By Neal J. Leitereg / Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has gone shopping on the Westside, buying a home for $12.9 million in a deal completed off-market.
Never publicly listed for sale, the 1956-built house sits on a half-acre lot that backs up to the Spanish-style estate that Bezos bought in 2007 for $24.45 million.
In other words, it’s a real-world firewall for the multibillionaire.
Details are few and far between, but tax records show that the home has 4,586 square feet of interior space on one level. Formal living and dining rooms, four bedrooms and six full bathrooms are among the living spaces. There are two fireplaces.
Mature trees, patio space and a swimming pool fill the backyard. A motor court with two gated entrances marks the entrance to the property. Combined with the neighboring estate, the two properties total about 2.5 acres.
Bezos, 53, founded Amazon.com in 1994 and owns nearly 81 million shares in the Seattle-based company. With a net worth of about $85 billion, he is among the richest people in the world.
Lauded actor finds a first-rate plot: Actor Ed Norton of “Fight Club” fame has bought a John Lautner-designed home along the sand in gated Malibu Colony for $11.8 million.
Known as the Stevens Residence, the modernist triumph draws inspiration for its curved form from the shape of waves.
Built in 1968, the wood-and-concrete house features retractable walls of glass, herringbone-patterned floors and wood slats that filter natural light. An open-air section shelters a swimming pool.
A step-down living room, an eat-in kitchen, five bedrooms and five bathrooms also lie within nearly 3,400 square feet of interior space.
Rear decking and a front courtyard create additional living space outside. Steps lead down to 37 feet of sandy beachfront.
The property was offered four years ago for $22 million, about double what it sold for, records show. More recently it was listed for $13.75 million.
Dancing with a lower price tag: What price can you put on a dream? For Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Costner, the dollar figure just dropped from $60 million to $55 million. That’s what he’s now asking for his 10-acre oceanfront spread in Carpinteria.
Costner purchased the freeway-close acreage about a decade ago with the vision of building his forever home there, but his plans have changed.
Set behind fences secured by cameras, the gently rolling bluff was once a polo field. It features 500 feet of oceanfront, a path to the beach and panoramic Pacific views. The Santa Barbara Mountains and islands are also visible from the equestrian property.
Public records show that the property changed hands in 2006 for $28.5 million.
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