James Widdoes Sells Longtime Beverly Hills Home (EXCLUSIVE)
It took more than a year, a change in real estate agents and several substantial price reductions but veteran Hollywood hyphenate James Widdoes, one of the stars of the iconic 1978 comedy “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” has finally managed to unload his Beverly Hills, Calif., residence for a smidgen less than $2.9 million.
Widdoes, who directed an astonishing 140 episodes of “Two and a Half Men” and currently directs the Anna Faris and Allison Janney-starring hit sitcom “Mom,” acquired the property in 1990 for $1.1 million and first set it out for sale in early 2018 with an in-hindsight wild-eyed ask of almost $4.1 million. The price eventually plummeted to just under $3 million before a buyer was enticed to bite the real estate bullet. Hidden in a slightly messy tangle of trees and foliage at the end of a secluded cul-de-sac high above Beverly Hills and just below Mulholland Drive, the architecturally unremarkable, circa 1979 traditional has six bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms in 4,356 square feet.
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James Widdoes Sells Longtime Beverly Hills Home (EXCLUSIVE)
A deer antler chandelier lights lends rustic funkiness to the double-height stair hall and the graciously proportioned and colorfully furnished step-down formal living room has a vaulted ceiling, a classic white brick fireplace and decoratively gutsy, teal colored lattice screens over tall, arched windows. The dining room audaciously pairs a pixellated pattern tile floor with a crimson and butter yellow toile pattern wall covering that covers not just the walls, but also the coved ceiling while the roomy and upscale if somewhat dated kitchen is open to a den/TV lounge with French doors that lead to the backyard.
There are two en suite bedrooms on the main floor, one suitable for staff and the other painted blood-red with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and three more guest bedrooms on the second floor along with the master suite that features a vaulted ceiling and French doors to a private balcony. There are also dual walk-in closets, one done up as an elegant lady’s boudoir with floor to-ceiling mirror-fronted wardrobes, and a glitzy-glam bathroom appointed with two sinks, a steam shower and a soaking tub set into a mirror-lined niche. A vine-draped trellis equipped with built-in heaters partially shades a vintage brick patio outside the family room and overlooks a small strip of lawn as well as the swimming pool and spa.
The seller was represented by Max Shapiro and Stephen Shapiro, both with Westside Estate Agency, and the buyer by Anna Solomon at the Agency.
Launch Gallery: ‘Animal House’ Actor and ‘Mom’ Director James Widdoes Sells Beverly Hills Traditional
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