Olivia Wilde Leases in L.A. and Buys in Big Apple (and Some Other Semi-Related Stuff)

OWNER: Olivia Wilde
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $11,000 per month
SIZE: 3,284 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: It was only last May (2011), shortly after the increasingly in-demand actress Olivia Wilde (House M.D., the Tron film franchise, The O.C.) and her Italian aristocrat/documentary filmmaker husband Tao Ruspoli's separation was revealed in the gossip glossies, that the now-divorced couple sold their house in Venice, CA to a high-powered entertainment industry executive and her husband for its full, $3,095,000 asking price.

Interestingly, property records also show that Miz Wilde and Mister Ruspoli still co-own a townhouse-type loft condo—in Venice—originally bought by Miz Wilde's documentary filmmaker mother in 2003 for $1,090,000 before being quickly transferred over to the now-kaput couple. 

Anyhoo, a few months before she and her ex sold the house in Venice, property records reveal, cat-eyed and husky-voiced Miz Wilde dropped $2,295,000 on a new pad across town in the hills above arty-farty and celebrity-friendly Los Feliz that she now has available for lease on the open market at $11,000 per month.

Current lease listings Your Mama found on the interweb show the three-story Spanish villa was originally built in 1929 on a steep hillside, retains much of its dignified original detailing and measures 3,284 square feet with four bedrooms and three—or maybe 3.5—bathrooms.

The walled, gated and secured courtyard—the property is equipped with video entry system and surveillance cameras—connects to a turreted entry with original stained glass window, vintage floor tiles and an exposed wood beam ceiling.

A wrought iron-railed stairway descends elegantly into the decadently capacious "formal" living room with wood floors, wood-burning fireplace and several sets of French doors. The formal dining room looks over the living room through a wrought iron railed Juliet balcony and the somewhat compact adjacent kitchen—a rather haphazard melange of vintage and modern—is outfitted with white tile counter tops, glass-fronted upper cabinets, honeycomb-shape red tile flooring, and the ubiquitous-with-celebs high-grade stainless steel appliances.

Other rooms include a semi-circular solarium with pitched and beamed ceiling, a cozy den/office/library with corner fireplace and painted pine paneling and a lengthy, lower-level media room with built-in bar at one end and a wide projection screen that magically retracts into the ceiling at the touch of a button at the other.

 

Several rooms at the back of the house open to tiled terraces with canyon and over-the-tree top city views. Terraced gardens and pathways meander around the hillside below the property and include a spa nestled privately into a foliage-enshrouded wall of boulders out of which tumbles a short waterfall.

Before Miz Wilde's ownership, her now-up-for-rent Los Feliz residence was previously owned or occupied, according to listing information from the time she picked up the property, by "Oscar contenders, world-renowned musicians and iconic puppeteer." We don't know who the Oscar contenders or world-renowned musicians were but the iconic puppeteer, according to property records, was Brian Henson, the prolific, Emmy-winning producer son of Muppet's creator Jim Henson.

The reason Miz Wilde would like lease out her house in Los Angeles may—or may not—have something to do with her hot-and-heavy romance with actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live, Eastbound and Down, The Cleveland Show, 30 Rock) who—as it turns out—resides primarily in New York City where (according to a tattletale we'll call Odette Overheard) Miz Wilde recently scooped up a multi-million dollar crib at The Porter House building in the used-to-be dank, prostitute-packed, blood-scented and impossibly chic and now boutique-lined, Apple Store-anchored and impossibly trendy Meatpacking District.

Property records show the apartment Missus Overheard told Your Mama Miz Wilde acquired (shown above) is owned by fantastically successful Tinseltown talent agent/manager Jason Weinberg who—dontcha know—represents Miz Wilde. A short list of Mister Weinbergs other current and past clients includes Kirstie Alley, Uma Thurman, David Caruso, Penelope Cruz, Naomi Watts, Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange, Debbie Harry, Demi Moore and once-promising actress turned tabloid catnip Lindsay Lohan. Until about a year ago Mister Weinberg's client roster also included Hilary Swank who has her own Spanish-style casa in Pacific Palisades, CA on the market with an asking price of $9,495,000. But we digress...

Property records don't yet reflect a transfer of ownership from Mister Weinberg to Miz Wilde—or anyone else for that matter—so we ask that the children use their noggins and recognize that makes this nothing more than a nugget of unsubstantiated celebrity real estate gossip.

What isn't scuttlebutt, at least according to the meticulous real estate record keepers at Street Easy, is that Mister Weinberg had his approximately 1,950 square foot, low-floor condo listed on the open market until mid-July (2012) with an asking price of $3,495,000 with relatively modest montlhy taxes and common charges that total $3,069.

Listing information from that time shows the sophisticated, art-filled corner unit was designed by the skilled architects at SHoP—the same folks who handled the conversion and expansion of The Porter House building itself—and outfitted with high quality interior fittings and finishings that include Brazilian cherry wood floors, custom built-in cabinetry and super shiny—and no-doubt high-maintenance—stainless steel sinks and vanities in at least two of the three bathrooms.

A walk-in coat closet and half bathroom open off the small but proper entry vestibule that opens into the main living and dining area that's more than 25 feet square with two banks of over-sized, west-facing windows. A sleekly finished, galley-style kitchen extends off the dining area and has glossy, custom Italian cabinetry, snow white counter tops and sinks a full suite of Viking brand appliances. The lack of overhead shelves or cabinetry for dish and food storage is more than made up for by the pair of pantries that bracket the service entrance at the rear of the kitchen area.

A laundry closet, guest bathroom and second bedroom open off a short corridor near the entrance and the master suite opens off a discrete niche in the living room area and includes a fitted walk-in closet and private bathroom with full-sized soaking tub, separate glass-enclosed shower stall, the aforementioned high-maintenance stainless steel sinks and vanity and—if we read the floor plan correctly—the largest medicine cabinet we've ever seen.

The 22-unit, full-service building offers residents part-time doorman service and a video-security system, a sleek lobby, private storage rooms, a bike storage room, fitness room and a landscaped room terrace.

If Your Mama drills down in the public property records readily available online we discover that Mister Weinberg has been in the mood to lighten—or at least change up—his property portfolio. He recently off-loaded a walled, gated, very contemporary and quite compact mini-compound located just off Abbott Kinney—arguably the hippest strip of boutiques and eateries in L.A. right now—that he bought in 2006 for $2,490,000 and sold in February (2012) for $2,875,000.

listing photos (Los Angeles): Rodeo Realty and Prudential California Realty (Sherman Oaks)
listing photos New York City): Sotheby's International Realty (via Street Easy)
listing photo (Venice): Charmaine David for Prudential California Realty