Doug Ellin Lists James Caan’s Former Home
By Mark David
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The former Los Angeles home of veteran actor James Caan , now owned by “Entourage” creator, writer and executive producer Doug Ellin, has popped up for sale at nearly $8 million. Ellin, who also wrote, directed and produced the popular series’s less than critically acclaimed 2015 film adaptation , purchased the property from Caan in early 2015 for $3.8 million and subsequently spent what was certainly a small fortune on a comprehensive update and upgrade of the entire property.
Tucked away above the upper reaches of Benedict Canyon, in a plum area of the Beverly Hills Post Office neighborhood, an area of that benefits from a world-famous 90210 zip code but makes use of Los Angeles city services, the 1950s Cape Cod-inspired residence is secured behind gates and completely invisible behind a wall of foliage and trees with five bedrooms and five bathrooms in a smidgen more than 5,100 square feet. The showbiz pedigreed property is listed with Ginger Glass at Compass .
Interiors are punched up with a sophisticated decorative scheme that evokes an Old School Hollywood glamour with elegant furnishings, glitzy light fixtures and a classic, black and white checkerboard marble floor in the back entrance gallery off the garage and motor court. The airy formal living room features a vaulted and beamed ceiling, French doors to the back yard and a full bar with mirrored booze cabinet, while the separate and spacious formal dining room has a vaulted ceiling, a snazzy, herringbone patterned marble tile floor and direct access to the backyard through French doors. The just about brand-new, high-end kitchen adjoins a cozy breakfast nook with built-in dining banquette opposite a large television built into custom cabinetry and, beyond the kitchen under a vaulted ceiling, the family room offers a carved stone fireplace and integrated media equipment.
Guest bedrooms are ample in size — one has a lofted lounge area — and the master retreat incorporates an oversized walk-in closet and a marble bathroom replete with a lighted makeup vanity, a two-person soaking tub and a marble-sheathed steam shower behind a sheet of glass. A second floor media lounge with private bathroom and large deck completes the interior spaces.
Notched into a thickly planted hillside, the skinny-dip-private backyard includes a trellis-covered dining loggia, an ever-green expanse of drought-busting faux grassing, an outdoor kitchen, a fire pit and a re-done swimming pool and spa.
Ellin previously owned a stone-clad East Coast traditional on a pretty, tree-lined street in Beverly Hills that was acquired in 2008 for a bit more than $5.9 million and, after first going up for sale in early Fall 2017 at close to $10 million , sold in May 2018 for not quite $9.1 million.
