Listen kiddies, we’ve got a bazillion things to do and these toenails are not going to paint themselves. So today, instead of being long-winded and slip-sliding into pointless digressions, we’re gonna keep it on the straight, narrow, and boring. We’ll be back to our usual eggheaded self shortly, promise.
So here we go. Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines and her new-ish hubby — eco-friendly warrior and alleged serial philanderer Robert Kennedy Jr. have paid $5,200,000 for a house in Brentwood’s rustic and equestrian-friendly Mandeville Canyon. This even though they are currently battling rumors that their two-year marriage is already on the rocks. Gutsy!
The sellers of the Mandeville Canyon home, property records reveal, were film producer Basil Iwanyk and his wife Natalie Reisman. Records also show that the house spans 4,034-square-feet with 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. (Listing information says the place is a larger 4,638-square-feet with 5 beds and 6 baths. Yolanda is unsure why the discrepancy).
Described as a Monterey Colonial in marketing materials, the structure is situated discretely behind a security gate and was originally built way back in 1937. There are formal living and dining rooms and a spacious kitchen with high-end appliances. All five of the bedrooms are located on the second floor and the master suite includes a private covered balcony and a glass-walled shower plus soaking tub in the bathroom.
Right about the same time they acquired their new Brentwood estate, Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Hines quietly offloaded their Malibu farmhouse-style mini-compound. Records reveal that the couple made quite a killing on this sale — they purchased it less than three years ago (September 2014) for $4,995,000 and sold it earlier this month (June 2017) for a fat $6,025,000.
The red barn-lookin’ main house has 2,959-square-feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is a living room, a library, a family room, and a dining room with a cool-looking vaulted ceiling. The almost all-white kitchen has a center island and lots of top-grade stainless steel cooking appliances.
Elsewhere on the property are a whole bunch of additional structures that include a studio-style guesthouse, an additional two-story abode with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, a pool house with a pine-paneled lounge, another kitchen, and a loft-style bedroom. The .86-acre landlocked property includes a swimming pool, spa, BBQ, tree house, wine shed, and a firepit.
The new owner of the Malibu compound is shielded behind an all-too-common blind trust, but Yolanda just happens to know she is a local gal named Lyndie Benson. Our Ms. Benson has a whole boatload of money thanks to her two-decade marriage to (and subsequent divorce from) Grammy-winning saxophonist Kenny G. We also happen to know that Ms. Benson is a nice lady who is a familiar fixture around the Malibu social scene. Homegurl seems to pop up at every chi-chi neighborhood event. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.
Before she bought Mr. Kennedy & Ms. Hines’ Point Dume house, our Ms. Benson owned an oceanfront house in a guard-gated community called Malibu Cove Colony. She bought the house — a vaguely Gothic-influenced Spanish thingamajig — for $6,300,000 and sold it last month (May 2017) for $9,525,000 to Glenn “Doc” Rivers, the current coach of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.
Nice house; nice profit. Bye for now, kids…
Listing & selling agent (Malibu): Chris Cortazzo, Coldwell Banker
Listing agent (Brentwood): Santiago Arana, The Agency
Selling agent (Brentwood): Max Nelson, The Agency