Like moths to the flames, the list of celebrities who have bought homes at the Carlyle on Wilshire keeps growing. Paul Anka, the '60s teen idol who crooned "Diana," and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," just purchased a two-bedroom 2,800-square-foot unit, sources said. The price that Anka paid hasn't been undisclosed but two similar units were listed in the MLS in the $3 million range. Units on higher floors are pricier .

Anka wrote the theme song for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and also penned "She's a Lady" for Tom Jones -- one of Jones' biggest hits. His idol status was threatened with the "British invasion" of the Beatles and other groups, but he has maintained a lucrative career as a songwriter, including writing for Michael Jackson.

Located on the so-called "golden mile" of the Wilshire Corridor, the Carlyle was developed by Elad Properties, which also owns and developed the Plaza Hotel in New York City. At 24 stories, it's the last permitted high rise to be built on the stretch, a fact that has been adding to its cache. Each of the 78 units at the crescent-shaped Carlyle is accessible by private elevator, which helps explain much of the draw of the building to celebrities.

Anka joins A-List actor Bruce Willis and CNN talk show host Larry King as a unit owner in the building.

Amenities in the building include a 24-hour valet, concierge and doorman; a private wine cellar, pool and spa.

Valerie Fitzgerald of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, is the exclusive property agent handling sales for the Carlyle.

Cute is probably a word that actress Sherry Stringfield, famous for playing a doctor on "ER" and appearing tonight in Lifetime movie "Who Is Clark Rockefeller?" has heard a lot in her life. The word also applies to her six-bedroom Beverly Hills home which recently hit the market. Record from Property Shark show that Stringfield bought the home in 2003 for $1.935 million. The Spanish-style home was built in 1928 and has been redone while keeping much of its original charm. It has a large family room, highly polished hardwood floors and formal living and dining rooms. There is also a library/study and one of the six bedrooms is used as a sitting room for the master suite.

The cute is everywhere. In the floral wall opposite the piano. In the curlicue fireplace grate in front of the white brick fireplace. In the striped chairs in the dining room. In the blackboard-painted study. In the master bath set into the house's central tower. It's a grown-up cute, but cute nonetheless.

The home is located within walking distance to Beverly Hills shopping and schools and has a small backyard sitting area but no pool. It is listed at $2.895 million.

[via the LA Times]

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, has cut the price on his Atlanta home to $6.9 million. It was listed at $8.9 million when we checked it out as an estate of the day last year.

--Christopher Nassetta, president and chief executive of Hilton Worldwide, has sold his Los Angeles home for $18 million, which is about 35% less than his $27.5 million purchase price in 2007.
--The Manhattan apartment of Sheila Lukins, a best-selling author of the "Silver Palate" cookbooks who died last August, has gone into contract for an undisclosed price. The co-op in the Beresford was most recently listed at $3.15 million.


From the NY Post:
--Fashion designer Elie Tahari and his wife are looking to unload more than $70 million worth of property. Properties include a penthouse at 860 Fifth Ave. worth around $10 million, the 51st floor of 1 Central Park West, which is estimated to be worth at least $18 million, a house in Amagansett for $6.8 million, a loft on Prince Street for around $22 million and an oceanfront home in Sagaponack.
--Screenwriter Paul Schrader has closed on a $1.9 million condo at 350 W. 23rd St.
--Brown Harris Stevens' brokers Wendy Maitland and Reid Price have sold their $19.5 million listing at 26 W. 76th St.
--Billionaire and new daddy Henry Silverman has spent $900,000 on a Hamptons summer rental and also bought 381 Hedges Lane in Sagaponack for $14 million and is looking to buy in New York City for something in the $28 million range.


From Forbes:
What does it take take to sell a $50 million house? Forbes reports on the selling of the Duke-Semans mansion and the Frick Manor.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Actor French Stewart and his wife, actress and interior designer Katherine LaNasa, have sold their Hollywood Hills-area home for $3.637 million. The home was originally listed for $4.195 million.
--Producer David Lipman has sold his Hollywood Hills home for $1.9 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service, it was first listed at $2.195 million.
--Former Los Angeles Clippers basketball player Lamond Murray has sold his Manhattan Beach house for $2.525 million.
--Deborah Pratt, who wrote and appeared in the television show "Quantum Leap" has sold her Holmby Hills-area home for $2.9 million.
-- Ashley Olsen has sold her Hancock Park home for $1.399 million, the price it was listed at just last month.


From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Screenwriter, director and actor Mike Binder has listed his five-bedroom mansion in Pacific Palisades for $7.595 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--Jeana Keough of the Real Housewives of Orange County has saved her home from foreclosure.
--Mischa Barton has listed her Beverly Hills post office home for $8.395 million.

46664 Bangles are taking the fashion and celebrity scene by storm because not only are they interesting and stylish but they support a good cause -- like the luxury version of a plastic Live Strong bracelet. The precious metal bangles support the 46664 campaign, which is an African response to the global HIV/AIDs epidemic and gets its inspiration from the leadership of Nelson Mandela, and its name from Mandela's Robben Island prison number (466) and imprisonment year (1964).

The bangle program has received renewed interest and attention after Morgan Freeman, nominated for his portrayal of Mandela, wore his bespoke emerald and black diamond 46664 Bangle to the Oscars recently. He's rumored to never take it off but also says he'll be auctioning it off at some point to further support the cause. The bangles come in a range of prices from $23.95 for copper all the way up to $12,900 for the platinum model.

Prince William gave Kate Middleton a pretty pair of expensive antique pearl earrings for her birthday this year but she didn't get to wear them for long before her black cocker spaniel Otto decided to eat them for dinner. Just days after receiving them, Kate noticed the earrings were suddenly missing from the bedside table where she kept them. After much frantic searching she realized that Otto (who was on the bed licking his paws) had eaten them. Kate was horrified but apparently Prince William thought the whole thing was hilarious, laughing and telling her she'd just have to wait for them 'to come out the other end.'

And they did, in fact, come out the other end eventually but unfortunately they were chewed and damaged beyond repair. Prince William had originally found the earrings through a private dealer he'd tracked down personally, so no word yet on whether he'll be able to replace them (but I bet if/when he does Kate will find a new place to keep them!).

Via LuxuryLaunches

Another celebrity Malibu mansion has hit the market. Berg Properties Big Time Listings led us to the listing for singer Josh Groban's Malibu home. Groban bought the home in 2005 for $4.125 million. The home is a four-bedroom Tuscan villa-style home on 1.8 acres in the Point Dume area. The property includes a one-bedroom guest house with a recording studio, a saltwater pool with a waterfall, a tennis court and a poolside cooking area. The family room has high beamed ceilings and opens into billiard room with bar and wine cellar. There is a wood-paneled media/living room, a chef's kitchen with breakfast nook, a dining room with beamed ceilings overlooking downstairs family room, a gym and a master suite with a view deck. This home is listed at $6.1 million.

Retired tennis star Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras like to move around a lot it seems. Last month Big Time Listings reported that the pair had bought a home for $5.6 million in Brentwood. Now the LA Times says that the pair have listed their newly built compound in Lake Sherwood for $25 million. They also sold a Beverly Hills mansion in 2008 for $23 million.

Today's estate is a gated contemporary that is atop 20 acres offering views of the surrounding countryside. The property has a tennis court, swimming pool, guest house and a 2,000 square-foot gym. The main home has a home theater, gourmet kitchen, game room and there are seven bedrooms. This home is listed at $25 million (the same price their Beverly Hills home was first listed at in 2008).

Last year the economy restrained Oscar fashion a bit but this year it seemed like glamour was back in full force. Actresses wore gowns in either metallic fabrics or rich, deep colors. Deep blues and purples combined with gowns in gold and silver gave the red carpet an almost celestial feel. Mariah Carey, Kristin Stewart and others made the most of deep blue, a color that was a perfect foil for large, sparkling red carpet diamond jewelry. Safely protected from the intermittent rain by a tent, stars brightened up a cloudy day. Check out the gallery below for looks from some of the top stars.

There were definitely some fashion misses. Charlize Theron's dress was a bit of a fashion misstep. Sarah Jessica Parker tried a new silhouette that didn't work as well as her usual nipped in styles. One thing that didn't seem to be in fashion was basic black. Actresses that wore black gowns made sure they were heavily ornamented. This was the year for a cautiously exuberant return to Oscar excess.

It takes a certain kind of guy to name his home Heaven. Maybe the kind of guy who walks around town in a cowboy hat and is famous for being one of television's most notorious villains. As Hagman tells it in a video (after the jump) it was love at first sight for him and his wife Maj when they saw the hilltop estate in Ojai, California. They bought the property in 1991 and built the Mediterranean-style house with nine bedrooms the following year.

The home is designed for entertaining, there is a guest house and an open but covered space fits more than 200 guests with a lap pool and retractable roof. Hagman may have played an oil tycoon on television but the home is equipped with a huge solar polar system which sliced his electric bill to pennies and enabled him to sell back electricity to the town. The home also has its own helipad.

The property is designed to take advantage of views of the Pacific ocean, Channel Islands, mountains and valley and sliding glass walls offering unobstructed views. This home hit the market last November for $11 million but as the Wall Street Journal reports it is now listed at $9.5 million.

From Newsday's Real LI:
--Bollywood film producer Aron Govil has listed his 15-room Colonial in Old Brookville, New York for $6.9 million.
--Rapper 50 Cent is selling a one-acre property in Dix Hills for $499,999.
--Kimora Lee Simmons has sold her East Hampton house for $650,000. It had been listed at $800,000.


From the NY Post:
-- Alec Baldwin continues to apartment hunt in New York City. He was seen checking out a $14.95 million triplex penthouse at 54 Bond St., in NoHo's old Bouwerie Lane Theatre. He was also spotted at the New Museum Building at 158 Mercer St. in SoHo looking at two apartments in the $7 million range.
-- Dylan McDermott has been seen looking for apartments in the West Village.
--Agnes Nolan, a legend in the field of luxury real estate, wants to sell her own trophy apartment, a penthouse duplex at 271 Central Park West. The co-op, where she has lived since 1964, is on the market for $13.9 million.
--Yankees star Alex Rodriguez maybe close to signing a $12 million contract for a house on North Bay Road in Miami.

From the Real Estalker:
--Hollywood talent agent and power player Mike Ovitz has listed a Brentwood, California home for $8.5 million.

The Real Estalker dropped a bit of delicious real estate news on Friday, Mel Gibson is selling another of his Malibu properties. In 2008 he sold off several Malibu properties but held onto his compound in the gated Serra Retreat community. Lavender Hill Farm is a hacienda-style retreat on 2.57 acres. The grounds include fruit orchards, organic gardens, a tennis court, pool and three guest houses. The main house rambles over 5,400 square feet of space and offers the owners privacy in a second floor master suite with a separate sitting room. The remodeled home has six bedrooms total. The living and dining rooms have tiled floors and rough hewn beamed ceilings. Other details include a large country kitchen with tiled counters, breakfast room, library, a media/music room, office, exercise room and sun room. A particularly nice touch is the open entertainment pavilion with a fireplace and built in barbecue center. The Real Estalker says that Mel Gibson's ex-wife Robyn has been in residence at the home. It is listed at $14.5 million. Hopefully it won't stay on the market as long as his Greenwich, Connecticut home which has been listed for 3 years. Check out more images at the property website.

We've been following the real estate travails of Jeana Keough, former star of the Real Housewives of Orange County and real estate agent, for a while now. Just last summer her seven-bedroom home in the Coto de Caza, California community was listed at $5.5 million. Flash forward to now and the Real Estalker leads us to a fresh listing for the home and a new low price of $3.9 million. But it gets worse, apparently a second Notice of Default was filed on the property in mid-December of 2009 setting an auction date of March 5. The OC Register reported that $1,519,824.50 is owed on the home.
The listing's rather fuzzy photos show the French Country estate with a guest house, basketball court and a large pool and spa with covered patios and a firepit. Inside the home has high ceilings, lots of draperies and plenty of beige. There is a two-person office with a view of the hillside, large family room with built in wet bar, game room, library and a media room formed by a pull-down screen, a couple of leather chairs with cupholders and some large speakers.

UPDATE: The home has been saved from foreclosure by a loan modification. She told the Orange County Register that the home will be taken off the market.

From Move Trends:
Former tennis star Jennifer Capriati's home in Wesley Chapel, Florida is listed for $ 2.1 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--Beck has finally sold his Malibu home which was once listed as high as $2.399 million. It sold for $1.65 million (he bought the home for $2.050 million in 2007). His Hancock Park home which was once listed as high as $9 million is listed in a pocket listing. He bought the home for $6.75 million in 2007 and will likely take a loss on it.

Designer Kelly Wearstler and property developer Brad Korzen may be listing their Hillcrest estate in Beverly Hills. Rumor has it that it could be listed at $50 million. The property website is here.


How low can she go? Philanthropist and art collector Audrey Irmas has reduced the price on her Holmby Hills mansion, from $25 million to $16.9 million and now to $14.9 million. The property website is here.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
Technology entrepreneur and philanthropist David Bohnett has listed his exquisitely restored Holmby Hills estate for $18.9 million. The home was designed in 1955 for Gary Cooper. The property website is here.
--"American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi's Spanish-style home in the Hollywood Hills is on the market at $1.649 million. The property website is here.
--Commercial real estate giant John C. Cushman III and his wife, Jeanine, have sold their Monterey Colonial-style home in Pasadena for $3.25 million.
--Producer-director Bud Yorkin and his wife, actress Cynthia Sikes, have listed their Holmby Hills estate for $49.5 million. The property website is here.
--Television writers Krista Vernoff and Kevin Maynard have listed their Los Feliz home at $1.995 million. The listing is here.
--A Palm Springs estate built in 1977 for Oscar-winning actor William Holden has hit the market at $5.5 million. The listing is here.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Bob Parsons, the founder and CEO of Web-hosting company GoDaddy.com was the buyer who paid $8.72 million for a Balinese-style house on Hawaii's Big Island that was built by Cher.

Lady Gaga is known for her 'love it or hate it' fashion sense and it seems that designer Giorgio Armani has stationed himself firmly on the 'love it' side and designed several outfits for just for her to use on stage during her current concert tour. Shown here is one of the creations, a sparkling structured bodysuit with plunging neckline and exaggerated shoulders, and others include a floor-length black trench and a mini-dress with dramatic mirror effects. All the outfits are made with matching shoes and sunglasses, also by Armani, who was quoted on Lady Gaga as saying "In addition to her formidable songwriting skills, she is a modern fashion phenomenon."

Elle MacPherson and Victoria Beckham have been spotted toting the colorful foxtail handbag accessories being sold by Louis Vuitton but one celeb you won't see with the four-figure bag accessories is Sharon Osbourne. The always outspoken Mrs. Osbourne has taken to Twitter and Facebook to express her disgust over the accessories and has asked others not to purchase them, calling the use of them heinous. PETA has jumped into the mix, praising Osbourne for her anti-fur stance and taking the opportunity to chide fashion designers for putting fur on the runways at Fashion Week in New York.

In 2004, Sharon Osbourne announced on The Sharon Osbourne Show that she was ridding her closets of fur, calling attention to PETA's Fur Giveaway program, which sends unwanted fur coats to the needy around the world. PETA donates fur coats to the homeless at shelters across North America and Europe and to Afghan refugees.