, where extra space and backyards are scarce, parents are looking at renting empty storefronts and churches.
Josh Skyer, who owns commercial real estate in Brooklyn, is hoping to interest one or more home-school pods in renting a vacant store and condominium space he owns in the Cobble Hill neighborhood.
“I would get Wi-Fi, throw a flat-screen on the wall and build it out to be a luxury school house for the kids,” said Mr. Skyer.
Michelle Luxmore plans to turn the cottage she built in her Seattle yard into a school for her son and his classmates.
Michelle Luxmore
Michelle Luxmore, a real-estate agent in Seattle, is finishing an 800-square-foot cottage in her backyard that she had planned to rent through the home-sharing platform Airbnb Inc.
Instead, she plans to turn it into a school for her 6-year-old and his classmates, and wants to help other parents build similar structures in their yards. Seattle’s regulations recently changed to allow for such structures up to 1,000 square feet, but a permit is required.
“Some people that I talk to are like, ‘Really? Why would I do that?’ and I’m like, ‘Hear me out,’ ” Ms. Luxmore said.
Seattle Public Schools is planning to hold school remotely in the fall.
Ms. Young, who erected the dome, said she already is anticipating some of her neighbors complaining, as they did when she parked her Airstream in the yard. “We’re going to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,” she said.
Like many other parents, Ms. Young was stressed about what to do with her son after his school announced recently it would go fully remote.
Then Mr. Young remembered the collapsible dome he had spent about three months building for Burning Man, which typically takes place each August.
Randy Young built the dome to use at the Burning Man festival in Nevada.
Katy Young
Made of old parachute material and aluminum piping, the dome will withstand light drizzle, but if it rains hard, the couple plans to throw some tarps on top or move the whole structure indoors. Inside of it, they plan to set up tables, workstations and portable heaters for the winter months.
It took the Youngs about three hours to set it up in the yard. Mr. Young carved a “Dome School” sign to hang out front.
After three years on the market and multiple price cuts, the Southampton, NY, home of celebrity chef Rachael Ray is now off the menu. Ray sold the sumptuous property for $3.25 million.
The Food Network star’s good taste also extends to real estate. The mouth-watering spread in one the nations’s most coveted regions features lush lawns and specimen gardens on 6 parklike acres. The picturesque property encompasses two separate lots that are adjacent to the Southampton Golf Club.
It’s an idyllic backdrop for the 3,000-square-foot main residence, four-room pool house, one-room cottage, and pool.
Ray purchased the property in 2008 for $2.1 million. In 2017, Ray and husband John Cusimano listed the home for $4.9 million. It was relisted in 2018 for $4.69 million. And last year, the vacation retreat came back on the market for $4 million.
Rachael Ray’s Southampton home
Provided by Sotheby’s International Realty
Living area with sliding glass doors
Provided by Sotheby’s International Realty
A true chef’s kitchen
Provided by Sotheby’s International Realty
1 of 3 bedroom suites
Provided by Sotheby’s International Realty
Open living and dining space
Provided by Sotheby’s International Realty
Pergola and patio
Provided by Sotheby’s International Realty
The three-bedroom, five-bath home is light and airy with a calming neutral palette. All the bedrooms are en suite. The home features an open living and dining area with sliding glass doors that open to a relaxing pool area.
The heated pool is surrounded by a blue stone patio and pergola, which sits next to the pool house.
The buyer had the option to scoop up the place with all the furnishings in the updated interior, done by Ray’s design guru, Michael Murray.
Listing agent Angela Boyer Stump with Sotheby’s International Realty says the decor and furnishings helped seal the deal.
“A family from Bronxville instantly fell in love with the character and style. The main house, pool house, and writer’s cottage have an old-world style and flair that bring an elegant sophistication,” she says.
Ray reportedly spends her free time in upstate New York, where her mother lives, and is “never in the Hamptons,” according to the New York Post. She spends time at her Lake Luzerne getaway, and she reportedly owns an apartment in New York City.
The Emmy-winning TV personality hosts a syndicated talk show, “Rachael Ray,” as well as the cooking series “30 Minute Meals.” She’s also the author of numerous cookbooks.
Denise Stephens with Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer.
One of the country’s most infamous homes went up for sale this week, and the clicks soon followed.
The Palm Beach, FL, mansion of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein listed for $22 million, and the sheer curiosity it inspired made it the week’s most popular home on realtor.com®.
The disgraced financier died in jail a year ago, while facing an array of criminal charges. Two of his properties—one in Florida, the other in New York—just went on the market.
The Palm Beach home is the less expensive of the two, and the images available are limited to a handful of shots of the mansion’s exterior. This lack of listing photos, however, didn’t stop gawkers from taking a peek at the property.
Just a couple miles north of Mar-a-Lago, the waterfront mansion was designed by John Volk, an architect of the mid-20th century who helped to define Palm Beach’s signature style.
While Palm Beach remains popular with luxury buyers, it will be interesting to see whether anyone will be able to look past the home’s most recent owner.
Aside from Epstein’s mansion, you also clicked on the country’s most expensive home, the second-oldest home in Indiana, and a marvelous modern farmhouse in Oklahoma.
We also saw the return of the wild underground bunker lurking below Las Vegas—an ideal property for 2020.
For a full look at all of this week’s most popular properties, simply scroll on down…
Why it’s here: Built in 1808 and known as Cedar Glade, this is the second-oldest residence in Indiana.
Only three families have owned this property over its two-century history. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the grounds include a walkway, patio, gazebo, circular drive, and freshly painted original barn.
The five-bedroom main house is in Federal style and offers more than 7,000 square feet of living space.
Why it’s here: This waterfront three-bedroom Colonial was built in 1900 and underwent a complete remodel in 1985.
It’s been regularly updated ever since, and is located on a waterfront half-acre with lovely views. Its highlights include a custom kitchen, walkout lower level, Tiki bar, patio, and dock.
Why it’s here: This is the most expensive piece of property in the country. The 20-bedroom estate comes with nearly 10 acres in the nation’s most prestigious ZIP code.
Why it’s here: Affordable and stylish! According to the listing details, this chic midcentury modern house has been featured in the pages of House Beautiful magazine.
Built in 1956, the three-bedroom home features a stone fireplace, huge windows, and a wraparound porch.
Why it’s here: This was on our list of 10 private islands you can buy right now. Set in the middle of a lake, the tiny island comes with a three-bedroom home built in 1951.
There’s also a steel bridge to the island, as well as a cable trolley to move freight between the island and the mainland.
Why it’s here: Known as the “Vegas Bunker House,” this one-of-a-kind residence peaked in popularity a couple of years ago, when it initially came on the market. Thanks to the pandemic, interest in the subterranean dwelling is percolating again.
The space includes a 5,000-square-foot house, a 450-square foot guesthouse, and murals that mimic the sky and nature views. It’s a funky fortress for those who want to be truly prepared.
Why it’s here: With more than 7,000 square feet of living space, this huge home includes upgrades like a sunroom, a two-sided fireplace, a custom kitchen, and walkout basement.
The roomy, traditional house is set on 5 rolling acres.
Why it’s here: Only two years old, it’s exactly what today’s buyers desire.
Built in 2018, this four-bedroom modern farmhouse is on a nearly 6-acre lot. Fine finishes and custom details throughout the home combine to make it a Pinterest-perfect home.
Why it’s here: Near the Possum Woods sits this lovely blue Colonial built in 1904.
The five-bedroom home includes a finished attic, original wood flooring, and a walkout basement. We’re particularly enamored with the enclosed porch on the second floor. A fenced yard features an above-ground pool next to a four-car garage with woodshop.
For a buyer looking to spread out, there’s an additional 2.5 acres available for purchase.
With a distinctive decor sensibility and stone walls throughout, a 5,254-square-foot home on a 17.5-acre spread in New Berlin, WI, demands your attention. On the market for $1 million and extremely customized, it’s like no home you’ve ever seen.
The residence is chock-full of eclectic and global decor. Take the enormous Buddha statue in the corner of the dining room, where hand-carved butterflies adorn the chair backs.
In another room, a small red-brick, adobe-type structure resembles a makeshift sauna. Several of the home’s interior walls are crafted from stones stacked horizontally.
The stacks of stones dominate the living room, which has the look of a plant-filled conservatory. You’ll be wowed by towering tropical plants, two rows of windows, the pond (yes, a pond), cut into the floor, and the tall indoor waterfall crafted from stone.
Walls of double-stacked windows invite natural sunlight in. Even during a harsh Wisconsin winter, the space feels as if you’ve landed in a warmer climate.
Vessel sinks in at least two bathrooms appear to be cut from stone. The home’s doorways are either rough-hewn, or in an unusual arched shape, with rounded borders.
One bedroom has wide custom wood doors, with hand-painted flowers and lily pads. The lily-pad theme shows up often, including on the bathroom flooring.
Exterior of home in New Berlin, WI
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Living room
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Dining area
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Kitchen
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Indoor pond
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Indoor spa
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One of the bathrooms
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Another bathroom
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Bedroom
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Private beach and spring-fed pond
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Garage
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Brick structure indoors
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Outside, the property features a 3.5-acre, spring-fed pond, and tons of room to spread out. A pedestrian bridge over a stream, an outdoor fire pit and an expansive stone patio make this spot just west of Milwaukee seem worlds away from a metro area.
The current owner has also artfully carved out spots for a home office and a music room.
As for those Wisconsin winters, it’s a given that the outdoor pond will freeze over. But a massive indoor soaking tub—carved into a room with stone walls, ceilings, and floor—could be just the spot to warm up.
The home is represented by Brian Altman of Realty Executives Elite.
