More than a month ago, based on intel from a few of our better-connected informants, Your Mama tattled to the children that international bubble gum pop superstar Katy Perry was fixin' to drop a serious wad of sawbucks to create a multi-residence celebrity-style compound high atop Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills.
Thanks to the ever-vigilant Yolanda Yakketyak it's come to Your Mama's attention that property records now indicate Miz Perry—by way of a generically named trust—paid a hair straightening $11.2 million for the two properties that combined have two houses on three separate but adjoining parcels that total 3.95 acres.
Property records reveal Miz Perry paid exactly $3,000,000 for the two-parcel property that includes an organically sleek single-story contemporary on 1.62 mostly au naturel acres with an only-in-Tinseltown provenance. Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal's (now acrimoniously divorced) parents Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner sold the house in 2009 to drummer/band leader Max Weinberg who flipped the gated two-parcel spread in January 2011. The buyer who paid $2.95 million was American oil heiress Aileen Getty who already owned the 2.33 acre spread next door that property records show she sold to Miz Perry for $8.2 million.
Like the Gyllenhaal/Weinberg residence, Miz Getty's house was not listed on the open market and also has an interesting provenance. Our research shows Miz Getty bought the property in April 2004 for $3.54 million from occasional film producer and Wal-Mart heiress Sybil Robson Orr. As best as we can tell from various digitally accessible resources the Robson Orr/Getty spread includes a nearly 4,000 square foot mock-Med main house, a semi-detached poolside guesthouse/cabana, and some sort of barn/equestrian facility. Vast stone terraces extend the living to the outdoors in classic California fashion and surround a slightly elevated swimming pool. Terraced gardens planted with fruit trees and laced with pathways make maximum use of the steep slope below the house.
Although the nine-time Grammy nominated singer unloaded a quirky downtown New York City duplex penthouse at a small loss last spring (2012) she still owns Park Hill, the nearly three acre Laurel Canyon estate she and ex-husband Russell Brand bought in mid-2011 for $6.5 million but never actually moved in to. Mister Brand reportedly granted Miss Perry full ownership of the historic estate in their divorce and after she unsuccessfully attempted to sell the multi-structure compound off market earlier in the year finally pushed the property on the open market in early April (2013) with an asking price of $6,925,000.