Hot Property Newsletter: Side hustles

By Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale

March 23, 2019 12:05 AM PT

For some, there’s not enough long-term financial security in relying on stardom. For others, why not parlay fame into other moneymaking avenues? This week’s collection includes public figures who have padded their gilded cages with clothing lines, product endorsements and even a cookie-delivery business.

Our Home of the Week in Venice unites the old and the new by integrating a 1910 California bungalow into a four-bedroom contemporary design containing a vaulted-ceiling common area and kitchen. The asking price: $4.985 million.

Once you’re done reading about these deals, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property articles and updates throughout the week.

– Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale

Kimye expand their realm

The Hidden Hills compound of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West continues to grow.

The celebrity couple, who have reportedly sunk millions into the massive French-country-inspired estate since buying it in 2014, have paid $2.7 million through a trust for a neighboring home.

The bordering property had been owned by the estate of late author and screenwriter Richard Matheson, whose notable works include the sci-fi novels “I Am Legend” and “The Shrinking Man.”

With the new 1.57-acre purchase and another adjoining property they bought in 2014, the couple’s estate now measures north of six acres.

West, 41, has won 21 Grammy Awards and released his eighth studio album, “Ye,” last year. Among his relationships with clothing and shoe makers is the Adidas Yeezy collaboration.

Kardashian West, 38, stars on the reality show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” touts a line of beauty products and has had a variety of endorsement deals.

Save your thighs, use the funicular

If you lived through the 1990s, you may be familiar with a product known as the ThighMaster as shown on countless TV infomercials. Actress Suzanne Somers demonstrated the benefits of the spot-exercise device, which is still sold today.

Now if she only could have such success selling her Palm Springs retreat, which is back on the market at a much-reduced $9.5 million. Somers and her husband, producer Alan Hamel, first tried to sell the mountainside compound 11 years ago for $35 million.

The property contains five villas, a two-bedroom caretaker’s house and a pool house on 72 acres crisscrossed by hiking trails. Boulders line the steps leading to the front door. Or there’s a two-seat funicular to make navigating the hill easier.

There are a total of five bedrooms in the villas, which are set amid a waterfall-fed pond, a lap pool, spas and an amphitheater.

Somers, 72, gained notice as the blond in the T-Bird in the 1973 film “American Graffiti” and later co-starred on the sitcoms “Three’s Company” and “Step by Step.” Hamel, 82, hosted such 1960s game shows as “Wedding Party” and “Anniversary Game.”

Design host eyes a blank canvas

We’re betting one Woodland Hills home will be seeing an infusion of style. The 1966 contemporary was recently purchased by “Queer Eye” culture expert Karamo Brown for $1.24 million.

Although the recently remodeled house was fully staged for sale, the emptied 2,622 square feet of white-walled interiors would be a blank canvas for the reality TV personality. Among the five bedrooms and three bathrooms is a master suite with a walk-in closet and a barn-style door opening to the dual-sink bathroom. Will the door stay or is that fad too yesterday already?

Also ready for some dramatic flair is the backyard, which contains a swimming pool, a spa, deck space and a gazebo.

Brown, 38, has worked as a producer for the Oprah Winfrey Network and as a contributor to “Access Hollywood,” and has hosted other shows. He launched a bomber jacket line last year.

Keeping Texas estate in play

Former top-ranked men’s tennis player Andy Roddick and his wife, “Grace and Frankie” actress Brooklyn Decker, are chipping away at the price of their Austin estate, recently reducing it to $5.5 million from the original $5.95 million last year.

The Texas farmhouse-style home sits on 15 rolling acres with forest, field and Hill Country views. Built in 2003, the five-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom house has undergone extensive renovation during the couple’s 13 years of ownership.

A redesigned kitchen featuring stainless appliances, a newly built wine cellar and a butler’s pantry are among recent upgrades. Beamed ceilings and plank-wood floors add a rustic vibe to the 7,368 square feet of chic interiors.

Roddick, 36, is a former No. 1 singles player who made five Grand Slam finals, winning the U.S. Open in 2003. Decker, 31, is also a fashion model and was the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl in 2010. The couple have an Austin-based cookie delivery service.

She claws her way to a sale

Actress-comedian Niecy Nash, who stars on the TNT drama “Claws,” has sold her Northridge home of more than a decade for $970,000.

Built in the 1970s, the hacienda-vibe home sits on roughly half an acre with a separate guest house. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a formal dining room and a sunken living room are contained in a little over 3,300 square feet of space.

A covered patio looks onto a fire pit and a swimming pool with a spa.

Nash, 49, has received Emmy Awards as host of the Style network show “Clean House” and for her role on HBO’s “Getting On.” She will appear in the Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” and has a clothing line.

Her favorite room

The living room of Rati Gupta’s 1,400-square-foot apartment in West Hollywood is filled with furniture from her family home back in the Midwest, newer pieces from West Elm and Room & Board and artwork that simply spoke to her. Taking center stage is “The Big Bang Theory” actress’ roommate’s contribution: a giant grapefruit-scented candle that once adorned Beyoncé’s dressing room.

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“Nothing in here matches and that’s kind of by design, just like nothing in life matches,” says “Big Bang Theory” actress Rati Gupta of the living room in her West Hollywood apartment.