Scary Spice buys San Fernando Valley-area home

Singer Melanie Brown, known as Scary Spice, has bought a gated home in the San Fernando Valley area for about $3.15 million.

The country French-style house has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms in more than 8,000 square feet of living space. Wrought-iron doors open to an entry foyer with limestone floors. The chateau, its 1,352-square-foot soundproofed media house and a swimming pool sit on more than half an acre. The home, designed by Xorin Balbes and built in 2006, has fireplaces in the family room, living room and master bedrooms, plus three dishwashers and a yoga studio.

Brown and her husband, Stephen Belafonte, bought the home because they have plans to expand their family, said Charmaine DeGraté, an agent with Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, who also represented Brown in the $3.14-million sale of her Hollywood Hills home in April. That home had four bedrooms and four bathrooms in 3,476 square feet.

Brown, 34, joined the Spice Girls in 1994. They had two multi-platinum albums, landed a movie and drew an international fan base. She has acted on stage, in film and on television and appeared on “Dancing With the Stars,” including a guest appearance earlier this month. She and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy took second place in Season 5.

Brown also is involved in fashion design and supports philanthropies working to end world poverty, fight breast cancer and support children with cancer.

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