Celebrity Real Estate: Heidi Saban Stills Lists Encino Home for $3.58 Million; Former Home of Melissa Joan Hart and Adam Venit, Talent Agent for Adam Sandler
[Update March 17, 2013]: This home finally sold on February 22, 2013 for $2.4 million which was a gut wrenching $1,118,000 less than the original asking price of $3.58 million that was first listed back on July 18, 2011. I am not entirely sure who owned the property but I believe Haim Saban quitclaimed the property to Heidi Saban Stills who initially had a 20% stake in the property when purchased. This is all speculation as reading the property documents dont make sense to me and I am not an attorney. At any rate, somebody took a big loss here which I am guessing is billionaire Haim Saban but whats a $1 million dollars when we are talking about a man with billions in the bank account.
[Original Post]:
This one is going to be confusing so hang in there and grab your favorite cocktail or whatever gets you through the day.
On July 18, 2011, an exclusive celebrity real estate property was listed on the market for an asking price of $3.58 million. This property is situated on 0.7 acres with 5,618sqft of living space consisting of 5 Beds/6.5 Baths. This Craftsman style estate sits behind a large gate that opens up to a U-shaped driveway and a front yard with a jungle gym for the kids. According to the listing, no expense was spared on this property with a chef's kitchen, Viking appliances, en suite bedrooms, family room, fully equipped media room with theater seating, 2 fireplaces, tennis court, pool and spa, BBQ island, and state of the art music and security systems. In a nutshell, this house has it all which is walking distance to the Jackson family estate that is currently under renovation with the family renting a home in Calabasas which was discussed at length here including other Jackson family whereabouts in the always sunny and beautiful San Fernando Valley.
Enough of the Jackson family and back to the interesting part of this property. According to property records, the home was last purchased in Aug 2005 for $630,000. Keep in mind this property was built in 1950 with renovations in 1990. So I imagine you are wondering like me, how in the hell did this property sell for less than a million in the area known as the "Beverly Hills of the Valley" especially at the peak of the housing bubble! Well, if I didnt get all excited and continued reading the property records, I would have noticed that roughly 4 months earlier, the property was sold for $3.15 million which sounds a lot more reasonable. So whats up with the difference? Lets find out by examining the current owner.
This property is currently owned by Heidi Saban Stills who also goes by the name Heidi Noelle Lenhart who is an actress known for her role as Jenny Garrison in California Dreams and Jenny Caldwell in the Au Pair films amongst a whole list of other films completed in the 90's and 2000's. According to her blog, she has taken a break from acting to focus more on raising her two daughters. She is the daughter of ex-Playboy model Cheryl Saban. If you recognize the name Saban, you guessed right in thinking of Haim Saban of Power Rangers fame and literally every other cartoon shown during the 80's, 90's, and 2000's, who is her step-father. Based on the property records, it looks like Haim purchased the property for $3.15 million and sold it to Heidi for $630K which is a really nice gift or doesnt make any sense.
While continuing to review the property records, it also appears that the prior owner to Saban is a Melissa Hart Wilkerson having purchased it in April 2003 for $2.5 million. If my research is correct, this is Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame who married musician Mark Wilkerson in 2003 which coincidentally happens to be just when the home was purchased.
Prior to Melissa owning the property, the home was purchased in December 1998 for $1.35 million by Adam Venit who is an extraordinary agent with clients including Adam Sandler, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dustin Hoffman, Hank Azaria, and Russel Brand at the William Morris Agency (think of Entourage's Ari Gold which is actually based on Adam's founding colleague, Ari Emanuel).
So to recap:
- Adam Venit purchases in 1998 for $1.35 million
- Melissa Joan Hart purchases from Adam in 2003 for $2.5 million
- Haim Saban purchases from Melissa in 2005 for $3.15 million
- Heidi Saban Stills purchases from Haim in 2005 for $630K
- Heidi lists at $3.58 million
You can view more San Fernando Valley R.E. here.
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Marty Mcfly
Anything and everything about the San Fernando Valley. This blog will take you back in time when the valley was covered with dirt and orange groves to a leader in the space race to its current status as America's suburb. Come along and join me on this adventure, I guarantee you have been influenced/impacted by the San Fernando Valley in one form or another even if you have never visited or heard of the SFV.
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