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Dr. Phil Puts His $16.5 Million Beverly Hills Home Up For Sale

» Featured Columnists | By Lauren Beale | July 15, 2010 2:50 PM ET



Dr. Phil, as straight-shooting TV host Phil McGraw is best known, and his wife, Robin, have listed their Mediterranean villa in Beverly Hills at $16.5 million.

The couple is selling because they have bought a hillside view home that they've been admiring for years.

The walled and gated property that they are selling sits on nearly three-quarters of an acre. It includes a main house, a detached guesthouse, an outdoor dining room and a swimming pool. There is a two-story entry, a theater, a gym, a billiard room, temperature-controlled wine storage, eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The pair bought the house in 2002 for about $7.5 million, according to Times archives.

Further details on their new purchase were not available.

McGraw, 59, started his daily "Dr. Phil" show in 2002. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is a bestselling author.



65 Years of Songs in Santa Monica

The Santa Monica estate that the late film star and singer Kathryn Grayson called home for 65 years has come on the market at $8,995,000.

The English Tudor, built in 1926 and designed by Elmer Grey, sits on a double lot of more than an acre with views of the Riviera Country Club golf course. Neighboring homes date mostly from the 1920s and 1930s on the street dotted with Moreton Bay fig trees and vintage street lamps.

Throughout the house are rounded archways, hand-crafted leaded-glass windows, English oak paneling and beamed ceilings. The living room, with floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows, a minstrels' gallery and a cathedral ceiling, was often a spot for entertaining or singing a duet, accompanied on Grayson's grand piano. The 5,381-square-foot residence also has a formal dining room, a library, a breakfast room, a walk-in butler's pantry, 71/2 bedrooms and four bathrooms. The grounds include plum, avocado and four varieties of orange trees, an expansive lawn and camellias.

The operatic soprano made a name for herself playing supporting roles in musicals. She went on to star in "Anchors Aweigh" (1945), "The Toast of New Orleans" (1950), "Show Boat" (1951) and "Kiss Me Kate" (1953). Grayson died in February at age 88.



Celebrity Photographer Sells Hollywood Hills Home

Photographer Firooz Zahedi has sold his Hollywood Hills home for $1.53 million.

A blend of midcentury design and Spanish architecture, the two-story house has 15-foot ceilings in the living room and French doors that open to a patio, a custom-built "endless" swimming spa and outdoor entertaining areas. The 2,500-square-foot house, with canyon views, includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Zahedi, known early on for his portraits of actress Elizabeth Taylor, has photographed such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Diane Keaton and Jodie Foster, as well as interiors of houses. One recent cover shoot was for Elle Decor.

He bought the property in 2007 for $1.5 million, according to public records.



Lake Home Has Certain Magic

Actor Craig Sheffer has listed his home on Malibou Lake in the Agoura Hills area at $1,699,000.

Formerly owned by actress Elizabeth Montgomery, the home is bewitching: A stone wall and fountain lead to the house, which sits on more than half an acre behind gates. A great room with a fireplace opens to a view of the lake, the dining room has a copper antique stove and intricate weathered iron work, and built-ins and chandeliers are installed throughout the 2,600-square-foot house.

The master bedroom suite has a balcony, and a partially enclosed patio contains a bar. An adjacent Moroccan-style conversational area centers on a fireplace. There are four bedrooms, one used as a media room, and two bathrooms.

The backyard, which faces the lake, has two covered cabanas, a grotto-style spa with a waterfall, a boat dock and a detached storage building or office.

Sheffer, 50, was a regular on the TV drama "One Tree Hill" from 2003 to 2008. He starred in "Hellraiser: Inferno" (2000) and "A River Runs Through It" (1992).

Montgomery, who died in 1995 at age 62, starred as a wife with magical powers in the sitcom "Bewitched" (1964-72).



Show Time in Hollywood Hills

Update: Talk-show host Leeza Gibbons has found a buyer for her longtime Hollywood Hills compound; it recently sold for $4,795,000.

Owned in the '40s by actress Joan Crawford, the 11,137-square-foot Mediterranean is set behind gates on more than an acre of landscaped grounds, which include a swimming pool, a koi pond and an expansive lawn. The main house, built in 1926, has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms. There are ocean, canyon and city light views.

Gibbons, 53, remodeled and renovated the home, which has carved moldings, intricate wood-panel ceilings and extensive terraces. The detached guesthouse was added in 2000.

She hosts the nationally syndicated radio show "Hollywood Confidential" and had her own daytime talk show, "Leeza," in the mid-'90s.

Crawford, who died in 1977 at age 72, won a lead actress Academy Award for "Mildred Pierce" (1945). Among her later films was the chilling "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962).

The property, which Gibbons owned since 1991, had been on and off the market since 2005. She bought the house for close to its $1,995,000 asking price, according to Times archives.

Drew Mandile and Brooke Knapp of Sotheby's International Realty, Beverly Hills, had the listing. Patricia Ruben of Sotheby's International Realty, Los Feliz, represented the buyer.




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