Usher Takes Hit on Sale of Los Angeles Home (EXCLUSIVE)

After nine months on the market at a succession of declining prices, Usher finally unloaded his Mediterranean villa just above L.A.’s world famous Sunset Strip for $3.3 million. Unfortunately for the eight-time Grammy winning R&B artist and media/music industry entrepreneur, the sale price is not only a notable $900,000 less than the in-hindsight pie-in-the-sky original asking price of $4.2 million but it’s also a bit less than the not quite $3.37 million he paid for the property over the summer of 2015.

By Mark David  LOS ANGELES (Variety.com)Perched high on a precipitous hillside along a slender street just behind the ever-chic Chateau Marmont Hotel, the three-story residence measures in at 4,261-square-feet with four bedrooms and three full and two half bathrooms plus a separate one-bed/one-bath guesthouse or staff suite atop a street-level two-car garage.

Preserved architectural details such as stenciled wood ceiling beams and hand-forged wrought iron accents provide gravitas the 1920s residence that’s fully renovated with a variety of creature comforts and modern amenities that facilitate a deluxe, upscale lifestyle.

It’s two full flights up from the street and through a secured gate to the front door that opens to a double-height foyer flanked by formal living and dining rooms, the former with an eye-catching herringbone-pattern tile faced fireplace and French doors to a dining terrace. Renovated and updated with snow-white countertops on dove-grey cabinets with marble tile backsplashes and top-end stainless steel appliances, the kitchen includes a cozy built-in dining banquette.

At least one of the guest bedrooms on the upper floor has direct access to a bathroom while the corner master suite offers an over-the-treetops view across the city with a tree-shaded private terrace and a marble bathroom that includes a two-person soaking tub beneath a pair of casement windows that frame a glittery city lights view.

The lowest floor contains an en suite bedroom with outside entrance, a media lounge fitted with blackout curtains and a den/music lounge that opens to a large entertainment deck backed by a tall hedge that ensures privacy from the street and neighbors. Marketing materials suggest it’s possible to remove the decking to expose and restore a former swimming pool and, behind the house, a secluded patio has a staircase that climbs to a brick path that makes a picturesque zigzag up the steep, tree-shaded hillside.

This is not the first time has lost money in the real estate game. In 2007 he paid $3.04 million for an almost 13,000-square-foot Roswell, Ga., mansion that he sold in late 2013 for just $2.2 million. He recouped some of that loss earlier this year when he sold an approximately 10,000-square-foot mansion and super-sized guesthouse in Alpharetta, Ga., for $1.5 million, $300,000 above the $1.2 million he paid in 1998.

Listing photos: The Enright Company (via Realtor.com )