Fireplaces

Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have bought a 13-acre estate in Montecito that had been listed at $26.5 million. The purchase price has not yet appeared in the public record. The restored Tuscan-style villa and gardens had undergone years and millions of dollars in reconstruction work under the care of an earlier owner, designer John Saladino. The two-story villa was built in the late 1920s from locally quarried stone. The property, entered through wrought-iron gates, has a quarter-mile-long driveway that winds through olive and eucalyptus trees.

The 1920s vintage of this restored Spanish Revival-style house in Hollywood Hills is evident in its Malibu tile fireplace, period lighting and hand-crafted doors. A courtyard with a fountain sits off the media room of the walled and gated home. Location: 2125 Castilian Drive, Los Angeles 90068 Asking price: $2.695 million Year built: 1929 House size: Three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms Lot size: 18,521 square feet Features: Formal dining room, fireplaces in the living room and library, breakfast room, butler's pantry, media room, master suite balcony, wood-beam ceilings, inlaid wood floors, terrace with pergola, panoramic views About the area: In the first quarter, 78 single-family homes sold in the 90068 ZIP Code at a median price of $950,000, according to DataQuick.

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

Actor Nick Nolte's celebrity pedigree home in Malibu is for sale at $8.25 million. Among former film and music industry figures to own the house are comedian Tommy Chong, Don Felder of the Eagles and music producer David Foster. Set in the Bonsall Canyon area on two acres studded with sycamore and pine trees, the main house features  19-foot vaulted ceilings, skylights, six fireplaces, marble floors and mahogany French doors. There are four bedrooms including the master suite, which has its own sitting area, office and library, and two of the fireplaces.

Ernest Batchelder, whose early 20th century mantel tiles are considered historic masterpieces, once said "a fireplace is not a luxury; it is a necessity -- because it adds to the joy and beauty of living." Perhaps that is most true during the holidays, when the fireplace serves as a central gathering spot. "It comes back to the primitive idea of what makes a home," said Amy Murphy, a USC architecture professor. "We think of the house as a place of the hearth.

Imagine enjoying a leisurely meal by the fireplace. You sit back on a leather chair, settle into a low table, and dig into an Asiago chicken club, munch on some fries and wash it all down with a frosty. Sound like a dream? Nah, it's just a regular dinner at one of the newly remodeled Wendy's locations equipped with a fireplace.  Sure the chain is a go-to for late-night snacks and after-prom shenanigans, but now you can add new fireplaces to the long list of reasons to munch on a square hamburger.

Actor-comedian Jim Carrey has sold his gated Malibu Colony retreat for $13.4 million. The two-story contemporary beach house features an open plan living room, family room, dining room and kitchen that lead to an ocean-facing deck. There are fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom for a total of five bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms and 2,866 square feet of living space. A spa sits on the rooftop deck. Carrey, 51, has starred in such films as "Ace Ventura" and its sequels, "The Truman Show" (1998)

Re "Pollution rules will put a damper on fireplace use," March 8 The South Coast Air Quality Management District is pandering to the needs of business at the expense of individual homeowners. To say that home fireplaces contribute 6 tons of pollutants to the air every day is utterly ridiculous. I can't remember the last time I used my fireplace when it was 115 degrees outside. How are the three or four logs that I burn maybe once or twice during the winter months causing more pollution than, say, California Pizza Kitchen?

For better or worse, a living room often is designed with the fireplace as its focal point, giving a utilitarian niche an incredible amount of design clout. Describing the expanse over the fireplace as "one of the most important spaces in the room," Los Angeles interior designer Mark Cutler says it should go beyond decoration. "It's such an opportunity to create a statement about what it is you want the room to be," he says, "or what your values about your home are."

The sounds of crackling wood and the smell of smoldering bark are being overtaken by technology. Sales of gas fireplaces have grown 500% since 1992 and now outpace their wood-burning cousins. Technology has made the gas units the fireplace option of choice in most new homes, say builders. The remote-controlled flames, the efficient heat and the affordability help gas easily overrule the allure of the traditional fireplace.

This 1920s Spanish-style house had its beginnings in old Hollywood. The villa, which features a rotunda entry, stenciled ceilings and a tower room, was built for early film producer William Sistrom and designed by art director Harry McAfee. Location: 7475 Hillside Ave., Los Angeles 90046 Asking price: $4.995 million Year built: 1926 House size: Seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, 5,500 square feet Lot size: 17,432 square feet Features: Courtyard with fountain, inlaid wood floors, stone fireplace, French doors, den, two-room staff wing, guest apartment, swimming pool, terrace with pergola About the area: Last year, 290 single-family homes sold in the 90046 ZIP Code at a median price of $1.025 million, according to DataQuick.

Imagine enjoying a leisurely meal by the fireplace. You sit back on a leather chair, settle into a low table, and dig into an Asiago chicken club, munch on some fries and wash it all down with a frosty. Sound like a dream? Nah, it's just a regular dinner at one of the newly remodeled Wendy's locations equipped with a fireplace.  Sure the chain is a go-to for late-night snacks and after-prom shenanigans, but now you can add new fireplaces to the long list of reasons to munch on a square hamburger.

Everyone needs a hobby. Actor Jeremy Renner has put his latest house remodeling project on the market in Holmby Hills at $24.95 million. The Roaring '20s Art Deco-style mansion includes a wine cellar, a theater, five fireplaces, six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and 10,005 square feet of living space. The two-acre property features gates, a cobblestone driveway and a swimming pool with spa. Renner, 42, was nominated for Oscars for his work in "The Hurt Locker" (2008) and "The Town" (2010)

Tennis superstar Serena Williams has listed a Westwood condo for sale at $1.85 million. The Wilshire Corridor building, constructed in 2001, offers concierge service, a valet, a pool and spa and a gym. The open-plan unit features city views, two bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a den/office, a fireplace, balconies and a direct-access elevator. Williams, 31, has been ranked the No. 1 female player in the world five times by the Women's Tennis Assn. Her tennis earnings have topped $40 million.

Vanessa Bryant has sold a Newport Coast house for $3.22 million. The Mediterranean-style house was signed over to her as part of her divorce settlement with Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, and went on the market in September at $3.75 million. The mountain-view house was built in 1999 and sits on about a quarter of an acre in a gated community where the Bryants have two other houses. Features include an office/library, five fireplaces, balconies, five bedrooms, a bonus room and 5.5 bathrooms.

Film editor Bud S. Smith and his wife, sound editor Lucy Coldsnow-Smith, have sold their Hollywood Hills home of more than 40 years for $880,000. The hillside storybook cottage-style home, built in 1926, is surrounded by patios and gardens. Features include a step-down living room with high ceilings and a fireplace, two bedrooms and a separate one-bedroom guest apartment. Smith was nominated for Oscars for his film editing work on "The Exorcist" (1973) and "Flashdance" (1983)

With the holidays and cooler weather, most of us are looking forward to spending time with family and friends around a comfortable fire. Keep in mind, though, that every year there are many devastating house fires and injuries that result from unsafe conditions and usage of the fireplace. Here are a few safety suggestions to keep in mind before using your fireplace this season: * Is it clean? A flammable residue builds up on the wall of the chimney flue with repeated usage of the fireplace.

Helen Guiltinan couldn't believe her luck. She and her husband John had traveled Europe taking photographs and researching how they could create an authentic 17th-Century living room for their custom French chateau-style house to be built in Cowan Heights. And here was an antique dealer offering her an opportunity to purchase, from a photograph, an exquisite antique green marble fireplace front that appeared to be an exact copy of one she had seen in France's famed Versailles.

The Fuller House, a former home of early film producer Samuel Goldwyn in the Hollywood Hills West area, has sold for $4.55 million. It came on the market this summer at $4.895 million. Built in 1916, the restored Neoclassic-style house features a multi-room master bedroom suite, a screening room, Batchelder tile fireplaces and maid's quarters. There are seven bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms and 6,488 square feet of living space. The half-acre grounds include walking paths, a guesthouse and a swimming pool.

When singer Nancy Sinatra put a Santa Monica compound she owned on the market last month, it appeared her boots were ready to do some walkin' — to borrow from the title of her '60s hit. But it seems they ran instead. Sinatra, the daughter of legendary entertainer Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy, sold the property in 16 days for $5 million. The asking price was $4.895 million. The Cape Cod-inspired home and guesthouse sits on a nearly half-acre flat lot off a cul-de-sac.