‘PEN15’ Star Melora Walters Seeks Hollywood Hills Sale

By Mark David

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – A mid-century ranch house nipped away at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in a secluded Hollywood Hills neighborhood, owned by veteran actor and budding film director Melora Walters, has come available at a wisp less than $1.7 million. Unassuming and partially obscured by a fetching riot of drought tolerant native plantings, the hip-roofed mid-1960s residence sits just below the Hollywood Sign on more than half an acre that privately borders protected lands. Tax records show the “Big Love” actor purchased the property almost a decade ago for $925,000, and listings held by Aileen Comora and Paul Lester , both of The Agency , indicate there are three bedrooms and two not entirely up-to-date bathrooms in just under 2,000 square feet.

There are refinished oak strip floorboards and a slightly pitched ceiling in the adjoining living and dining rooms that are separated by a huge, sculptural volume with asymmetrical decorative extrusions and back-to-back fireplaces. The living room has a full wall of built-in bookshelves and both rooms have easy access to the backyard through wood-trimmed sliding glass doors. Fitted with butcher block countertops on golden wood cabinets that feature a handful of color-blocked doors in dark blue, light grey and pale mint green, the not especially large but carefully configured kitchen is open to a small, informal dining space. There’s also a separate laundry room tucked behind the kitchen.

Planted with fragrant lavender and rosemary, along with rose bushes, yucca and pine trees, the backyard is a rustic idyll with a handful of terraces and patios nestled into the base of steep hillside.

Though not exactly a household name, Walters is familiar face on both the small and silver screens. She’s appeared in scores of television programs and movies, including four of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia” and “The Master.” Walters recently made her feature film directorial debut with the Paul Thomas Anderson produced indie thriller “ Waterlily Jaguar ,” which she also wrote and that premiered as the opening night film of the 2018 DTLA Film Festival. Most recently, she portrayed a tightly wound New Age mother in the well received freshman season of Hulu’s clever cringe comedy series “ PEN15 .”