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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director Lists Home for $7.3 Million

» Featured Columnists | By Lauren Beale | August 9, 2010 12:20 PM ET



(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Screenwriter, bestselling novelist and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" director Nicholas Meyer has put his Pacific Palisades house up for sale at $7.3 million.

The two-story Cliff May design, built in 1937, has been his family home for 15 years.

Used for entertaining, family weddings and Meyer's work, the courtyard-style house has nearly 7,000 square feet and sits on more than three-quarters of an acre -- plenty of room for him, his wife, three daughters, an office assistant and dogs.

"It's a house that allows one to do all these things and for a lot of people to be sort of swallowed up because of the amount of the grounds," Meyer said. "The whole house is built like a cloister, around a fountain, which is always going and is the heartbeat of the place."

Among period details are archways between rooms, decorative ironwork on the stairway banister, the stairwell chandelier and beamed ceilings.

"The big public rooms -- the dining room, den, living room and library -- are all very much original," he said. There are bay windows, three wood-burning fireplaces and "places to curl up and read."

The house has six bedrooms and 8 1/2 bathrooms, but when Meyer bought it, "oddly enough, it didn't have a kitchen," he said. "There was an accordion-shaped room where servants were expected to produce miracles. So we built a large kitchen from scratch."

The oversized kitchen has an island with stools, room for a couch and a breakfast table, and views of the patio. Other improvements the Meyers made to the house included a fire-resistant roof, and solar hot water and pool heating.

His favorite spot is the library, which he mainly uses for reading and listening to music "and where my model electric trains run around the top of the books," he said.

"The first thing that put me on the map was my Sherlock Holmes novel," he said of "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" (1974), for which he also wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay. Meyer wrote two more Sherlock Holmes books following the bestseller and last year published his memoir, "The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood."

Among movies he directed was the 1983 TV film "The Day After." After his first wife died in 1993, Meyer stopped directing to focus on raising his daughters. He has written and directed several "Star Trek" movies as well as "Time After Time" (1979).

He recently wrote the screen adaptation of the spy drama "The Crook Factory" for Johnny Depp.

Meyer, 64, is selling now that his daughters are grown. "The house is pretty big at this point," he said. He bought the property in 1995 for $1,841,000, according to public records.



Remaining On The Waterfront

Actress Dana Sparks and her husband, Steve, a private equity and film investor, have listed their waterfront Lake Sherwood contemporary at $2,399,000. But don't call the moving van just yet. A ferry may make more sense. They plan to stay on the lake.

"There is a home available we have been coveting for many years," Dana Sparks said.

The couple's two-story house, built in 1960, has large windows taking in the lake, sunset and mountain views. Its 3,280 square feet of living space include a family room with a fireplace and bar, a den, four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms.

The home has a stone patio along the shoreline where Dana Sparks likes to spend her spare time -- "that is, when I'm not in the water," she said.

"We love to have people over for a floating dinner on the pontoon boat," said Sparks, who transformed the house from a country charmer to what she calls a "comfortable contemporary," putting in a new kitchen, floors and decks. "We entertain a lot here. The guest room is always ready,"

The Sparkses bought the house as an investment but later turned it into their primary residence. They paid $1,925,000 for the property in 2005, according to public records.

The actress has had recurring roles on series including "Passions" (1999-2007), "JAG" (1997-2003) and "Falcon Crest" (1986-88). She has been offered a lead in "Reality Bytes," a new soap opera. Her husband is co-producer of "The Alchemist" (2011).



Just What The 'Doctor' Ordered

"Doctor Who" producer Julie Gardner has purchased a Santa Monica Canyon area house for $1.95 million.

Photographer Charles Brittin, a documentarian known for his coverage of the avant-garde and beat scenes of Los Angeles in the 1950s and '60s, was the seller.

The two-story home, built in 1978, is three blocks from the beach. It includes high ceilings, 3,500 square feet of living space, three fireplaces, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. French doors off the living and dining rooms lead to the backyard. The master bedroom suite has a balcony overlooking the garden.

Gardner produced the series "Doctor Who" (2005-10) and is the executive producer of scripted drama for Los Angeles-based BBC Worldwide America. She also served as executive producer of the series "Torchwood" (2006-09), "The Sarah Jane Adventures" (2007-09) and "Casanova" (2005) as well as the TV movies "The Chatterley Affair" (2006) and "The Girl in the Cafe" (2005).

The property came on the market at $2,095,000 and entered escrow in a little more than a week.



Making a 'Bold' Move

Soap star Katherine Kelly Lang and her husband, Alex D'Andrea, an entertainment industry veteran, have listed their Sherman Oaks home at $1,449,000.

The traditional house, built in 1951, has a high ceiling in the first-floor family room, a 7-foot built-in wine rack, five bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is 3,410 square feet of living space. Designed for an active family, the backyard includes a spot to shoot baskets and a putting green.

Lang started playing trouble-plagued heroine Brooke Logan Forrester on CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1987. D'Andrea has managed actors including Stephen Baldwin, Dyan Cannon and Jennifer Beals.




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