LOCATION: West Hollywood, CA
PRICE: $4,295,000
SIZE: 4,088 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Even though a December 2010 article in the Washington Post stated it would be "his final living space," much lauded, applauded and treasured theater icon Jerry Herman has flipped his fully renovated West Hollywood, CA condo on the market with a $4,295,000 price tag.*
Cinema snobs and reality t.v. watchers may not recognize Jerry Herman's name but Broadway queens around the damn globe certainly know he's a legendary lyricist and composer who came up with the scores for a handful of the most successful—not to mention gayest—Broadway musicals evuh including Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La Cage aux Folles.
Your Mama knows some y'all may not give a whit about Mister Herman since he's not on t.v. or a regular in the tabs but, children, in his musical theater world he is the absolute shit so show some respect, okay? Anyhoo, Mister Herman's theatrical efforts have has earned him two Tony awards plus three more nominations and a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He's an inductee into both the Theater Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Face and along with seriously accomplished folks like dancer/choreographer/artistic director Bill T. Jones, and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Mister Herman was a recipient of the prestigious 2010 Kennedy Center Honors.
Property records reveal that Mister Herman only purchased the two-unit combo condo in September 2010 for $3,875,000 and listing details show the high-floor spread has three bedrooms and five bathrooms in 4,088 fully renovated square feet. Mister Herman's West Hollywood aerie also includes four deeded and secured underground parking spots and at least a couple city view balconies.
According to the Washington Post, it was Mister Herman—no doubt in conjunction with and a team of lady and/or nice-gay decorators and burly contractors—who installed the Brazilian mahogany front doors and the lustrous white limestone floors. He may (or may not) be responsible for the installation of the swanky home automation system that, at the touch of a button or two, controls the electric shades, lighting, surround sound and media equipment.
The sparely furnished loft-like main living space has a "formal" living room area with—natch—and ebony grand piano and the rather beige "formal" dining room's only visual pop is a red, hair curl-like sculpture affixed to the wall. Just off the living/dining area is a petite media lounge that flows into a minimally furnished office space lined wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling on two walls with vividly colored and vivaciously graphic marquee posters for six or seven of Mister Herman's most famous theater creations.
The floor-to-ceiling glass walls in the main living area slide back to seamlessly open the room to a somewhat shallow covered terrace, also with white limestone flooring and unimpeded views that listing information says extend over the city all the way to Catalina Island.
The sleek, open-concept custom-designed Italian kitchen is just off the dining area and is filled to the brim with top grade appliances that include a smooth top range that blends in with the black slab counter tops (of unknown material) and a full-height wine refrigerator that makes The Doctor Cooter swoon with envy.
Both guest bedrooms—one of which Mister Herman uses as a home office where at least one of the walls is hung salon-style with gold records, photographs and other memorabilia of his life in the thee-uh-tuh—have generous closet space and en suite facilities. The master bedroom, according to listing details, includes a spacious bathroom with spa tub, a roomy walk-in closet and direct access to a private balcony.
The $2,778 in monthly maintenance fees covers use and access to the building's myriad services and amenities. There are, according to details of the building we dug up on the interweb, doormen and concierge services, 24-hour valet and guest parking, a fitness room, a resident's only banquet room, a tennis court and—although at 80-something years old Mister Herman's sunbathing in a Speedo days are probably over—a roof top swimming pool and garden with wrap around city and mountain views.
Mister Herman's building, just off Sunset Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood, has been home to any number of stars and starlets over the years. Once upon a time Tinseltown buffoon Lindsay Lohan lived there as did her former-gal pal Samantha Ronson although they did not, as far as we know, live together. It's Your Mama's understanding from various sources and resources that pop-rocker and 8th season American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert—who simply wears too much face make-up for Your Mama's taste—recently moved into the building where his across the hall neighbor is rock-n-roll scion/fashion-minded television personality Kelly Osbourne.
Mister Herman is well known amongst property gossips for his frequent buying and selling of homes. The Washington Post article said the West Hollywood condo he now has on the market was the 38th home he'd decorated and/or renovated.
Over the years Mister Herman has owned a handful of homes and condominium in Palm Springs (CA), a.k.a the Hot as Hades Land of the Grays, Gays and Gray Gays. Last July (2012), Mister Herman unloaded Villacage, a decidedly matronly 5,500-plus square foot single-story mock-Med in a gated Palm Springs enclave for $1,100,000.
Long before that Mister Herman owned a privately situated residence in Beverly Hills (CA) that he sold to Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick in early 2004 for $5,800,000. Mister Mutchnick gave the house and property a spectacular overhaul and sold it in late 2007 for just over $29 million to chat show hostess Ellen Degeneres and her wife Portia di Rossi who quickly snatched up several more adjacent properties (and houses), had the house photographed for the November 2011 issue of Architectural Digest and then—natch—sold the sprawling, multi-residence compound to newly minted Tinseltown tycoon Ryan Seacrest for a very a-list $37,000,000.
Multiple online resources reveal Mister Herman maintains a residence in Florida and according to both property records and a friendly informant we'll call Billy Bridgethegap Mister Herman owns a small-ish condo in a Michael Graves-designed ocean front complex in Miami Beach, FL that he picked up in May 2006 for $1,250,000. Mister Bridgethegap also informed us that in May 2012 Mister Herman dropped $3,100,000 on a spacious but decoratively dated, 8,885 square foot contemporary in guard-gated CocoPlum community in Coral Gables.
*The 15th floor condo-crib actually and very quietly first popped up on the open market in June 2012 with an asking price of $4,595,000, a figure that dropped in late October to its current $4,295,000.
exterior photo: Top L.A. Condos
interior listing photos: Coldwell Banker