Stallone punches in at his lakefront property
LOS ANGELES - Is there anything more inspirational - or macho - than Sylvester Stallone running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the 1976 movie Rocky? Fast-forward to 2008 and Mr. Machismo may soon be running around Lake Sherwood in Thousand Oaks. I've got my sweat towel ready.
Stallone has bought two parcels, one with a house on it for the moment, that will give him a good chunk of lakefront land on which to build a weekend retreat. His main residence reportedly is in Beverly Hills.
He bought a property with 500 feet of lake frontage that was listed at about $5.5 million and the adjacent lot, giving him another 150 feet of frontage, that was listed at about $1.7 million.
The house is old, and it is expected that Stallone will tear it down. The lots have many mature trees and unobstructed water views.
Stallone is no stranger to the neighbourhood. He previously owned an equestrian ranch in nearby Hidden Valley.
Lake Sherwood is home to many celebrities, especially sports figures who seem to gravitate there. Former Major League baseball star Lenny Dykstra recently listed his Lake Sherwood Georgian estate for $24.9 million. That house was owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky.
The community is gated and affords a high degree of privacy. The lake itself is used for boating, fishing and swimming.
Stallone, 62, a Hollywood A-lister who commands top dollar for his movies, remains best known for playing boxer Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, a soldier who specializes in revenge missions and rescues. Both characters have become part of the pop culture lexicon. The Philadelphia museum steps are now known as the "Rocky steps," and thousands of tourists visit each year to pose where Rocky punched the air in victory.
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Some say quarterbacks are made; others say they are born. Made or born, one of them is leaving the neighbourhood.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer has listed his Laguna Beach ocean-view home for sale at $2,949,000.
The four-bedroom, 4 1/2-bathroom, 4,380-square-foot Mediterranean has a panoramic hilltop view of the Pacific, Santa Catalina Island, city lights and an open canyon below. The top level has an entry deck, an ocean-view office and a two-car attached garage. The gourmet kitchen has granite counters and Viking stainless-steel appliances. There are formal dining and living rooms. The master bedroom suite occupies an entire floor and includes a cedar-lined walk-in closet, an office with a private balcony, a sitting area with a fireplace and a master bath.
The home has three fireplaces and a built-in aquarium - answering that old question: How exactly does a professional football player relax during the off-season? By watching his fish.
The 28-year-old Palmer, a Southern California native, won the 2002 Heisman Trophy as a senior at USC. He was drafted by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft.
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Media billionaire Haim Saban is asking $12 million for an Acapulco estate that Time Warner has used to entertain clients and movie stars for decades.
Saban, a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger money-producing machine, sold Fox Family Worldwide in 2001 for $5.1 billion to Walt Disney Co. The network was renamed ABC Family Channel, and Saban personally profited by about $1.6 billion from the sale.
The property for sale is a 3-acre gated compound in the Las Brisas community. Think Beverly Park of Acapulco with enough celebrities in the neighbourhood to make even Perez Hilton happy. It has 12 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms and servants' quarters. There are indoor and outdoor tennis courts, two pools and a "wellness center" with individual massage rooms.
The 25,000-square-foot house has views of Acapulco Bay. I believe I've stayed in resorts smaller than this place. Guests have included Sandra Bullock, Owen Wilson, Barbra Streisand and at least one of the Clintons (not sure whether it was Bill or Hillary), according to the listing agent and other sources.
Saban, 63, founder of Saban Entertainment and Fox Family Worldwide, was ranked last year by Forbes as the 102nd richest person in America, with a net worth estimated at $3.4 billion.
In the 1990s, his company became known for the production of Power Rangers, Masked Rider and other Western adaptations of Japanese shows. He also wrote the theme song for Inspector Gadget. Saban owns a home on Malibu's exclusive Carbon Beach.
Hot Property by Ann Brenoff of the Los Angeles Times, features the biggest celebrity real estate deals.
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