An estate with a hint of the Cape

Dinah Shore slept here. The late singer-TV hostess also entertained friends, wrote cookbooks, shot cooking segments of her TV shows and practiced her tennis swing here. Sometimes she took a swim.

This was the actress’ home for nearly 30 years, where she lived when she died at 76 in 1994.

Dr. Norman Leaf, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, and his wife, Judy, bought the home in 1996 and, with the help of architect Gus Duffy, completed a minor remodel, connecting the guest quarters to the main house. They left the rest of the home, which was built in 1949, much as it was when the TV icon lived there.

The Cape Cod-style house, behind gates and hidden by a birch grove, has the warm, inviting look that Shore herself engendered, and it is still open and airy with its high-pitched, beamed ceiling and a wall of windows facing the backyard. Shore relished a good game of tennis, and she often used her north-south court, which occupies only a fraction of the flower-bedecked lot, which is nearly an acre.

About the sellers: The home sellers were the first Prada franchise owners in Los Angeles County, opening a Beverly Hills store featuring the company’s women’s brand in 1989 and selling the franchise rights back to Prada in 1998. The company, based in Milan, Italy, markets fine leather goods, luggage and accessories.

Asking price: $10.95 million

Size: There are five bedrooms and 11 bathrooms in about 7,298 square feet. The lot size is 39,160 square feet.

Features: There is a great room with two fireplaces, a wood-paneled den/library, a cabana and a wine cellar. There are four fireplaces in the house, including in the den and master bedroom.

Where: Beverly Hills

Listing agent: Stephen Shapiro, Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, (310) 860-8888.

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send color interior and exterior photos (copies only, please; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of the house, including what makes the property unusual, to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail [email protected].