It was already counted as one of his properties at the the time of the
GQ, 2022 interview in late April or early May:
Pitt has a number of properties in and outside of L.A.—a beach house near Santa Barbara, a modernist glass-and-steel residence also in the Hollywood Hills—but it’s this Craftsman home, which has been a fixture in his life throughout his tenure as a movie star, where he’s been holed up for much of the pandemic.
The info about a property not yet public could only have come from him. He was apparently OK with it being printed but no one followed up at the time. All the focus was on his cover photo.
Appears to be another case of the formal legal filing considerably lagging the agreement. The looming April start of the mansion tax precluded any further delay in closing, which they did at the last possible minute.
Delay. Again.
The Steel House is a 13 min. walk from the DeMille and could be where Pax was coming from / going to the times he was seen walking with his dog along Los Feliz Blvd. Perhaps his pad?
The DeMille sits on 2.1 acres and within gated Laughlin Park. He doesn't need to walk his dog outside.
When oil heiress Aileen Getty recently bought Brad Pitt’s $33 million estate, the Oscar-winning Hollywood royal was left without a Los Angeles residence. Seeking a downsize, he took a shine to Getty’s home, a snug midcentury modern pavilion tucked into the Los Feliz foothills.
Getty, of course, was only too happy to hand Pitt the keys, particularly at the agreed-upon sales price of $5.5 million — a nice profit over the $4.1 million she paid Maroon 5’s James Valentine for the house back in 2019.
Built in 1960, designed by little-known midcentury architect Neil M. Johnson and aptly known as the
Steel House, the 2,000-square-foot home is largely
hewn from steel and glass. Johnson was inspired by the Case Study program, and his creation has the squat, rectangular roofline emblematic of that era. For hardcore midcentury fanatics, there are also terrazzo floors, cantilevered eaves and beamed ceilings aplenty.
Valentine acquired the property in 2007, and subsequently hired acclaimed designer Mark Haddawy to do a complete restoration of the premises. Today, retro details and colors abound, and the place is a vibrant tribute to the swinging sixties. A particularly groovy fireplace warms the combo living/dining room, and a cozy terrace has views over the tropical landscaping to the twinkling city lights below. There’s also a redwood hot tub hidden among the property’s thick foliage, plus a freestanding sauna building.
All three of the home’s bedrooms feature striking cobalt blue carpeting, while the kitchen, master bath and walk-in closet have custom cabinetry painted a pale blue. At least during Valentine’s ownership, one of the two guest bedrooms was being used as a sitting/reading room. The L-shaped house partially wraps itself around a sunny backyard, so most of the rooms overlook the pool and patio area.
Dirt
When Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles estate of nearly 30 years sold in a blockbuster deal last week, jaws dropped. The reported $39 million sale price was unprecedented for the neighborhood, a quietly upscale community in the eastern Hollywood Hills near Los Feliz.
Property records have now updated and reveal the compound actually sold for exactly
$33 million — significantly lower than the amount initially reported, but still a record-breaking sum for the area. And it turns out the wildly wealthy buyer was Aileen Getty, a well-known collector of trophy real estate and a current Los Feliz resident. Born in L.A. but raised in Italy, the 65-year-old philanthropist and reformed drug addict is a granddaughter of industrialist J. Paul Getty, who was at one time the world’s richest man.
The huge deal closed just four days before L.A.’s controversial new mansion tax went into effect, a close shave that narrowly saved Pitt more than $1.8 million in additional taxes.
Photos and
video from previous listing by
James Valentine
2300 N Edgemont Street from Berlyn Media on Vimeo.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Peterson opened up about how she sold her home to Pitt, became his longtime neighbor, and how the actor ended up with an unexpected elderly tenant on the property.
The situation was the result of Pitt slowly expanding the footprint of the estate. "I think there were like 22 houses houses that were contiguous to the edge of the property. And every time they came up he bought one," the actress explained to PEOPLE.
One of the properties belonged to an elderly man in his early nineties, so Pitt made a deal that allowed him to stay in their home.
"He was very, very kind to the husband. His wife passed away and the husband, John, lived there," explained Peterson. "I know that Brad allowed him to live there without paying anything until he died."
The arrangement went on a bit longer than it might have, she notes: "It was kind of funny because John lived to be 105."
The actress joked that John "just kept living forever," adding, "I imagine Brad was thinking well, you know, he can live there till he dies, which might be any minute now."
Peterson, who became Pitt's neighbor, buying a house next door after she sold him her property, shared her own exchanges with the actor throughout the years, describing him as "always kind and sweet."
According to Peterson, on one occasion, she came across his preparation for his 1999 movie Fight Club.
While walking her dogs down the street, she recalls, "I go past Brad's garage and he's in there wearing only sweatpants. He's got on boxing gloves and he is punching a bag. I swear I almost fainted."
"I remember he goes, 'Hey, how are you?' and I'm like, 'Huh?' I couldn't talk. I was turning red. I felt like I was fainting," she continues. "He's just so stunningly, stunningly handsome — and nice, to top it off."
"I have to say, Brad was just wonderful," she recalls of her famous neighbor, adding that he was "always kind and sweet" in their interactions. And she can admit he's "stunningly gorgeous" too.
"One time I was walking down the street looking like a hag because I'd just gotten out of the shower. I was in a rush to get somewhere, so I ran my dogs down the street for a quick walk, and I go past Brad's garage and he's in there wearing only sweatpants and punching," says Peterson. "He's doing a punching bag. He's got on boxing gloves and he is punching a bag."
"He was getting ready to do the movie Fight Club! He's in there and I really — I swear I almost fainted," Peterson says. "I remember he goes, 'Hey, how are you?' and I'm like, 'Huh.' I couldn't talk. I was turning red. I felt like I was fainting. He's just so stunningly, stunningly handsome — and nice, to top it off."
"One of my favorite stories," she shares, "I was in a little restaurant down at the bottom of the street there, and I had a little meeting for a fundraiser for my child's school. I was there with about four or five other moms, and we're sitting there having coffee and all of a sudden I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it's Brad. He goes, 'Cassandra!' and he gives me a big hug."
She continues, "I've gotta tell you, these other mothers I was with, their mouths were hanging open and they could not shut their mouth. I was just like, 'Oh my God, this is the best thing that ever happened to me in my whole life.' "
Peterson's "giant, biggest regret" from her time living in proximity to Pitt? Having to decline a dinner invitation from him and Angelina Jolie, his now-ex-wife: "He and Angelina invited us over for dinner and I was out of town. Then we never got another opportunity."
But, she says, "Living next to him was great experience."
