Hi folks, today is a travel day for Yolanda so unfortunately we don’t have time to write out a full diatribe like we normally do. Instead, let’s quickly touch on a rather (in)famous house up in that guard-gated development known as Bel Air Crest. For those who might not be aware, Bel Air Crest sits just off the 405 freeway in the fire-ravaged hills above LA. Although the community does sport a Bel Air 90077 zip code, it is geographically situated much closer to the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Sherman Oaks than it is to prime lower Bel Air.
It was only seven short months ago that celebrity super-couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West sold their freshly renovated Bel Air Crest mansion for a fat $17,800,000 in an all-cash deal, easily the most ever paid for a house in the area. The buyer then was a little-known woman named Marina Acton, née Marina Green. Our Mrs. Acton is the second (or third?) wife of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur Brian Acton, the dude who co-founded the WhatsApp app, which was sold to Facebook for more than $19 billion in 2014. Forbes says Mr. Acton is currently worth $6.3 billion, making him one of the richest men in tech.
The unusual thing about this sale was that Mrs. Acton and Ms. Kardashian suddenly appeared to be BFFs — Ms. Kardashian personally toured Mrs. Acton through the property, they followed each other on Instagram, and they even publicly hung out together. TMZ was conveniently at the scene when Ms. Kardashian and Mrs. Acton had dinner out on the town — a dinner where Ms. Kardashian referred to Mrs. Acton as “my girl Marina“, and they wore fur coats and air-kissed and such.
The Blast has since revealed that the real estate transaction — as was widely speculated — included a novel clause that Ms. Kardashian had to fulfill certain promotional appearances with Mrs. Acton, a lady with great wealth who desperately craved fame. In fact, this may be the first (and only?) real estate sale that — quite literally — forced the seller to make the buyer famous. So if anyone is still wondering how much does fame costs — it’s $17.8 million, apparently. At least that’s how much Mrs. Acton paid for it.
Born and raised in the Ukraine, Mrs. Acton once worked as a secretary for her country’s Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun. So the rumors go, Mrs. Acton was introduced to her future hubby by his WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, who also originally hails from the Ukraine.
But we digress. Although she promised her “fans” that “I’m real and you will see me soon!” Mr. and Mrs. Acton reportedly never moved into the Bel Air Crest mansion, and they had some legal trouble with squatters living in the residence. Plus, Mrs. Acton is now pregnant with the couple’s first child, so it seems that she has decided to forsake LA after all. Oh dear! Was that $17.8 million all for naught?
We might take some heat for saying this, but we rather think that the old Kimye house looks more akin to a high-end mental institution rather than a typical “home”. The unvarnished (and mostly unfurnished) interior features endlessly bland white walls, a highly sterile high-end kitchen, and one of the most austere master suites Yolanda has ever laid eyes upon. There are 7 beds and 7 baths in about 9,000-square-feet of living space, and the property is shoehorned on a .87-acre cul-de-sac lot right next door to Kathy Griffin’s much larger $10.5 million mansion.
Listen kiddies, Yolanda can certainly appreciate a spot of minimalism. But this place isn’t just minimalistic — it’s big, bland, and rather soulless.
The Actons have hired one of LA’s top real estate teams to sell their unwanted LA residence, and they have selected an $18 million sticker price. Hmm! Yolanda is of the opinion that Mrs. Acton originally overpaid by at least $5 million so unless someone else out there is hungry for Kimye’s sloppy seconds, we think still think she is going to suffer a massive loss on this puppy.
But then again, she can afford it.
Brian & Marina Acton’s agents: The Altman Brothers, Douglas Elliman