Canadian Standup Star Russell Peters Downsizes in the Valley
Right about the same time he sealed the deal on the $7.8 million sale of his nearly 12,000-square-foot mansion in the celeb-packed Hidden Hills area of the San Fernando Valley’s far western suburbs, Canadian standup star Russell Peters, over the last couple of decades one of the most well known and highest earning comedians on the planet who back in 2013 hauled in around $21 million, dropped $5.6 million on a considerably smaller but still unequivocally large contemporary villa of about 8,000 square feet in L.A.’s proto-suburban and ever-more expensive Encino community.
Looming over the street at the top of a swooping drive behind a sliding gate, the hulking and never-lived-in putty-colored and stone-accented mansion, with six en suite bedrooms and a total of seven full and two half bathrooms, was completely rebuilt in 2019 with state-of-the-art sound and security systems, as well as a six-zone heating and cooling system, all of which can be controlled remotely thanks to a comprehensive home automation system.
With a couple of slender balconies with glass railings jutting off the corners of the upper floor, the front of the lumbering mansion embraces a small motor court with a two-car garage behind a dramatic smoked-glass door. The architectural braggadocio continues inside where a strapping, open-tread steel and wood double staircase defies gravity as it ascends to the upper floor against a vast wall of glass. In the sprawling great room, a linear fireplace sits between mirror-backed display shelves, while the dining area showcases an 84-bottle wine and booze display cabinet behind full-height sheets of glass. Four flamboyant geometric light fixtures hang above a nearly 20-foot-long bi-level island in the sleek and gourmet kitchen. Elsewhere on the main floor, a spacious family room with fireplace spills out to a covered patio with heaters built in to the ceiling and two guest bedrooms each have a private bathroom and direct access to the backyard.
Upstairs, two more en suite guest bedrooms are joined by a couple of lavish master bedrooms, each with a fireplace, walk-in closet and balcony with an over-the-rooftops view of the distant mountains at the northern border of the sprawling San Fernando Valley. Also upstairs, a huge entertainment room is complete with a 200-inch screen, a powder room and stone-tiled wrap-around loggia with backyard overlook.
Back downstairs, in the walled backyard that’s carved into a steep hillside, a quiet terrace outside one of the guest bedrooms offers built-in bench seating next to a fire pit set into a built-in coffee table. The heated patio outside the family room gives way to an expansive, lattice-patterned concrete and faux-grass terrace with a built-in grilling area, and a sunken spa spills over in to a dark-bottom swimming pool alongside a small deck positioned for maximum sunbathing exposure.
The listing was held by Jennifer Santulan at Keller Williams; Peters was repped by Desiree Zuckerman at Rodeo Realty.
The observational comedian, who appears in the recently released comedy “The Opening Act” and who recently wrapped up an 18-month worldwide tour that culminated in an Amazon Prime comedy special (“Deported”) filmed in Mumbai, is a not only a veteran joke teller with a global audience but also a property gossip staple whose handful of homes include a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Malibu that’s been for sale on and off for about four years, first at $11.95 million and most recently, earlier this year, at just under $8 million. (It is currently leased out until 2023.) His holdings additionally include a two-bedroom condo in a luxury high-rise just off the northern end of The Strip in Las Vegas, as well as a 4,000-square-foot neo-Mediterranean tract house in a guard-gated development about 15 miles away. Peters, who grew up in suburban Brampton, Ontario, has long maintained a home in the Toronto area, where earlier this year he sold his nearly 10,000-square-foot five-bedroom manse for about $4.7 million.
Launch Gallery: Inside the Encino Mansion of Standup Star Russell Peters
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