Anna Friel? Who?

BUYER: Anna Friel
SELLER: Tim Metcalfe
LOCATION: Ledgewood Drive, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $1,195,500
SIZE: 1,821 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.75 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Sophistication, character and "Old World" charm best describe this 1934 classic home! Beautiful hi-beamed ceiling and fireplace in living room. Cozy den/office also with fireplace. Country decor is depicted in the decorative tile and hardwood floors of the remodeled kitchen. Refinished peg & groove hardwood floors, original wood windows and French doors leading out to yard. Elegant yet colorful bath on main level. Lower level is bonus square footage media room/art studio or game room etc.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Your Mama is only a tiny bit embarrassed to admit that we'd never heard of this Anna Friel woman before Mister Big Time recently wrote about her purchasing a million dollar home in the Hollywood Hills. A little research on the internets and Your Mama learned that the British actress has a quite long list of credits for roles in films and television programs that we have never heard of before. However, Miz Friel is perhaps on her way up the celebrity ladder now that she's landed a plum role on the new, quirky, and widely publicized show Pushing Up Daisies, which features Swoosie Kurtz and Kristin Chenoweth.

The internets also tell us that Miz Friel is British actor David Thewlis' live in lover and baby mama. But of course, Your Mama does not know who Mister Thewlis is either, despite his having appeared in such films as Basic Instinct 2, The Omen, and a couple of the Harry Potter films. Of course we'd have to watch the Harry Potter movies to know anything about the actors, so we confess to never having watched the block busters. Simmer down now children, Your Mama is simply not interested in the hocus pocus science fiction genre, so we do not want to hear your shock and flabbergast about our ignorance of these Potter movies. Honestly.

Anyhoo, this Miz Friel recently purchased her house for $1,195,000. Which is nothing remarkable, except that listing information shows the asking price for the property was $1,169,000. What does this say about the general cooling of the recently white hot real estate market in Los Angeles? Maybe things aren't so cool after all?

We haven't a clue if Mister Thewlis will be living in sin with Miz Friel and their illegitimate baby (we kid darlings, so back off). Whatever the case, Miz Friel's new house sits just north of the itty bitty shopping district in Beachwood Canyon and measures a modest 1,821 square feet. As Mister Big Time noted, listing information shows the house having 3 bedrooms and 2.75 bathrooms, but property records show just 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Hmm. (P.S. for the kids who don't know, a three quarter bath is one with a sink, terlit and shower only. No tub).

Both property records and Lucy Spillerguts, one of our always on top of things sources, tell us that Miz Friel purchased the house from writer Tim Metcalfe, who was one of the scribes for the Revenge of the Nerds series of "films." Records reveal that Mister Metcalfe purchased the house in 1991 for $454,000 with a wonderfully named lady named Prudence, who we presume is (or was) his lady friend, although we have no proof of that whatsoever.

The house itself is a study in contrasts. The exterior is ordinary to the point of boring, and the kitchen is a little too country for our taste. I mean check that plate storage rack thing. But the 1930 black and white tile in the bathroom is dee-voon (even with the feminine and slightly too dark lavender paint), and the living room itself, with the beamed ceiling, is really quite fetching despite the too small rug and too small artwork on the fireplace mantle.

The den has a certain appeal if you like cabins in the woods (which generally speaking we do not), but please note the exquisite order in which Mister Metcalfe kept the shelves. Very impressive and revealing indeed.

As for the "man's room" with the pool table? Ack. Yes, we love a butterfly chair just as much as anyone else with any modern design sensibility, but there's just something so forlorn and bachelor-like about them sitting there all alone in front of that countrified brick fireplace. It looks like an advertisement for a man who does not have the money or good sense to hire a nice gay decorator. In fact, after seeing the beautiful and obsessive order of the den, we're somewhat surprised to see such a sad little room.

Perhaps Miz Friel (and Mister Thewlis too?) will spend a little of their newly earned income hiring someone to come over and wave the decorating wand over the house and turn it into a house worthy of two up and coming British actors making it in the tough as nails Hollywood system. Happy house dollies.