John Travolta Adds Calabasas Villa To Property Portfolio
By Mark David
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Two-time Oscar nominee John Travolta isn’t letting a few remarkably awful box office turkeys over the last couple of years stop him from beefing up his already substantial residential property portfolio with the $2.65 million acquisition of a ersatz Mediterranean villa inside the guarded gates of an expensive if otherwise little lauded enclave in Calabasas, Calif., one of L.A.’s most celebrified suburbs almost 40 miles west of downtown and not quite 20 miles north of Malibu. Built in the mid-1990s on a secluded cul-de-sac with cross-canyon mountain views, the two-story dwelling sits on a lushly landscaped half-acre parcel and measures in at more than 7,500 square feet with six bedrooms and six bathrooms plus four fireplaces and off-street parking for eight luxury automobiles.
A fanciful, three-tiered water fountain splashes onto the terra-cotta tiles of a tropically planted entry courtyard that leads to a double-height rotunda sure to impress guests with its gigantic, pyramid-shaped skylight over a tile-accented curved staircase. The also double-height step-down formal living room features a curved wall of windows and a vaguely southwestern fireplace embellished with green marble; the dining room easily seats ten or twelve under a showy wrought iron and crystal chandelier; and a slender library lined with handcrafted floor-to-ceiling wood bookshelves is overlooked by a second floor gallery outside the master bedroom. More family-oriented spaces include a top-of-the-line eat-in kitchen arranged around a granite-topped island and a spacious family room complete with fireplace, wet bar and climate controlled wine closet. A home office and small, mirror-walled gym round out the main floor.
Bespoke, barn-style double doors swing open to the second floor owner’s retreat that sports a beamed and vaulted ceiling, fireplace and private balcony with backyard overlook. Two walk-in closets and a travertine-tiled bathroom complete the master suite. Several downstairs rooms spill out through French doors to a plethora of outdoor living and recreation spaces that include a covered patio with outdoor fireplace, a built-in grilling station next to a large dining terrace and a trellis-topped gazebo alongside an infinity-edge swimming pool and spa.
The listing was jointly held by Stephen Parisi , Dana Olmes and Jeff Biebuyck , all of Compass , while the Travoltas were repped by Kim Isaacson of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties .
The “Saturday Night Fever” star, a licensed pilot whose latest stinker, “The Fanatic,” was described by Variety’s Dennis Harvey as “a compendium of the most cringe-inducing clichés,” and his wife of nearly 30 years, Kelly Preston, maintain a fleet of private planes they use to fly around to their myriad residences that include a sprawling contemporary in the Jumbolair Aviation Estates community near Ocala, Fla., where they’re able to park their airplanes , literally, in their backyard. The high-flying couple additionally maintains a stunningly scenic and somewhat remote, 50-acre waterfront spread in Isleboro, Maine, a nearly 7,000 square foot waterfront home near Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, Fla., they bought a couple of years ago for $3 million and a gated estate in L.A.’s tony Brentwood area they picked up about 22 years ago for just over $3.5 million.
