Late last year (2018), as was widely reported, Jennifer Garner and her (second) ex-husband Ben Affleck sold their longtime Pacific Palisades compound to Adam Levine for a fat $32 million.
Mr. Affleck already has a new Palisades mansion — more on that in a minute — but Yolanda idly wondered where Ms. Garner might be moving. Would she remain ensconced within the confines of her familiar neighborhood or perhaps explore uncharted LA territory?
Well, it seems Ms. Garner is indeed a Westside lady through-and-through. Records show that the mom-of-three just plunked down $7,900,000 for a house in the coveted Brentwood Park neighborhood, not far from another home she bought prior to her 2004 nuptials to Mr. Affleck.
Unfortunately, since the property was never listed on the MLS — and has not been publicly for sale in decades, in fact — Yolanda does not have any professional photos to share. And public information about the house itself is scant indeed.
But here’s what we know: the unassuming structure was built in 1930 and sports 4 beds/3 baths in 3,245-square-feet of living space — downright puny by celebrity standards. The 0.4-acre mini-estate was owned for nearly 50 years by one Robert Drabkin, a WWII veteran who passed away in late 2017.
In May 2018, Mr. Drabkin’s heirs sold the modest Brentwood property for $7,500,000. The all-cash, off-market buyer was a woman from Dallas named Charlene Marsh — a member of one of Texas’s wealthiest (and most prominent) oil families.
For whatever reason, our southern belle Ms. Marsh never moved into the Brentwood house and only owned it for eight months. This January (2019), she quietly flipped it to Ms. Garner for the aforementioned $7.9 million, or a $400,000 profit before taxes, closing costs and realtor fees.
And in case any nosy Westside readers want an up-close look at Ms. Garner’s new spread, don’t even think about it. The humble abode is completely invisible from the streetfront — tucked securely behind walls, tall hedges and mature sycamore and pine trees.
Though nobody will call it cheap, this property is certainly a downsize from Ms. Garner’s prior home — the $32 million compound on the Palisades Riviera where she resided for nearly a decade.
As for Mr. Affleck, last April (2018), he paid exactly $19 million for a brand-new mansion on the swanky Palisades Riviera — just a few blocks away from the marital home he previously shared with Ms. Garner.
So obviously Mr. Affleck’s new place is much bigger and fancier than his ex-wife’s. But in case you’re worried that Ms. Garner was left destitute by the divorce — heh — don’t be. The lady is loaded from her own money. In addition to her blockbuster movie roles, she starred on the hit TV show Alias, which went into syndication and brought her boatloads of dough.
And at the very least, Yolanda imagines she’ll give her new Brentwood Park casa a makeover.
Jen Garner’s agent: David Offer, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices