Hollywood Hills Home

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres has sold the Ojai home she shared with actress Anne Heche before the couple's breakup last August. The asking price was $2.75 million. DeGeneres has been spending less time in Ojai because of her plans to host the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards airing Sept. 16 and her return this fall to weekly TV on the new CBS comedy "The Ellen Show." She will star in and serve as executive producer of the show, which is scheduled to run on Fridays.

Model Ali Landry and her husband, film director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, have listed their home in Los Feliz at $1.925 million. The Spanish-style house, built in 1927, features colorful tile work, stained-glass windows and an arched entry alcove. There are four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 3,700 square feet of living space. One en suite bedroom has a kitchen and separate entrance.   Sliding French doors in the family room open to a patio with a 20-person spa/fountain. Grandest pool around?

Actress and author Victoria Rowell has put her Hollywood Hills home up for sale at $2.599 million. The Beachwood Canyon-area house of nearly 4,400 square feet sits on more than a quarter-acre lot with a swimming pool. Built in 1923, the four-bedroom, 31/2-bathroom Mediterranean features terraces, city, canyon and mountain views and Italian-style gardens with mature trees and privacy hedges. The house includes a library, a media room, a family room, an updated kitchen and a breakfast room.

A Venice house held by Cher's trust has sold for $1.95 million. It may not hurt to have a rock-star mom when it comes to real estate. The remodeled contemporary went into escrow nine days after coming on the market and sold for $100,000 above the original asking price. The hip pad, reportedly the home of one of her children, features high ceilings, sliding glass walls, two fireplaces and an outdoor shower -- a feature Cher favors. A rooftop deck has a built-in barbecue, sink and refrigerator.

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has put a Hollywood Hills home that she owns on the market at $829,000. The pop star marked her 55th birthday in November at an Atlanta concert with another Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Bob Dylan. She also starred in the fall in her first TV special since 1980 and cut the album "Taming the Tiger."

Leonardo DiCaprio loves it. So do Ben Affleck, Ben Stiller and Renee Zellweger. They love Hollywood Hills, a big residential draw for Young Hollywood. Old Hollywood loved the hills too. Charlie Chaplin lived there. So did W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx and Jean Harlow. Young celebrities have moved in and out of the hills since the beginning of the movie industry about 1915.

Model Ali Landry and her husband, film director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, have listed their home in Los Feliz at $1.925 million. The Spanish-style house, built in 1927, features colorful tile work, stained-glass windows and an arched entry alcove. There are four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 3,700 square feet of living space. One en suite bedroom has a kitchen and separate entrance.   Sliding French doors in the family room open to a patio with a 20-person spa/fountain. Grandest pool around?

Australian rocker Chris Cester has listed his Hollywood Hills home at $1,135,000. The gated Spanish-style home, built in 1937, sits on a cul-de-sac. There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms, including a lower-level master suite with an office/den, a three-quarter bathroom, a separate entrance and deck. The house, surrounded by mature landscaping, has a two-car garage with extra storage and a two-space carport. Cester, 29, is a drummer and backup singer for the hard-rock band Jet. He also has written soundtrack material for "Spider-Man 3" (2007)

Update: Jennifer Carpenter, who stars on the Showtime series "Dexter" with her husband, Michael C. Hall, has sold her Hollywood Hills home for its asking price of $695,000, the Multiple Listing Service shows. The California bungalow, with two bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms, was built as a hunting lodge in 1937. Surrounded by mature trees and landscaping on a flat lawn, the cottage has vaulted ceilings, skylights and decks off the dining room and master bedroom. Carpenter, 29, plays Dexter Morgan's sister, Debra.

He didn't exactly make a killing, but "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall has sold his house in the Hollywood Hills for $1,937,500. The actor bought the property in 2008 for $1.75 million, public records show. Once a 1933 Spanish-style home with a red tile roof, the house was modernized by mid-century architect Hal Levitt, who used it as his personal residence for four decades starting in 1964. Large windows and a sliding glass door bring light into the vaulted-ceiling living room. The redesigned kitchen, which features Italian tile floors, opens to a patio with a fire pit. The backyard pool is described in the listing as "sleek and dexterous.

“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” bandleader Rickey Minor and his wife, Karen, have listed their Hollywood Hills compound at $4.95 million. The gated more than half-quarter acre site contains a main house, a detached guest house, a sports court and an infinity-edged swimming pool. Features include a library/study, a den, six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and 7,202 square feet of living space. Grandest pool around? Malibu has it Minor has been the “Tonight Show” bandleader since 2010.

California's lax rules governing who can work as substance abuse counselors have allowed sex offenders and other felons to treat addicts with little to no scrutiny by the state, according to a report by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes released Monday. California does not require a criminal background check for drug and alcohol counselors, nor does it ask applicants to report their criminal histories, according to the report, which found that at least 23 sex offenders have been permitted to work as counselors since 2005.

A Russian national has been charged with five felony counts for allegedly barricading herself in the Hollywood Hills home of "American Pie" actor  Eddie Kaye Thomas . Roxanna Bear, 31, was charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors Friday with one count each of committing vandalism causing damage over $400, interference with a wireless communication device, exhibiting a deadly weapon, false report of a criminal offense, and resisting or obstructing...

Singer Katy Perry 's fortress-like compound in Hollywood Hills West is for sale at $6.925 million. The double-gated Mediterranean-style house, built in 1925, sits on nearly 3 acres with a caretaker's apartment/carriage house and a guesthouse. Called Park Hill, the house features a baronial stone foyer with a sweeping staircase, a two-story living room, stained-glass windows and a carved fireplace mantel in the living room, a pub, a study and a media room. Including a four-room master suite, two guest suites and staff quarters, there are seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 8,835 square feet of living space.

The woman arrested after allegedly barricading herself in the Hollywood Hills home of "American Pie" actor Eddie Kaye Thomas was identified by police Thursday as Roxanna Bear, 31. Bear, a Russian national, was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism Wednesday after a Los Angeles  police SWAT team fired flash-bang grenades and tear gas into the home of Thomas, best known for his role as Paul Finch in the "American Pie" films. She was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail. Police were called to Thomas' residence shortly after 1 p.m. in response to a report that a woman with a knife was threatening the 32-year-old Thomas.

Los Angeles police on Wednesday evening fired flash bang grenades and tear gas into the home of "American Pie" actor Eddie Kaye Thomas after a woman barricaded herself inside the dwelling and allegedly refused repeated commands to leave, authorities said. The woman, allegedly armed with a knife, was taken into custody after SWAT officers surrounded the Hollywood Hills home about 6:30 p.m., the Los Angeles Poliice Department said. Thomas was not at the home at the time. The officers entered the home after a standoff that lasted several hours during which they repeatedly tried to convince the woman to peacefully leave the home, police said.

Update: Scary Spice, a.k.a. Melanie Brown, has sold her Hollywood Hills home for $3.14 million after only seven days on the market, according to the Multiple Listing Service. The contemporary, described in MLS lingo as "ultra chic," has four bedrooms and four bathrooms in 3,476 square feet. The home, purchased in 2007, was remodeled for $1 million, the MLS said, and had been listed at $2,999,999. The home has a saline pool, waterfalls and a state-of-the-art entertainment area. Realtor.com advertised it as having a "twilight open" house.

Producer-composer-musician Tom Rothrock has sold his Hollywood Hills home to DJ-actor-producer Steve Angello for $3.9 million, public records show. Rothrock and his wife, Monique, spent years working on the house, integrating its 1940s classicism with contemporary interiors and an open floor plan. The 6,150-square-foot home features walls of glass, a wrap-around deck, six fireplaces, four bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms. The third-of-an-acre site, which includes a guesthouse and a swimming pool, takes advantage of city, canyon and mountain views.