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Chill Chatsworth, CA, Home of R&B Star Brian McKnight Sells in Up-Tempo Time
Less than two weeks after making its debut on the sales charts for $1.8 million, the home of Grammy-nominated R&B star Brian McKnight is under contract. The Mediterranean-style house in Chatsworth, CA, was once featured on “MTV Cribs.”
There aren’t many places in the L.A. area where you can find a five-bedroom, 7,231-square foot designer home for a comparable price, which is one of the reasons it sold quickly.
At $249 per square foot, it was also below the median price ($353) per square foot for the area. It seems like an even bigger score when you see the fresh finishes and details that characterize this stylish home.
“Brian really knows how to put things together. It definitely has a modern vibe,” said Anthony Batarse of Atwater Properties, who co-listed the home with Dorothy Carter and Michael Orland of Keller Williams.
Batarse says a combination of exceptional clients, smart pricing, and marketing with great photos helped speed the sale. “Plus, the fact that it’s a celebrity home never hurts,” he says, adding that it’s also located in a prominent celebrity neighborhood. “We had so much action on the house the minute we put it on the market—it was unbelievable!”
According to public records, McKnight bought the home in Chatsworth’s prestigious Summit Ridge Circle for $1,262,500 in 1999, when it was brand-new. It’s since been extensively remodeled in McKnight’s suave style.
The cool impression hits you the second you step in the front door and are greeted by a double story entryway with slate gray walls and a grand spiral staircase, which leads to a spacious loft overlooking the foyer
Beyond the foyer is a wide-open floor plan that features a lovely white living room, a dining area, and a large entertainment room with a bar and a fireplace. “The kids are never really out of sight,” says Batarse.
There’s also a gleaming black-and-white kitchen, with upgraded amenities like stainless-steel appliances, granite counters, a center island, dual ovens and refrigerators, a tall wine refrigerator, generous cabinet and storage space, and two modern crystal chandeliers. A plush breakfast nook sits just off the kitchen.
Upstairs, there’s a gracious master retreat with a fireplace, private balcony, lounge area, and a huge walk-in closet. The master bath is swanky, with an island vanity with back-to-back sinks, a large soaking tub, a double steam shower, and LED lighting.
Out back, there’s a large yard with an outdoor kitchen and built-in barbecue, an infinity pool and spa, and a putting green. It’s perfect for private entertaining, as there are no nosy neighbors behind the property.
The half-acre lot backs up onto vast acres of natural preserves, making it a coveted location. Also, the home’s elevated position gives it spectacular views of the San Fernando Valley, mountains, and open fields.
McKnight, 50, has garnered 16 Grammy nominations over his long musical career. He’s also hosted a number of radio shows and released 13 albums. He and his band are currently touring the country.
London-Based Private Equity Guru Lists $18.5 Million Beverly Hills Mansion
Newly listed, this glammed-up estate sits on the best block of one of the best streets in the Beverly Hills neighborhood pocket known as the “Flats,” a collection of stately homes bordered by Santa Monica Boulevard on the south, and Sunset Boulevard to the north. Fully gated and watched over by a sophisticated security system, the half-acre property consists of a clapboard-sided East Coast traditional main house, plus a large grassy backyard and a detached guesthouse with garage parking.
Built in 1927, the home’s most famous owner thus far has been Leeza Gibbons, who bought it in 2014 for about $7.7 million. The talk show stalwart subsequently gave the tired old place a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion that was completed in 2017; she subsequently sold the property the following year for $15.4 million to its current owners, partnered Londoners Alex Schmid and Catherine Orridge, who have now flipped the house back onto the market with an $18.5 million ask.
A quick comparison of listing photos from now and then reveals the Orridge-Schmids have kept the place in immaculate condition and added subtle cosmetic renovations of their own. The interiors are light, bright, and distinctly err on the feminine side, with cream-colored decor in the formal living and dining rooms, the latter of which easily seats 12. Like the living room, the roomy family room offers its own fireplace, and the adjoining kitchen offers a breakfast bar and top-of-the-line appliances. There are also a separate breakfast room with seating for six, a plush movie theater with leather-lined seating for eight, and staff quarters on the ground level.
Upstairs, the decor shifts from merely elegant to decadent in the master suite, which includes a vaulted ceiling and marble fireplace. The upgraded closet puts any boutique to shame with its rows of custom doors and cabinets, all of them sporting their own draperies. In the master bath, there’s a built-up soaking tub set up hard against another fireplace, plus dual vanities and a makeup station. Accessed via French doors, a private balcony overlooks the backyard, where an al fresco entertaining loggia spills out to verdant lawns, back toward the saltwater pool with its raised spa and waterfall feature.
At the far rear of the property is the one-bedroom, 2.5-bath guesthouse, which is a mini-replica of the main house with its own stainless appliance-equipped kitchen and breakfast bar, a massive living area, and marble-lined bathrooms. The attached garages, accessible via a discreet alleyway that runs behind the main house, have also been converted by Schmid and Orridge into a state-of-the-art, epoxy-floored gym with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Other estate amenities include a full outdoor kitchen with built-in BBQ, additional off-street parking for four cars, and a high-tech automation system that controls the property’s lights, sound, and security cameras from afar.
Born and raised in Germany, Schmid is the founding partner and CEO of London-based investment company ESO Capital, which has more than $500 million in assets under management and offices in Luxembourg and Zurich.
Anthony Batarse and Robert Gertz at Atwater Properties hold the listing.