Reality TV Pioneer Gary Auerbach Lists Venice Bungalow (EXCLUSIVE)

By Mark David

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Reality TV pioneer Gary Auerbach has listed a Buddha-filled 1940s bungalow in the trendy heart of Venice, Calif., for a mite more than $2.1 million. Auerbach, one of the producers of the genre-defining series “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” and the former head of Wilshire Studios for NBCUniversal, where he oversaw a slate of productions that included “The Soup” and “Fashion Police,” will realize an exponential profit on the pint-sized property, purchased in the late 1990s for $315,000.

Auerbach’s newest venture is New York-based Top Dead Center Films, which will finance, produce and distribute thriller, horror and sci-fi movies.

Completely hidden behind a huge hedge and fronted by a house-wide raised porch shaded by a system of retractable canvas awnings, the not-quite 1,300-square-foot bungalow contains three bedrooms and two bathrooms. A detached garage converted to extra living space holds another bathroom. Filled with a fully committed New Ager’s cache of gigantic geodes, hand-woven dreamcatchers and a plethora of potted plants amid its white walls and wood floors, the cozily proportioned open plan living/dining space includes a fireplace and an adjoining kitchen updated with granite countertops and up-to-date, average quality stainless steel appliances.

Two guest bedrooms, one of them topped by a skylight with direct access to the backyard, share an ordinary, ceramic-tiled hall bathroom; the not especially spacious master bedroom benefits from three decently sized closets and a roomy, skylight-topped bathroom sheathed in azure tiles. A wall of frosted-glass windows opens the bathroom to a tree-shaded multilevel lounging and dining deck that wraps around the converted garage which, in turn, spills out through French doors to a flagstone-paved terrace and fire pit.