Though we don’t write about it often, the decidedly suburban community of La Cañada Flintridge is one of Yolanda’s favorite towns in SoCal. Located northeast of Glendale — up where the SGV meets the Crescenta Valley — this wealthy area borders the pristine Angeles National Forest. As we’ve previously mentioned, Yolanda had a very close (and sadly now deceased) relative who long lived in La Cañada. So much of our childhood was spend in the city, back about a million years ago. But we digress.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Welcome to La Cañada (photo: Mike Kobeissi)
Though many La Cañada peeps are rich — there have been $10+ million mansion sales recorded there — the area does not draw many celebrities. The community is too far-flung from traditional Hollywood haunts for most entertainers. Still, there are a handful of notable residents: Oscar-winner Gore Verbinski, acclaimed actress Angela Bassett, funnyman Adam Carolla and TV actress Diane Farr.
Another famous person who calls La Cañada home — though it hasn’t yet been publicized — is the multi-talented actor/singer/writer/comedian/producer/DJ Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino.
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Since at least April 2016, when he purchased a multi-million dollar mid-century residence in the sleepy town, Mr. Glover has bunked up in the notorious LCF. And apparently he likes it so much that he’s already elected to throw down millions for a residential upgrade out yonder. More on the real estate in a minute — first, let’s talk about Mr. Glover himself.
Born at Edwards Air Force Base but bred in the Deep South — the suburbs of Atlanta, to be specific — 35-year-old Mr. Glover has emerged as one of the most talented and creative members of young Hollywood. His first success came through the pen — in 2006, he graduated from NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in dramatic writing.
At some point in the mid-aughts, when he was still in his early 20s, Mr. Glover sent Hollywood producer David Miner unsolicited samples of his work, including a spec script that he had written for The Simpsons. Miner and Tina Fey were impressed by Glover’s creative writing skills and invited him to join the NBC sitcom 30 Rock as a screenwriter, a job he would retain for several years.
Since then, Mr. Glover’s red-hot career has spanned the width of the entertainment industry — as a singer/rapper, he’s won a Grammy and hit #1 on the Billboard charts with This is America. As an actor, he’s won Primetime Emmys for his starring role on Atlanta — a show he also created. He’s also got two Golden Globes and five Writers Guild of America Awards to his name.
Yolanda could continue to list Mr. Glover’s accolades until the sun creeps below the horizon. But suffice to say that whether his work appeals to your personal tastes or not, the guy is indisputably talented.
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Mr. Glover and his longtime girlfriend Michelle White now have two young bambinos, so it makes sense that they’d want to upsize their residential circumstances. And with the money rolling in, Mr. Glover recently felt flush enough to splash out nearly $4.2 million — $4,188,000, to be exact — for a rather stunning property very near his current digs. In fact, the new place actually lies on the very same hillside street as the old house — it’s just a half-mile down the winding road.
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Originally built in 1983, the huge modern house was designed by acclaimed architects Buff & Hensman and is fused almost entirely from concrete and glass. Within those soaring walls are a mansion-sized 6,848-square-feet of living space — and Yolanda absolutely loves all of it. Reagan-era ’80s moderns were so difficult to do right, kids; but on those rare occasions when the architects made it work, they created timeless showstoppers. Like the one displayed here today.
In fact, one of Yolanda’s all-time favorite architects — Mexico-based Ricardo Legorreta — specialized in modern homes of this era and created some of its very best examples. Mr. Legorreta is responsible for one of Yolanda’s favorite homes in all of LA: Casa Shapiro, Brentwood Park — but as usual, we digress.
Though the La Cañada house is very large, it remains all but invisible from the street out front, tucked back at the end of a long driveway and surrounded by a dense canopy of mature oak trees. The property spans a full 4 acres of land, large enough for even A-list celebrity-sized egos.
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The house has been admirably preserved over the past 35 years and was sold to Mr. Glover by the original owners — a married Chinese couple named Allen & Kate Yuen.
Features of the main rooms include double-height ceilings, brownish tile floors, and slab-sided walls just aching for a world-class contemporary art collection. And the enormous glass windows are really quite stunning, though we imagine Consuela will curse Mr. Glover’s name every time she hauls out the ladder to spray Windex on those monsters.
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There’s a lovely outdoor loggia overlooking the forested year, an elegant dining room and a family room with a giant wet bar. The kitchen is the one room that could definitely use a complete gut job — imagine how many food scraps are stuck in the grouting on those tile countertops. Yuck!
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With 6 beds and 7 baths, the structure has plenty of space for a growing family. The master suite features a bedroom sitting area, private outdoor terrace, a walk-in closet and bathroom with built-in soaking tub.
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There are numerous outdoor living spaces scattered throughout the multi-acre estate. Enjoy al fresco dining by the gardens, sunbathe on the concrete terrace, sip champagne by the oversized pool.
As previously mentioned, Mr. Glover’s old La Cañada house — which he still owns — happens to be on the very same street as his new one. The far more modest (but also stunning) mid-century ranch is secreted down a long driveway on a full acre of land.
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The glassy abode has 3,279-square-feet of living space and a huge outdoor terrace with a pool and built-in firepit. Spectacular views — this place actually has much better vistas than the new house — take in the Angeles National Forest and its magnificent mountains.
Records show that Mr. Glover used a blind trust to pay $2,744,250 for this property in April 2016. And while Yolanda assumes he will soon attempt to unload the stylish spread, it is not currently listed.
But as they say, these things are only a matter of time.
