Actor Brad Pitt has paid $40 million for a roughly century-old home on a bluff in the Carmel Highlands along California’s central coast, according to public records and people familiar with the deal. Local agents said the sale is one of the priciest ever closed in the Carmel area. [Source: WSJ]
Known as the D.L. James House, the property dates to around 1918 and was designed by Charles Sumner Greene, a prominent early 20th-century architect known for championing the American Arts and Crafts movement, according to The Gamble House, an organization dedicated to the work of Greene & Greene, the architecture firm headed by Mr. Greene and his brother Henry Mather Greene.
The house had been owned since 1999 by Searock, a limited liability company tied to the late Chicago financier Joe Ritchie and his wife, Sharon Ritchie, property records show. A legendary Chicago options trader and founder of the private investment group Fox River Partners, Mr. Ritchie died earlier this year. The property wasn’t publicly listed for sale. Mr. Pitt wasn’t immediately available for comment.
In designing the house, Mr. Greene “built up the outer walls so that they appear to be growing out of the cliffs,” according to the organization’s website.
The D.L. James House around 1920. Photo: Greene and Greene collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. Though best known for starring roles in films like “Moneyball,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” Mr. Pitt is also an architecture enthusiast who is said to be a fan of Craftsman-style homes.
The deal is just the latest celebrity-linked transaction in Carmel, where the market has been moving quickly. The longtime Carmel home of “Golden Girls” actress Betty White recently sold for $10.775 million, well over its $7.95 million asking price. [Source: WSJ]
