Britney Spears . . . again?
The 25-year-old pop princess, in a custody battle with her former husband -- 29-year-old Kevin Federline -- has leased a Malibu home with the option to buy it in six months. The asking price is slightly more than $9 million.
The seven-bedroom, 8,500-square-foot house is on 5 acres in a canyon with towering trees and park-like grounds. The French-style estate, built in 1942, was just remodeled and has a great room with a fireplace; a master-bedroom suite with two bathrooms; a third-level bonus room; and a basement with a media room and a wine cellar. On the grounds are a guesthouse, pool, spa and room for horses.
It's a family home with ocean and mountain views, and it's nowhere near the nightclubs on Sunset Strip the singer liked to frequent with her friends.
Spears should have enough money to buy the property she is leasing, since she sold her Serra Retreat estate, also in Malibu, in August for $10 million.
That home, on 1.5 acres, had a dance/workout room, recording studio and "endless entertainment possibilities," according to the Multiple Listing Service. The seven-bedroom, 9,200-square-foot house is in a gated community.
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Writer turns page with sale of home
The Pacific Palisades home that Basketball Hall of Famer James Worthy and then-wife Angela Wilder bought in 1996, the year they divorced, has been sold for close to $2 million.
The five-bedroom, ocean-view house is in the Summit, a gated community with three tennis courts, a pool, a spa, a gym and -- appropriately -- a basketball court. The couple bought the 3,200-plus-square-foot home as a place for Wilder and the couple's two children to live.
The house has four bathrooms, a granite kitchen, oak and hardwood floors, and a large master-bedroom suite with a sitting room and plantation shutters.
Now that the children are grown, Wilder, 45, wants to focus on her writing career in a smaller home. She wrote the book "Powerful Mate Syndrome," published in 2004, leading to appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "20/20," "48 Hours" and CNN. Now she is writing a sequel.
Worthy, 46, played small forward with the Lakers and is now an in-studio analyst for Lakers telecasts on KCAL-TV Channel 9 in Los Angeles and for NBA and college basketball highlights on KCBS-TV Channel 2, also in Los Angeles.
Lauren Polan of Coldwell Banker, Pacific Palisades, represented Wilder in selling the Pacific Palisades home.
