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Friday, May 30, 2008

Ted Danson bids cheers to Malibu Colony home

LOS ANGELES -- Although Malibu Colony may have been where everybody knew his name, "Cheers" star Ted Danson is moving on, having sold his Cape Cod-style house for an undisclosed price, according to area real estate agents. It most recently had been listed at $16.75 million.

Danson and his wife, actress Mary Steenburgen, have had the house on the market for more than a year. It was originally listed at $18.5 million.

The 3,550-square-foot home was remodeled and totally renovated in 2002. It has hickory floors, ocean views and 8-foot sliding French doors that open onto the oceanfront patio and deck area.

An oceanfront tearoom features a ceiling-mounted projection screen that is part of a large entertainment system, according to listing information. The dining room overlooks the Pacific -- a view framed by the hand-painted fireplace insets and antique aqua glass and crystal chandelier.

The kitchen has a farmhouse sink and tin ceilings, along with the prerequisite Viking range and dishwasher, Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer.

The master suite is the piece de resistance, with a fireplace and many built-ins, a large sun deck, a walk-in closet and a luxurious bath. Each additional bedroom suite features custom moldings, sisal floor coverings and Waterworks fixtures and tile.

There is a first-floor guest suite with a private entrance.

And of course it's all in the colony, which is guard-gated.

Danson played bartender Sam on the NBC hit sitcom "Cheers" from 1982 to 1993, winning Emmys for best actor in 1990 and 1993. He periodically plays himself on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Steenburgen, an Academy Award winner for her role in the 1980 film "Melvin and Howard," married Danson in 1995. She appears in "Step Brothers," with Will Ferrell, due out this summer.

Hollywood blues

So much for celebrity cachet. Even Hollywood types with homes for sale are feeling the market's slowdown and lowering their asking prices.

Some recent price drops:

n Real-estate-savvy Frankie Muniz, the Emmy-nominated star of the hit TV series "Malcolm in the Middle," (2000-2006) has relisted his five-bedroom, four-bathroom Hollywood Hills home for $3,695,000, down from $3,875,000 last fall. Muniz, 22, purchased it in January 2006 for about $3.5 million.

The 4,000-square-foot, two-story house, built in 1941 and completely remodeled in 2005, has hardwood floors, three fireplaces and an entertainment patio area with an outdoor fireplace and a pool.

Muniz has been dabbling in Los Angeles real estate for a few years now. When he was just 19, he owned two houses on Los Angeles' Westside -- one with a nifty fingerprint-recognition front door. (Too much time playing Agent Cody Banks?)

n Angela Bassett and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, reduced the asking price on their L.A. mansion from $5,999,000 to $4.6 million.

The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house in the Hancock Park neighborhood has 4,828 square feet, plus the couple added a detached 1,384-square-foot, two-story building that has an office, gym and guest quarters. The home also includes a hair salon. (What? Yours doesn't?)

Bassett, mom to twins, was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Tina Turner in the 1993 film "What's Love Got to Do With It." Laurence Fishburne played Ike. She starred opposite him again in "Akeelah and the Bee" (2006) and also starred in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (1998).

Vance is best known for his five-year run on the NBC series "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001-2006).

n A Beverly Hills house that actress Sharon Stone bought for just under $11 million in April 2006 and then promptly relisted at $12.5 million -- to no takers -- is now back on the market at $10 million.

Stone never moved in, and the 1991 gated estate, with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, was completely refurbished in 2004. The actress lives in another mansion not far from this one. So why'd she buy this house? Impulse, pure and simple, said the listing agent back in 2006.

And now, not unlike that Lycra minidress you bought because it just looked so dang adorable on the Size 2 mannequin, she probably wishes there were a more liberal return policy when it comes to Beverly Hills mansions.

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