Estates

The biggest home in Los Angeles County is ready for a new nickname: The 56,500-square-foot Manor, dubbed Candyland after owner Candy Spelling, has been sold to another wealthy socialite, British heiress Petra Ecclestone, in an all-cash deal for $85 million. As steep as that price is, it's not a record or even close to what Spelling was asking. The priciest Southland home transaction was the 2000 sale of an 8-acre estate in Bel-Air to financial executive Gary Winnick in a deal that included the trade of other land, for a total value of about $94 million.

Sunnylands, the 200-acre Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage that hosted five decades of political and Hollywood luminaries behind its pink walls, opened to the public for the first time in March. Consider this 20,000-square-foot dwelling, set in a far-as-the-eye-can-see expanse of golf course green, as a latter-day incarnation of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, R.I. Inside the house, digital reproductions of the Annenbergs' $1-billion-plus Impressionist art collection compete for space on the few walls not made of glass.

A five-year court battle over the "Star Trek" financial empire ended this week when a California appeals court disinherited the daughter of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for having challenged his will.

Kenneth Leventhal, a Los Angeles accountant who oversaw some of the largest real estate transactions in the country, died Tuesday at his Bel-Air home. He was 90 and had prostate cancer. Leventhal was a key figure in the transformation of Southern California after World War II as the region grew into a densely populated metropolis. His firm, Kenneth Leventhal & Co., guided such prominent real estate developers as Ray Watt, Trammell Crow and Donald Trump through times of expansion and financial distress.

If you're willing to wade through the remnants of another person's life, you can find bargains at an estate sale. You just may have to knock a dealer out of the way to get to them. Antique sellers, book collectors and EBay users show up to these events early. Often they're armed, with magnifying loupes to scrutinize figurines, research books on vintage furniture or an iPhone to check price comparisons. The professionals are looking for the same things you are: deals.

An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that an evangelical preacher had conned an heiress out of nearly $500,000 and ordered him to repay the money plus $250,000 in punitive damages. Mel Tari, 48, of Dana Point, an evangelist and author of several Christian books, must repay Christine Kline, 41, of Denver for the small fortune she signed over to him. Kline, who had inherited Capital Printing Co.

Charles Barnes, the 92-year-old Glendale man who was barred from seeing his 84-year-old sweetheart, has won the right to visit her at will. Barnes had eloped with Constance Driscoll and brought her to his home in Glendale. He was cited for contempt for violating court orders that she not be moved from a residential care facility in Northern California.

The Menendez family estate, once valued at up to $14 million, is virtually depleted, it was disclosed Tuesday at Lyle and Erik Menendez's murder trial. Shrunken by taxes, legal fees and other costs, Jose and Kitty Menendez's estate is worth no more than $800,000--and has debts at least that high, defense lawyer Leslie Abramson said in court. Probate records are sealed and the defense had kept financial figures secret throughout the trial.

Like bread crumbs in an urban forest, the telltale open house flags have been planted along a tantalizing route in Brentwood, leading from Mandeville Canyon to a little street called Kimberly Lane. At the end of the trail is not grandmother's cottage, however. It is a driveway. A very long driveway, where a black Ferrari is parked, not quite perfectly.

James D. Gunderson, the target of a State Bar investigation for allegedly making himself the beneficiary of millions of dollars in bequests from the estates of his elderly Leisure World clients, has surrendered his license to practice law, authorities said Monday. State Bar prosecutors said Gunderson agreed to resign after they told him that they were prepared to file conflict-of-interest charges against him that could have led to his disbarment.

WASHINGTON - In a potential turning point for one of the biggest financial crisis bailouts, Fannie Mae reported a first-quarter profit and - for the first time since the government seized it in 2008 - does not need a quarterly infusion of taxpayer money. The $2.7-billion profit that the giant housing finance company posted Wednesday was its largest since the housing bubble burst in 2007 and is another signal that the real estate market finally might have hit bottom. "It's always hard to call a turn until everything is in the rear-view mirror," said Susan McFarland, Fannie Mae's chief financial officer.

"Chinatown" writer Robert Towne has listed his estate on the Westside at $12.995 million. Built in 1926 and designed for grand entertaining, the restored English country-style mansion and guesthouse have seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,000 square feet of living space. The nearly three-quarter-acre property is wooded and includes a swimming pool, a rose garden and a spice garden. Towne, 77, won an Oscar for original screenplay in 1975 for the Jack Nicholson-starring film about land and water rights disputes.

Designed to evoke 19th century California ranchos, this equestrian estate sits behind the gates of Rolling Hills on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Clad in board-and-batten siding, the ocean-view house is reached by a flagstone path flanked by lawn and landscaping that includes hydrangeas, roses and bluebells. Location: 1 Packsaddle Road East, Rolling Hills 90274 Asking price: $6.495 million Year built: 2000 House size: Five bedrooms, 61/2 bathrooms, 8,610 square feet Lot size: Nearly 2 acres Features: Slate roof, open-beam ceilings, wide plank floors, basement exercise room, maid's quarters, three-car garage with workshop, swimming pool, spa, outdoor kitchen, outdoor fireplace, paddock, stables.

WASHINGTON — It may be the best-kept secret in residential real estate: For a couple of hundred dollars, a potential buyer bidding on an existing house can ask for a formal energy audit along with the standard inspection clause. That audit, in turn, can save the buyer thousands of dollars in future operating costs and pinpoint the specific features of the house that need correction to improve efficiency. It might also be a tipoff to a sobering reality: This house is an energy guzzler.

Pro golfer Denis Watson and his wife, attorney Susan Loggans, have taken 24% off the price they were asking a year ago for their Pacific Palisades compound and relisted it for $17.95 million. The renovated Mediterranean-style estate, built in 1982, includes nine bedrooms, 91/2 bathrooms and 10,000 square feet of living space. The 2.5-acre equestrian property features a guesthouse, a tennis court, a swimming pool, corrals and a stream. Watson, 56, had three PGA tour wins before joining the Champions Tour when he turned 50. He was voted Rookie of the Year in 2007 and has four tour wins.

Ryan Seacrest has put his gated Hollywood Hills West estate back on the market at $11.985 million. The "American Idol" host had tried to sell it in late 2010 for $14.95 million. The 10,000-square-foot Mediterranean, built in 1974, sits behind wrought-iron gates on nearly an acre of hilltop with canyon and city views. Remodeled during his ownership, the villa features beamed ceilings, a bar, a screening room, a wine cellar and a gym. There are six bedrooms and 61/2 bathrooms.

Michael Jackson was one of the most famous people on Earth and also one of the most famously broke. Many who crossed paths with the performer in the final years of his life -- business advisors, lawyers, a Tennessee art dealer and even a Bahraini sheik -- accused him of skipping out on bills. Jackson came within days of losing Neverland Ranch to a foreclosure auction last year, and he died owing more than $400 million to various financial institutions.

Chuck Yeager's daughter, who managed the 83-year-old test pilot's assets after the death of his first wife, has been ordered to pay her father nearly $1 million for violating her duties as his trustee in her zeal to protect his wealth from his second wife. After nearly two years of deliberations, a Nevada County Superior Court referee determined that Susan Yeager improperly profited when she had her father's trust buy her out of property the two co-owned in Northern California near Nevada City.

CBRE Group Inc., the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage, turned a profit in the first quarter as U.S. property sales took off. The Los Angeles firm said Tuesday that income from arranging transactions to buy or rent space in offices, warehouses and other commercial properties helped revenue increase 14% from a year earlier to $1.35 billion. Growth was driven primarily by activity in the United States as leasing transactions fell off in Europe and sales slid in Asian markets.

Three Orange County residents are among six people charged with fraud related to an alleged real estate flipping scheme that bilked at least $4.2 million from more than three dozen victims, prosecutors said. All six were accused of promising investors title to bank-owned homes that they said could be easily resold for a profit, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. The scheme lasted from mid-2009 through mid-2010 and targeted victims through seminars held online and in Irvine, Costa Mesa, Florida and Texas, according to the indictment.