Leonardo DiCaprio

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In April of 2018, Leonardo DiCaprio of “Titanic,” “Wolf of Wall Street,” and “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” added a newly purchased property to his already impressive real estate portfolio. The Hollywood A-lister acquired a lavish Los Feliz residence on Red Oak Drive from musician Moby through a trust. The sale was closed at $4.91 million, and the estate titled Red Oak Manor reportedly served as home to a member of DiCaprio’s family. Now, the Oscar-winning actor is bidding farewell to the marvelous manor listing it at $5.75 million.

As his primary residence, it is reported that DiCaprio calls Malibu his home. First purchasing a house there in 1998, he paid $23 million for a more expansive 1.8-acre spread in 2016. Other notable properties he’s acquired consist of Madonna’s former home he purchased in the 1990s, a mid-century modern space in Palm Springs, a chic New York City apartment, a compound property on the Sunset Strip, and an island in Belize. Although the star boasts several impressive estates, he is equally generous with his property assets. Earlier this year, DiCaprio’s purchased a Los Feliz home from “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson for $7.1 million and gifted it to his mother. Additionally, he also paid $4.9 million for another Los Feliz home to gift his father.

Built in 1926, Red Oak Manor spans 4,644 square feet and features five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Located near the foothills of Griffith Park and beyond the gates of Los Feliz Oaks and its forested setting, the old-fashioned English style property has since been “restored and totally reimagined” by Moby. With its traditional custom millwork, groin-vault ceilings, and elaborate fireplaces, the contemporary makeover presents a new kitchen with marble countertops and walk-in pantry, formal dining, lofted study, gym, steam room, and a security system. The spacious common areas offer hardwood floors, high ceilings, and stately paned windows for a clean, neutral aesthetic with plentiful lighting.

On the upper level of the two-story home, the two primary suites offer theatrical drama with their marble bathrooms yet still evoke a comfortable feel. The guest suite has its own secret entrance with access to a full bath and steam room. Outside, the expansive exterior descends to a leafy space with a swimming pool, spa, patio, and al fresco dining area.

Brett Lawyer of Hilton & Hyland holds the listing for this property.

The post Reselling Red Oak Manor: Leonardo DiCaprio Lists Century Old Los Feliz Residence appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Jamie Foxx used his home studio to network with Kanye West and Snoop Dogg. Electronic music makers Moby, Fatboy Slim, and the Chemical Brothers recorded their biggest hits at home. Kevin Parker, better known as Tame Impala, records all of his albums (including 2020's "The Slow Rush") between his two home studios in Perth, Australia and Los Angeles, California.

The Rolling Stones recorded what is widely considered to be the most successful home recording of all time when they set up a recording studio in the home they were renting in the south of France to record "Exile On Main St."

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If you'd like to join the long tradition of home studio recording, here are some essentials you'll need to get started.

Where To Put Your Home Recording Studio

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One of the fun parts of designing your home studio is deciding where to put it.

There are usually several options for just about every style of home. Here are a few considerations to make first:

1. If you're using an existing room, make sure it's large enough to comfortably fit all of your gear plus collaborators. Also, bigger rooms usually sound better. If you're walling off space, select an interior area that will be naturally buffered from outside noise. You want your studio space to be as far away as possible from heavy foot traffic, chirping birds, plane flyovers, outside weather conditions, kid's rooms, and noisy neighbors. These distractions aren't always avoidable, but locating your studio in a smart area can reduce their frequency.
2. Try to avoid spaces with very low ceilings and parallel walls made of drywall.
3. If you're building or remodeling a space, you have the luxury of making walls asymmetrical and raising the ceiling.

Once you have your room selected or built, clear it of everything and start with a blank canvas.

How to Design a Home Recording Studio Space

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Start putting your studio together from the bottom. Your floors should be either hardwood, concrete, or tile. Instead of carpet, use a large area rug under any instruments like drum kits that would benefit from a little muffling.

Make sure you don't have any decorations on your walls or desk that will cause vibrations. Furniture-wise, you'll want a sturdy table or desk for your mixing area (multi-tiered desks work really well for keeping mixing boards and keyboards accessible and organized. Cushioned high-end office chairs work well around the workstation while armless couches, gliders, or giant bean bags can be used to keep the listening party comfortable.

Invest in a package of acoustic panels for the walls. These are easily applied using the included adhesive. Acoustic treatments will improve the sound quality of your room and give your studio a professional touch.

A good sound tech can help you run cables and arrange monitors and microphones for maximum output. A top-shelf mic like this one by AKG Pro Audio will cover up any deficiencies in your space.

Once you have your room ready, it's time to fill it with the tools you'll need to create and play.

Get The Right Tech Tools Made for Studio Music Production

Everyone works on laptops these days, but for a home recording studio, a desktop setup is still the way to go. You want a computer that's dedicated to your studio, so size and portability are not concerns.

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The popular choice to go with here is an iMac Pro. It's got the built-in memory and processing power to handle all your music production and recording needs. Music files can take up a lot of space, so if you're going with an older or smaller Mac or PC--make sure you buy an additional hard drive to store all of those song files and loops.

Once you've got your hardware, load up your computer with one of the best DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software products. Logic Pro (Mac only), Ableton Live, Cubase and Pro Tools are the ones most used in the industry.

You will also need a piece of hardware called an audio interface. It's best to consult a music producer or audio engineer to determine the best audio interface for the size of your studio and production needs.

These are your main technical purchases, but you'll also need headphones, studio monitors, a keyboard, soundboard, microphones, mic stands/cables, and pop filters. It can be an investment if you're buying everything from scratch but quality brands and equipment will last you a long time if you care for it properly.

The post How To Setup Your Home Recording Studio Like A Pro appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Among Moby's improvements were sustainable wood floors throughout, complete electrical rewiring, additional built-ins in the public areas, a beautiful eat-in kitchen with add-on chef's pantry, and a secluded guest suite with a "speakeasy" hidden entrance to a full bath and steam room.

Moby also oversaw the planting of a veritable forest of trees on the lot. DiCaprio appreciated the former owner being a fellow conservationist. He reportedly paid over asking price for the home after several potential buyers put in competing bids. It finally became Dicaprio's through his trust to the tune of $4.91 million.

The home's towering vaulted ceiling adds to the living areas sense of airy openness. The view of mature pines outside of almost every window makes the house a buffered sanctuary on Red Oak Drive.

The double master suites are upstairs. One has an attached study that Moby used as a yoga studio. The other includes an extra en-suite bedroom with office study and vast closet space.

When DiCaprio comes to visit his relative, he'll most likely keep a low-profile–maybe using the lower-level guest suite that includes an assistant's office and that cool "speakeasy" hidden entrance to the spa bath. The property is also walled and gated for added security.

The footprint includes 20 rooms total: five bedrooms, six full baths, two half baths, three fireplaces, a formal entry, a service entrance, a living room, breakfast area, powder room, fitness area, and great room.

The outdoor living area spans over 1,000 square feet and includes plenty of covered entertainment space in addition to a pool and spa.

This property is a pristine example of how to modernize and ecologically improve a historic home while maintaining the custom millwork, mantles, molding, and character of the original architecture.

DiCaprio is active in the California real estate market and has owned several homes in the Los Angeles area over the years. He sold his Malibu compound in 2016 for $10.95 million. He still owns a home in Silverlake, plus Madonna's former house along with the property next door to it in "The Birds," an ultra-exclusive spot on the slopes between Sunset Plaza Drive and Trousdale Estates in Beverly Hills.

Photos courtesy of Sotheby's International.

The post Leonardo DiCaprio Buys Moby’s Beautifully Renovated Los Feliz Home appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

According to the deed filed with the county and accessed on Property Shark, Mr. DiCaprio closed on the home in March using a trust. He has numerous high-end properties, most of which are rented out, in the Los Angeles area. Seller Moby took two years to rehab the 4,644-square-foot, 1920’s manor-style home which is referred by listing agents, Patrick Martin and Gwen Banta of Sotheby’s International Realty as “Moby’s Los Feliz Masterpiece.” The rehab, while well done, is nothing spectacular. White walls, a white kitchen and light wood flooring are offset by stonework and bean pool outside. The property sits on a quarter-acre lot in hillside neighborhood of Central L.A. behind a thicket of trees and hedges.

Courtesy www.sothebyshomes.com

DiCaprio has proven to be a voracious real estate investor and his properties range from high-end New York condos to suburban LA area family homes. The property was on the market for only a few weeks when he snapped it up in March. Moby paid $3.4 million for it two year prior. According to the Los Angeles Times, the actor purchased the home for a family member and won’t be living there. Lucky family member.

DiCaprio seems to collect homes like he does supermodels’ phone numbers. A few of the prized pieces in his property portfolio include a Hollywood Hills compound he purchased in 1994 for $4 million (it’s actually two side-by-side properties, one of which was purchased from Madonna for $2 million) and which he has rented to actor pals.

A beach bungalow was purchased in 1998 for $1,775,000. The modest three-bedroom two-bath home with 1,765 square feet also has a deck, hot tub and views of the Pacific. The actor listed the home in September for $10.95 million before trimming a million off the price and then taking it off the market deciding to use it as a rental.

He also owns a Battery Park condo, which he first purchased in 2008 for $3.67 million and then the unit next door in 2014 for $8 million. "Riverhouse, One Rockefeller Park," 2 River Terrace in Battery Park is a building filled with eco- and health-conscious amenities. Filtered water, air, a yoga studio and more have seen fellow celebs like Tyra Banks and Oliver Stone take up residence.

The 43 year-old A-Lister also has a 7.022 square-foot Palm Springs pad, which he purchased in 2014 for $5.2 million. It’s old-school Hollywood glam: Built in 1964, the six-bedroom, seven-and-a-half bathroom spread had a guesthouse, pool, gym, tennis court and mountain views. It’s currently a vacation rental priced at $3,750/night.

Courtesy www.businessinsider.com

By far the most impressive piece of real estate in the DiCaprio portfolio is one of his cheapest. He purchased an island near Belize in 2005 for $1.75 million. Blackadore Caye is being developed along with partner Paul Scialla, into an eco-friendly resort and is due to open this year. Initial renderings show it to be top-notch luxury. But the place will serve more than Michelin-rated food. The idea in buying the island was to preserve its ecosystem.

"We don’t want to just do less harm or even have zero impact, but to actually help heal the island, to make it better than before," Scialla told the New York Times. A worthy cause, at a lofty price.

The post House Flipping Hollywood Style — Serial Investor, Leo DiCaprio Buys Moby’s Transformed Home appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.