‘Flipping Out’ Star Jeff Lewis Lists Ultra-Luxe Contemporary Villa Above Sunset Strip (EXCLUSIVE)
By Mark David
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Real estate investor, home goods entrepreneur and famously, sometimes hilariously autocratic reality TV staple Jeff Lewis’ latest project, a super-luxe contemporary just above L.A.’s Sunset Strip and featured on the most recent seasons of Lewis’ long-running “Flipping Out” series, has hit the market at $7.95 million. The veteran house flipper and interior decorator purchased the hillside property in April 2015 for $2.484 million. It was, actually, the second time Lewis bought the house. In December 2002 he scooped it up for $860,000 and, after a quick and upscale if fairly generic renovation, sold it in September 2003 for $1.75 million. This time around, rather than a standard cosmetic update, Lewis embarked on a modern-minded re-imagination and exacting three-year renovation that transformed the 1920s Spanish residence into a high-caliber, ultra-luxe contemporary villa with three en suite bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in 4,334-square-feet spread over three floors.
Steel reinforced construction and an almost entirely new foundation with all-new electrical and plumbing systems forms a solid base for the residence that features a secured courtyard entry and staggered, decadently austere limestone exterior façade. Spare but lavish, rigorously tailored interior spaces are granted some welcomed decorative gravitas with reclaimed antique oak floorboards laid in an elegant, always fashionable herringbone pattern and the home’s myriad high-tech accouterment include an automated, art-grade lighting system, a whole-house audio system and a comprehensive security apparatus complete with HD resolution cameras.
A limestone-faced and TV-surmounted minimalist fireplace anchors the living room while a vast expanse of floor-to-ceiling glass panels in the dining area slip into the walls to join the space with a 400-square-foot terrace with fire pit and cross-canyon city-lights view. Beyond the dining area a sleekly somber and somewhat unusually almost entirely black, dual-island kitchen is fitted with premium quality integrated appliances and honed black marble counter tops on matte-finished charcoal-colored cabinetry. A massive, industrial-style skylight floods the limestone-lined stairway with natural light as it winds down to the middle floor where the master bedroom is oriented to take advantage of the view and offers a private patio, fitted walk-in closet and bathroom finished with white marble floor tiles and, in the glassed in steam shower, book matched slabs of black marble. There are two additional guest bedroom suites as well as a snazzy family room and entertainment lounge on the lowest level that includes a mirror-backed bar and walls of glass that slide open to an L-shaped infinity-edge swimming pool and spa accented with glass tiles and a black pebble finish.
The property is listed with Carrie Berkman Lewis at Pacific Union International and Boni Bryant at Compass .
listing photos: Alex Zarour, Virtually Here Studios
