Seymour of Jane's Houses and Flips

SELLER: Jane Seymour and James Keach
LOCATION: 27525 Winding Way, Malibu, CA
PRICE: $12,995,000
SIZE: 8,435 square feet, 7 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Sunrise & Sunset w/ spectacular views of Point Dume from the Mediterranean villa on a gated private appx. 6 acres knoll compound. Screening room, lrge gym/family rm w/ bath, state of the art kitchen, w/frpl, mstr w/ private balcony, his/her walk-in closets & sitting rm. 3000 sqft wrap around decks, spectacular pool w/ pool hse w/ bar. 2nd hse w/ separate driveway & entrance. state of the art security w/ cameras. Permits ready to go to remodel 3000 sq. ft. gst house.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Another star is flipping out in Malee-boo. Your Mama received a tip on this property by a friendly tattler who visited this property recently and through property records confirmed this sprawling ocean view estate above Malee-boo belongs to mini-series queen Jane Seymour and her huzband James Keach.

Seymour, the queen of the 1980s mini series, has branched out and turned herself into the cameo queen making brief appearances on many television programs such as "How I Met Your Mother" and most recently on "In Case of Emergency." Seemingly tireless, Seymour also raises twin boys, writes children's books, paints portraits and flowers, designs a line of children's apparel that can be bought at Saks, and she even has her own line of lighting and linens. She's an official spokesperson for UNICEF and she hosted an infomercial for her "Natural Advantage" anti-aging system. And now she's flipping houses. All this is no less than Your Mama would expect from the overachieving Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.

The Malibu couple, who live up in Malibu's Coral Canyon area (see pics below), purchased this home in early 2004 from James' brother, the actor Stacy Keach, for around $4,500,000. Stacy Keach, the hair lipped heart throb with a big mustache, is best known for his roll on television as Mike Hammer and his tawdry drug bust at Heathrow airport in the late 1980s where he was caught with huge amounts of coke...enough to do several months time in jail.

Stacy Keach owned this property for nearly 25 years. By all accounts when Seymour and her huzband bought the property it was wreckage. One report says they put an impressive $5,000,000 into the gut renovation. They did a serious clean up of the property including taking down a forest of trees, installing acres of rolling lawns, gutting the interior, ripping out and re-doing the kitchen and baths. The house was staged (thankfully, no pear paintings) and put back up for sale at $16,000,000 in February of 2006. The price was eventually reduced to just under $13,000,000 and according to the listing information has gone to contract.

The most prominent feature of the house, the octagonal turret, speaks to the history of the house. Because of it's vantage point on a knoll with tremendous views up and down the coastline, the property was used as a Coast Guard look out during World War II. The military provenance might appeal to some, but it just scares the bejeezus out of Your Mama. Hopefully this property has been removed from target lists.

The exterior of the house appears a little disjointed to Your Mama looking like several buildings have been mashed together. None the less we very much appreciate the guest units above the garage and even more we appreciate the second house on the property with its own driveway at the back of the property. This way the staff and myriad of assistants can come and go in their beat up Hondas and Saturns without the homeowner having to see them parked in front of the big house reminding them of how little the they are paying their people.

The biggest issue we have with this property is the location of the swimming pool. The view from the pool and pool deck is undeniably gorgeous. But the damn thing is in the front yard and sits waaaay too close to the drive court. We're concerned what would happen if the maid let a visitor get up the drive without warning us. Your Mama does not need any visitors strolling across the lawn while we sun our nekkid body by the pool sucking on a Popsicle.

We understand the Seymour/Keach's most likely chose to keep the pool deck open to the drive court to preserve the view and to impress guests before they even get out of the car. But seriously, a little screening between the pool and the driveway would go a long way to making the property feel more protected and private. Besides, who wants to be sitting by the pool with the butt end of your Mercedes right behind you getting ready to spray you with exhaust?

More photos of this house can be seen on the extensive virtual tour, although we suspect the tour will be removed shortly after the property transfers.

As we mentioned, Seymour and her huzband live up the Pacific Coast Highway a bit from this property in a house in the Coral Canyon Area. It is here they raise their twin sons and host the other 4 children and step children. This family is practically the Brady Bunch. Your Mama was able to find a few not very good photos of their house that we're putting below. Your Mama has no comment on that depressing bedroom.


Seymour and Keach also own a large and lavish estate in Bath called St. Catherines Court. The property, purchased in 1994, was meticulously restored and because they don't spend a great deal of time on the property, the 12+ bedrooms can be rented out like a hotel. Strange but true, the house was also used in music videos for both Radiohead and The Cure. For a large fee no doubt. The property has it's own website which, honestly, we find a little self-serving for our tastes. It's clearly being marketed as an opportunity to stay in a celebrity owned home and there's even an entire page of photos of the couple futzing about in the gardens. That's just too much self promotion if you ask Your Mama, which of course, no one did.

Sources: The Real Estate Bloggers, Celebrity Parents, HGTV