Yolanda’s disclaimer: this story is old, nearly a year old. This sale closed way back in January (2017). But it doesn’t appear any other outlet has written about it yet, so here goes. We’ll have something fresher for you real estate connoisseurs ASAP.
Several months ago, Yolanda’s friend Vlad the Revealer (proprietor of the Celebrity Address Aerial website) approached us and inquired about a large house located in Brentwood Park, a low-key yet very exclusive neighborhood on the Westside of LA. This house — actually, at 8,081-square-feet it’s more a mansion than a regular ol’ house — was sold back in January for $8,800,000 to a blind trust with all the hallmarks of being a front for a celebrity owner.
Our instinct told us this trust would not be difficult to crack. But surprisingly, we were wrong. The identity of the owner here was locked up much tighter than almost anything we’ve seen before, obfuscated behind a web of names and addresses that got Yolanda all screwed up. We suspect that someone went to a lot of trouble to deliberately confuse curious cats like us.
Anyway, a leg up from a kindly tipster provided Yolanda with the break we needed and now we can y’all that the proud new Brentwood Park homeowners are a couple named Christian Bale & Sibi Bale.
Mr. Bale is, of course, the A-list British film actor who has starred in a very wide range of films over his 30+ year career. To the general public, however, he may be best-known for his role as Batman in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). That three films alone grossed something like 2.5 billion bucks worldwide. Ka-ching!
In addition to cash, Mr. Bale has critical acclaim to his name. Let’s not forget that he won an Oscar for his role in The Fighter (2010).
Since 2001, Mr. Bale has been married to Sibi Bale (nee Blažić), a former make-up artist, and together they have two children: one boy and one girl. And though the family has a sky-high pile of money in the bank (probably) and have lived in LA for the last 25 years, the only house they have ever been publicly reported to own is a wee bungalow in Santa Monica that they bought for $1,765,000 in 2001.
Though they continue to own that Santa Monica property, Yolanda happens to know the couple has not resided there in a decade or more. That’s because they are undercover real estate ballers! But we digress for now — let’s dissect their new manse and we’ll return to Mr. Bale’s other real estate in a bit.
For those of you who regularly troll fancy home listings (hey, Yolanda does the same thing!) y’all should recognize this house. That’s because it was for sale (off and on) for at least five years before Mr. Bale took ownership. Although it looks older (at least to us), the house was actually spec-built in 2007, at the height of the real estate market before the big economic crash. The house was sold that same year for a whopping $11,200,000 to a low-profile couple named Len & Georgina Bailes.
The Bailes couple does not appear to have enjoyed their Brentwood mansion for very long — by 2011, the house was back on the market. For the next 5+ years, as we’ve told y’all, it bounced on and off the MLS at a wide variety of asking prices that peaked at $11.5 million and bottomed out at $8.5 million. Finally, along came Mr. & Mrs. Bale who generously paid the aforementioned $8.8 million, an amount that represents a $2.4 million loss to the Bailes family. Ouchies!
Anyway, the lot size is fairly small for Brentwood Park (just .36-acre) but the property is sufficiently private for a celebrity, with the house set far back from the road behind a double-gated driveway and a tall thicket of hedges. As for the home’s architecture, the listing terms it “Hamptons Style”.
Now let’s be clear here. Yolanda is not fond of this house. We find the whole “fancy log cabin mansion” thing going on here to be poorly executed at best and a jumbled hot mess at worst, to be honest. We are sure that other people like it, but we are just throwing out that this is not the sort of house on which we would imagine Mr. Bale throwing down almost $9 million. Nevertheless, depending on y’all look at it, Mr. Bale may have got himself a good deal. Considering that other folks are paying almost double the price of this house to live in the same neighborhood, you know.
A stone pathway leads to an all-white front door that opens to an regular-height entrance hallway. To the left is the living room with its gaping fireplace; to the right is a the formal dining room with its plaid chairs and bronze chandelier. And if you ask us, all that hardwood would look much better if it were stained black or a very deep brown.
Straight ahead is generously-scaled family room with a row of French doors to access the backyard. The “chef’s kitchen” has granite countertops and high-end stainless appliances (including multiple dishwashers, apparently.
Elsewhere there is a library (probably the best-lookin’ room in the whole house) plus a ping pong table and a home theater in the lower/basement level.
There are a total of 6 bedrooms and 7.5 bathrooms spread throughout the house. The master suite has a fireplace plus a sitting room and the expected glassy shower in the bathroom. Rather disturbing is one of the spare/family bedrooms, where someone has jammed a bunch of exercise equipment up next to the bed. Who does that?!
As we have already explained, the yard is not huge but it is thoughtfully laid out with all the expected creature comforts: patio for loungin’, grassy lawn for frolickin’, pool/spa combo, and an outdoor kitchen/BBQ station.
Over in Santa Monica, Mr. Bale owns this cute little Spanish cottage (above). He has not lived there in many years, however. That’s because he paid a hefty $13,500,000 way back in 2008 for an 8.5-acre ranch that is located somewhat remotely in the very back of the Sullivan Canyon neighborhood, an equestrian-oriented area set between the hills of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. It is here where Mr. and Mrs. Bale are or were living for the last decade or so.
Mr. Bale’s $13.5 million ranch does not include a mansion, but it does have several structures including a 4,000-square-foot single-story main house with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms plus a large sparkling pool, horse stables, and dozens of mature trees.
We digress. Some of Mr. Bale’s newest neighbors in Brentwood Park include LeBron James (who lives just a quick skip away), Andrew Hauptman & Ellen Bronfman Hauptman, James Corden, Spencer Rascoff, Marcy Carsey, Tobey Maguire, Trey Parker, and many more other notable folks.
Listing agent: Mary Lu Tuthill, Coldwell Banker
Christian Bale’s agent: Ron de Salvo, Coldwell Banker