Today’s story comes to y’all via special request from a guy names Tim Bucktwo. That is not his real name, of course, but suffice to say that Mr. Bucktwo is a subscriber to Yolanda’s silly blog. How sweet! And our Mr. Bucktwo is also a devoted fan of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things.
Now, Yolanda also watches Stranger Things — if any of y’all have not watched it, we would recommend not starting unless you’ve got several hours to spare, it’s strangely addictive — and we were more than a little amused by the performance of star Winona Ryder, who throughout the first season hacks apart her little house until little else remains besides a jumbled mess of wooden beams and ugly ’80s-era wallpaper. Oh, and she also “renovates” the place with help from some (indoor) Christmas lights and the ABCs.
Now, kiddies, let us first get the proverbial elephant in the room outta the way: Ms. Ryder is a talented veteran acress who has won many awards and achieved A-list-level success in her industry. Yet people still flap their lips about that 2001 shoplifting incident that unfortunately marred her career. Ugh! Get over it, y’all. Come on — that was in 2001! Seventeen years ago. And the lady did her time and paid her fine.
And come on. Who hasn’t fantasized about grabbing the latest Givenchy whatever from Saks or Bloomie’s and just runnin’ out the front door, sirens blazing and a million cops hot on our tail?
Yolanda has not fantasized about that, of course. We just used one of our former husbands’ credit cards and never once looked back. But we digress…
Anyway, Mr. Bucktwo asked about Ms. Ryder’s real-life residential circumstances. That interested Yolanda, because we hadn’t heard anything from Ms. Ryder on that front since 2011, when she sold her Sunset Strip-area house for $3,675,000. But last year, it turns out, Ms. Ryder had “her house” in Beverly Hills photographed in Architectural Digest.
However, kiddies, Yolanda’s investigation revealed that Ms. Ryder does not live in Beverly Hills. Yolanda is not even sure where that Beverly Hills house is or if Ms. Ryder still owns it — whatever the case, she is long gone from there.
Anyway, to summarize: in real life Ms. Ryder is a rich lady and thus she lives in rich lady circumstances. It took us some time to dig it up, but we finally discovered that she secretly paid $2,200,000 through a mysterious blind trust for a house perched near the top of the celebrity-soaked Outpost Estates neighborhood, in the eastern Hollywood Hills. The property is but a 5-minute drive to Hollywood and to popular neighborhood hiking destination Runyon Canyon.
Although this sale went down more than a year ago — in November 2016 — it does not appear as though any of our celebrity house gossip website compadres have written about this transaction. So discuss today, we shall.
The two-story Mediterranean casa was built in 1947, per records, and weighs in at a rather modest 2,154-square-feet of living space. Although the .33-acre lot also is not especially spacious, the property is unique in that it has no neighbors on any side: the structure is positioned on a private peninsula that is surrounded by road on three sides and borders open land around the back. Perfect for a celeb.
Out front, the property sports a gated entryway anchored by a brick courtyard and a fountain. On one side of the peninsula is a two-card garage, and privately situated around back is an oval swimming pool.
Both the family and living rooms sport fireplaces, and the petite dining room overlooks both the front and back yard. The kitchen has a bar area that overlooks the family room, which in turn opens via French doors to the outside in classic California style.
Speaking of the kitchen, it features upmarket stainless appliances and a rather tacky-lookin’ pot rack. We hope Ms. Ryder had the good sense to ditch that upon move-in.
The house has three bedrooms, at least one of which is on ground level. The master suite is upstairs and looks cozy with the sitting area and fireplace. It also overlooks bthe backyard pool area, which is hedged and gated for the ultimate celeb-style privacy.
Some of Ms. Ryder’s nearest famous neighbors in Outpost Estates include Grindr founder Joel Simkhai — who broke the Outpost Estates record last year with his $10,500,000 purchase — Duran Duran member John Taylor, and One Direction member Louis Tomlinson, who resides in a $7 million pad.
Listing agent: Ron de Salvo, Coldwell Banker
Winona Ryder’s agent: Aileen Comora, The Agency