Larry Joe Campbell Sells Palos Verde Peninsula Home at a Small Loss
By Mark David
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Veteran character actor Larry Joe Campbell, probably best known to TV audiences for his role on the long running 2000s sitcom “According to Jim,” has sold a spacious, family-sized home on the affluent Palos Verdes Peninsula, just west of Long Beach, Calif., and about 35 miles due south of Beverly Hills. Unfortunately for Campbell, the slightly more than $2.1 million sale price is well below the almost $3 million original asking price and close to $200,000 below the $2.32 million tax records show was paid for the property nearly 15 years ago.
With what listing descriptions aptly describe as “spellbinding” views that sweep over the surrounding community and across the Pacific Ocean to Santa Catalina Island, the sprawling residence — a two-story version of a of classic California ranch house — was built in the late 1970s on a sloped parcel of just over half an acre with seven and potentially more bedrooms and five full bathrooms in more than 7,800 square feet.
A parking lot-sized driveway fronts the obliquely angled residence, where fetchingly curved, stone-faced walls frame the front door. Speckled and pale, almost white floor tiles extend from the porch into a wide foyer that steps down to an amply proportioned formal living room with high-gloss, medium-brown wood floors, a handsome flagstone fireplace and sweeping views through glass sliders that open to an elevated terrace around which the home’s upper level is arranged. Beyond the adjoining dining room, a spacious if not especially stylish or high-end eat-in kitchen with up-to-date stainless steel appliances includes an angled snack bar island and a huge walk-in pantry. The informal dining space steps down to a light filled family room that features a wet bar, a second stone fireplace and terrace access, while the service area behind the kitchen incorporates a mudroom and separate laundry room, convenient access to a four-car attached garage and a discretely placed bedroom and bathroom well suited for guests or staff.
Privately situated in a wing of its own, along with a partly oak paneled office/den, the master suite takes full advantage of its high perch with two vast expanses of sliding glass doors that frame positively cinematic city and ocean views. Equipped with a spa tub, separate shower and double-sink vanity, the updated bathroom looks out into a slender, foliage-free walled courtyard, and a separate dressing room with dedicated makeup vanity leads to a roomy walk-in closet.
Accessible from two staircases, one of them enhanced with a vibrant, floral-pattern stained glass window, the lower level contains five guest and family bedrooms, four of which open to the swimming pool, and two bathrooms. There’s also a den with another stone fireplace and another wet bar, plus a fitness room and a games room/movie theater.
The backyard, exceptionally large and flat for a hillside property, offers extensive, multi-level terracing that surrounds a free-form swimming pool and circular spa trimmed in the same flagstone that fronts the three interior fireplaces. Along with a built-in grill, there’s a curved portion of the terrace that cantilevers over the hillside and a fire pit at the center of a circular, built-in banquette that is perfectly placed with postcard perfect views under the shade of a mature tree.
Since his long stint on “According to Jim,” Campbell has popped up in several dozen television shows, including “Weeds,” “American Vandal” and, most recently, in a guest starring role in which he portrays a patient who dies after a liver transplant, on Patricia Heaton’s CBS sitcom “Carol’s Second Act.”
The listed was held by Steve Watts , and the buyer represented by Matt Cox , both of Vista Sotheby’s Int’l Realty .
