About 10 years after their 1954 wedding, Hollywood power couple John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands moved into what would become their forever home in California.
The Hollywood Hills property served as a creative enclave for the duo known for their independent films. It’s where they raised their three children — and where they filmed several of some of their movies, including "Faces," "Minnie and Moskowitz," "Opening Night" and "Love Streams."
“This couple managed to catch lightning in a bottle on more than one occasion filming their movies that were life altering for many people,” said Kristal Moffett, a real estate agent with Compass.
Now, for the first time since the pair purchased the home in 1964, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom residence is on the market for $4.99 million. The sale comes after Rowlands' death last August. Cassavetes died in 1989.
“Those two really created their own world up there,” Moffett told Homes.com in an interview. She holds the listing alongside Kate Blackwood who is also with Compass.
Typically, celebrity connection isn’t a selling point when it comes to real estate, according to Moffett. But this house could be different.
“The people who love the Cassavetes and Rowlands legacy, they have a fever about it,” Moffett said. “With this particular house, it could make a bit of a difference."
Other celebrities who frequented the property include Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, Seymour Cassel and Lynn Carli, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A property that offers buyers opportunity
The property offers more than just an elaborate Hollywood history, though.
For one, it’s sited across three contiguous parcels, and it includes a buildable lot.
“It has a lot of potential for people either restoring it or adding things like a pool, sports courts,” Moffett said. “Someone could decide to add another guest house … It has a lot of opportunity.”
There’s also a frescoed bathroom that was pained by Rowland’s mother, who lived with the couple. The pink room’s walls feature various women in different poses.
“It’s in great condition,” said Moffett. “Who knows what the next owner is going to do, but if you have a great designer and you save these walls and sort of modernize it in the right way, it’s a piece of art."
Moffett said there are other parts of the home that would be ripe for restoration and updating.
“There’s certain rooms of this house, like the living room, the bar, the bathroom that’s been painted by Lady Rowlands, that a lot of buyers would value,” she said. “And then there are parts of the those that maybe don’t have as much character and detail that really allows to be modernized in the right way and have it all come together in sort of a beautiful way.”
