Perenchio Buys Third Bel-Air Property

Jerrold (Jerry) Perenchio is at it again!

Less than a month ago, we reported the Hollywood entrepreneur’s purchase of a house next door to the Bel-Air Kirkeby Estate he bought last year for $13.6 million, which was the second most expensive home sale in Los Angeles history. (The first was the $20.25-million, 1984 sale of the Knoll by singer Kenny Rogers to oilman Marvin Davis.)

Now Perenchio has acquired the house on the other side of the former Kirkeby Estate. The 1920s, Mediterranean-style residence was sold through foreclosure proceedings a few days ago for just over $3 million. The former owner was reportedly the famous Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, but he never lived there.

The house, on about two acres, has once-magnificent gardens that have not been tended in about five years. The word is that Perenchio plans to bring the gardens back to life while demolishing the house.

More on the house he bought, for $3.6 million, on the other side of the Kirkeby mansion: The latest word is that Perenchio might not tear it down but instead, may use it for himself while restoring the mansion. Later, it would be used for guests. That’s good news, considering the fact that it was designed by the late great architect Wallace Neff.

Incidentally, if Perenchio wants to own the rest of the block, he might have to negotiate with President and/or Mrs. Reagan. The house on the other side of the Wallace Neff house is the one the President’s friends reportedly bought with the First Couple’s retirement in mind.

Singer/actress Olivia Newton-John was in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza the other day with partner Pat Farrar to officially open their third Koala Blue (sportswear) store in California and to announce plans to establish 120 stores throughout the world during the next three years. A 26-store agreement has been approved in Canada, and negotiations are under way for other stores in Mexico, Japan, Hawaii, Colorado and along the U. S. Eastern Seaboard.

About 200 people attended the celebration, featuring an emu named Daphne, an Australian bush band, a fashion show of Aussie fashions and a menu of vegemite and other Australian favorites.

The first Koala Blue, on Melrose Avenue, was established by Newton-John and Farrar in 1984. A fourth California store was opened in Palm Desert, right after the one in Orange County.

Dr. Kurt Wagner has turned his reconstructive talents as a plastic surgeon to a Beverly Hills home built in 1928 for Corinne Griffith, known as The Orchid Lady of the silent screen.

Having made a fortune during the 14 years she was a movie queen, Griffith, a spectacular beauty who drew audiences more for her looks than her acting, retired about the time the house was built. She lived there until the late 1930s. She died in 1979.

Wagner and his wife, Kathy, bought the house about nine months ago from the architect Olivier Vidal, who designed the Rodeo Collection, a retail complex on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive. The Wagners recently sold their home in Sherman Oaks and are renting while restoring the former Griffith house.

They are also enlarging the house, from 8,000 to 11,000 square feet, with the help of Fields & Silverman, Architects, of Los Angeles. A new wing will have a library, family room, master suite with gym, spa and his-and-hers bedroom-size dressing rooms, and an indoor swimming pool. The San Simeon-inspired, Roman bath-style pool will be 18-x-45 feet in size.

The Wagners are also re-framing their Toulouse-Lautrec posters in curved frames to fit the curved walls of the 1920s-style 2 1/2-story rotunda entrance, which is being refurbished along with the rest of the work. Peter Devereaux, project architect, expects the $3.5-million project to be completed before next Jan. 1.

Dodger pitcher Tim Leary has purchased a Pacific Palisades condo from Barry Maiten, a local realtor and contractor, in the Edgewater Towers, a 20-year-old complex (built as apartments) that has attracted several other sports and entertainment stars over the years--Rodney Dangerfield, for one. The comedian just put his unit on the market at about $850,000.

Leary bought a smaller condo for about $200,000. It has only one bedroom but a great view, says Maiten, who was keeping it as his beach place. Maiten has another place in Brentwood--”only 10 or 15 minutes away, but it has a different life style. One has the forest, the other has the ocean.”

The Edgewater is on 11 acres with buildings occupying about four acres. It has a private park with gazebos, walkways and what Maiten describes as “breathtaking views of the crashing surf.”