LOCATION: Pacific Palisades, CA
PRICE: $9,000,000
SIZE: 9,100 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 6.5 bathroooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Upon our return home from our short, south-of-the-border vacay Your Mama received a covert communique from real estate yenta Yolanda Yakketyyak who said she's 100% positive that back in early August (2013) Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin, through an opaquely-named corporate entity, dropped $9,000,000 on a freshly-completed, Cape Cod-ish/pseudo-Colonial-style center-hall pile in Pacific Palisades, CA.
Well, children, we probably don't have to tell y'all that Your Mama had no idea what a Clipper is, we had—and still haven't—the vaguest notion what a power forward does but do know it sounds naughty, and we swear on both our long-bodied bitches, Linda and Beverly, that we'd never heard the name Blake Griffin before. Thank God (or god or gawd or Whatever) for the interweb because, as it turns out, Mister Griffin is a fast-rising and well-compensated superstar in the world of professional basketball and he plays for an L.A.-based team called the Clippers. Tah-duh!
Our brief and unscientific research revealed that the 24-year old, 6-foot-10-inch—ahem—power forward dropped out of college in 2009 when he was drafted in the first round by the powers that be at the Clippers. Some sort of injury kept him Mister Griffin from dribbling and/or shooting (or whatever) for the entire 2009-10 season but in 2011 he did his basketball thing and earned a spot on the All-Star Team, won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. He apparently averages just over 20 points a game, which sounds like a lot of damn points to this professional basketball ignoramus. Mister Griffin (reportedly) earned more than $7.2 million for the 2011-12 season and last summer he signed a 5-year extension with the Clippers worth up to $95 million. That means, in case any of ya'll were concerned, that for at least the next five or ten years the young man can well afford a nine million dollar mansion in one of the more affluent communities in Los Angeles.
The acquisition of a 9,000 square foot family-friendly mansion in the casually ritzy Riviera 'hood in Pacific Palisades might seem a somewhat strange buy for a bachelor professional basketballer of just 24 or 25 but—as these things often do—it may (or may not) have something to do with Mister Blake's new baby boy. Mister Blake's new baby momma is former USC lady basketballer Brynn Cameron who, the athletically well-informed probably already know, six years ago made a baby with beau-hunky professional football player Matt Leinart who (in)famously left her before the baby was born. Oh, what a tangled web some weave. Anyhoodles, poodles....
Listing information enticed out of the internets shows the brand spanking new manse sits (quite tightly) on a trapezoidal .34-acre mid-block lot and contains about 9,100 square feet spread over three levels, two above ground and one below. The spacious abode has a total of six bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms including a main floor guest suite with en suite marble bathroom as well as a bedroom and bathroom in the finished basement that was probably designed as a live-in staff suite but could else-wise be utilized to bunk less-favored over-night guests.
The house opens into a decadent double-height entry with glammy black glass chandelier and the sort of curved staircase that a melodramatic individual such as Scarlett O'Hara (or Carol Burnett as Scarlett O'Hara) could really may hay. Little besides extra-wide openings separate the entrance hall from the formal living and dining rooms, both with 9.5-inch wide, espresso-stained wood floors and the former with a bookshelf-flanked fireplace and a bank of Fleetwood-style glass doors that slip easily into the walls.
Columns frame the wide-doorway between the dining room and the spacious eat-in kitchen that's outfitted and equipped with custom cabinetry, marble counter tops, a three-sided, six-stool center island snack counter, and the usual suite of high-quality stainless steel appliances. There's a second, bookshelf bracketed fireplace in the adjoining family room that also has an office nook with built-in desk and a wide expanse of glass doors that disappear into the walls and seamlessly join to a deep veranda that overlooks the swimming pool and backyard.
Our possibly incorrect interpretation of online marketing materials suggests that in addition to the staff quarters/ill-favored guest suite the roomy finished basement level encompasses an all but windowless and wet bar-equipped family/game room, what appears to be a windowless home gym, and an also windowless home theater with 130-inch screen set into a wall of built-in cabinetry, tiered seating, and suede wall panels for sound baffling.
The upper level has three guest/family bedrooms with en suite facilities plus a master suite that's complete with fireplace anchored private sitting area, a backyard overlook balcony, and one or maybe two boutique-like fitted walk-in closets. The attached bedroom-sized marble bathroom has radiant-heated herringbone pattern marble tile floors, a soaking tub set into a bay with windows too high to see out of while bathing, and a separate glass-fronted and marble tile-lined steam shower.
A couple of shaded verandas on the main level give way to the outdoor recreational areas that include an LED-equipped salt water swimming pool (and spa) with glass-tiled Baja shelf, a flat grass patch just big enough for a custom jungle gym, and, tucked into the far corner of the yard, a well-equipped outdoor kitchen with four-stool snack and booze bar.
Of course we can't be 100% sure but as far as Your Mama knows, this is the first property purchased in L.A. or anywhere by Mister Griffin.
listing photos: Gibson International
