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HOT PROPERTY: LOS ANGELES

Jimmy Durante's longtime home sells for $3.2 million

Los Angeles Times Service

The longtime Beverly Hills home of singer, pianist and comic actor Jimmy Durante has been purchased for $3.2 million.

Durante bought the property in 1944 and had the house remodeled into a contemporary in 1963. The main residence has three bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms in 3,944 square feet. There is a two-story guesthouse with a one-bedroom apartment upstairs, where the songwriter rehearsed, and maid's quarters and storage on the ground floor. The pool area includes a pool house with a bathroom and a dry sauna for a total of about 5,200 square feet of living space on the site.

The widower married his second wife, Marjorie Little, on Christmas Day 1960, and they raised their daughter, Cecelia, in the house.

Durante died in 1980 at age 86. His wife died in June. Memorabilia from the estate is going to the UCLA Durante archives and the Smithsonian.

The house came on the market in July at $3,395,000 and drew the interest of fans and bidders worldwide, according to listing agent David Yocum of the Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills North office. Yocum was a William Morris talent agent for 14 years before going into real estate.

`LIGHTS' ACTOR SELLS

IN BEACHWOOD CANYON

Actor D.W. Moffett, who plays an evil football dad on Friday Night Lights, and his wife, Kristal, have sold their longtime Los Angeles home for $1.75 million.

The 1926 Mediterranean, designed by lead Hollywoodland architect John DeLario, has four bedrooms and 4 ½ bathrooms in 2,506 square feet. It sits on a third-acre lot in the Beachwood Canyon section with a heated pool and walled garden.

Formal living and dining rooms have French doors that open to the pool, patio and garden areas. There are wood-burning fireplaces in the living room and den. The kitchen is vintage in style, and the original tile bathrooms have pedestal sinks, walk-in showers and tubs.

Among design details throughout the house are wrought-iron fixtures, coved archways and beamed ceilings. The Moffetts used the maid's quarters as an office.

The home came on the market in April at $1,895,000. According to public records, they purchased the property in 1998 for $775,000.

The Moffetts spent 14 years in the house but decided to move closer to their horse stables so the family of four can ride more often. They also will have more room in the new home for their rabbits, geese and chicken menagerie.

SCREENWRITERS LIST

HOUSE MARILYN LIVED IN

A 1938 Spanish-style house in the Hollywood Hills owned by screenwriters Roger Simon and Sheryl Longin is listed at $2,295,000.

The restored house of 3,335 square feet has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, two offices and a large loft. Vibrant tile work embellishes the kitchen and bathrooms. The living room opens to an outdoor living and entertainment space, a lawn and a black-bottom pool with spa. There are canyon and mountain views.

Among the home's former occupants was Marilyn Monroe.

Simon and Longin, who have used the property as their home and a place to write, are relocating to Bainbridge Island, Wash. They are working on a play set in Moscow, Hollywood and New York of the 1930s and inspired in part by the house.

TV ACTOR SELLS

IN STUDIO CITY

Update: Television actor Peter Wingfield, 47, has sold a home in Los Angeles' Studio City neighborhood for $1,707,500.

The two-story home has six bedrooms and five bathrooms in 5,473 square feet. An office has a separate entrance, and a maid's or music room has a full bathroom. The master bedroom suite features a fireplace and spa tub. Glass doors open to a saltwater pool and spa.

The property was purchased in 2005 for $935,000, according to public records.

The current house was built in 2008.

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