Weeds Creator Jenji Kohan Gets a New Nest

BUYER: Jenji Kohan and Christopher Noxon
LOCATION: N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $4,000,000
SIZE: 5,919 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4 bedrooms
DESCRIPTION: On of the great trophies of Los Feliz, this Med. estate occupies its own pvt, 3/4 acre+ walled park. Find your dreams here: provenance (Huntington est arch., Bixby and Chandler families for over 60 yrs); privacy (matures ground); style (impeccably restored orig interiors); amenities (updated systems, chef's eat-in-kitchen, grand master suite, swimmers pool, guest cottage, studio); condition (move-in) and real value.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Both Your Mama and our ever-faithful compatriot Lucy Spillerguts have been watching this historic Los Feliz lovely for some time, since early January when we received a juicy but unsubstantiated tip from someone named Mister Eminem that that actor Vince Vaughn's new girly-pal was pressuring him to purchase The Bixby Estate in Los Feliz.

But alas, as it turns out, it was not Jennifer Aniston's ex-lover and his new lover who scooped up the historic estate just weeks after it was listed, but rather a couple of successful scribes named Christopher Noxon and Jenji Kohan. For those who may not recognize their names, Mister Noxon toils as an author and free-lance journalist and has written in-depth articles for publications such as Playboy, Los Angeles magazine, Salon.com and The Huffington Post and Miz Kohan belongs to a budding Tinseltown tee-vee dynasty. Not only is she the creator, producer and writer for the Emmy nominated and Golden Globe winning program Weeds with the marvelous Mary-Louise Parker and the practically perfect Elizabeth Perkins, she's also the sister of David Kohan who, along with Miss Max Mutchnick, created the super-successful and award winning money-minting machine that is Will and Grace.

Property records now show that Mister Noxon and Miz Kohan scooped up The Bixby Estate, located in the heart of the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, for an even-steven $4,000,000. The children might be interested to know that the sellers of the N. Vermont Avenue property only purchased the three-quarter-plus acre estate in August of 2005 for $4,200,000. A few flicks of the well worn beads on our bejeweled abacus reveals that after the considerable real estate fees were paid the sellers surely lost several hundred thousand smackers.

Also, and somewhat interestingly, the well-provenanced property was listed at $3,995,000, which means that if property records are accurate (and they better be), the Noxon-Kohan couple coughed up $5,000 over the asking price, something that just isn't happening all that much in Los Angeles anymore.

Listing information and previous reports on the property reveal the dignified Mediterranean manse was built in 1919 and designed by an architect named Elmer Grey, who happens to be the same fellow responsible for The Huntington Art Gallery in Pasadena and the Beverly Hills Hotel in, natch, Beverly Hills. The Bixby Estate was commissioned by and built for a man named Stafford Bixby who was part of the Long Beach Bixbys who in the mid to late 1800s owned and ranched much of the land that is now Long Beach. At some point, according to listing information, the property was transferred to someone in the Chandler family (of the L.A. Time Chandler family) but honestly puppies, Your Mama does not know (or care much) which one. Since the whichever Chandler owned the place, there have been several other owners.

Listing information indicates the "L" shaped main mini-mansion measures 5,919 square feet and includes 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. However, a fast perusal the floor plan shows three principle bedrooms and 2 full and 2 half bathrooms in the main house, plus a staff bedroom and bath tucked back behind the laundry room. The grounds also include a detached guest house with a fireplace and private pooper.

The front door, flanked by two stone carved Chinese-looking lions opens to a lovely paneled entrance hall with a double set of French doors leading to the bougainvillea lined rear terrace. To the right is a graciously proportioned and paneled 33-foot long living room that stretches the entire width of the house from front to back. Beyond the living room are a home office with fireplace and an informal study/family room with an oddly located attached half-bathroom, a wood beamed ceiling, arched built in book niches and a couple of fantabulous arched French door windows that open to the rear and side terraces.

To the left of the entrance hall is the paneled and decent sized dining room with still more French doors leading to outdoor spaces. Behind the dining room are the home's service areas which include a breakfast area, a large center island kitchen, another half bathroom, the back stairs, a large laundry room and staff bedroom and bath.

Upstairs, two well-proportioned bedrooms each feature walk in closets and share a bathroom. The massive master bedroom measures a commodious 18-feet wide and 30-feet long and includes a wood burning fireplace and a small private terrace overlooking the front yard which provides a perfect and private spot for Mister Noxon and Miz Kohan to smoke a little weed before bed, should that be an illegal activity they enjoy. Beyond the bedroom is the large master bath where a large bathtub is surrounded by paned windows and a fashion fanatics dream of a walk-in closet that measures approximately 400 square feet and features a bank of paned windows for natural light.

The fully walled and secured grounds include a gated motor court at the rear of the property where the above mentioned guest house is located as well as another diminutive detached building perfect for a home office, art studio or hookah lounge and a detached 2-car garage with a terlit stuck up in the corner so that Driver need not ever stink up the poopers in the main house. Tucked into a private rear corner of the property is a wonderfully simple rectangular swimming pool surrounded by trees which will probably drive the pool man crazy, but provide a nice amount of shade from the blistering SoCal summertime sunshine.

Property records show the couple's previous home on N. Normandie Ave, which records show was purchased in December of 1996 for just $520,000, is close enough to their new one that they could probably push many of their belongings over in a few shopping carts borrowed from the nearby Ralph's grocery store on Hollywood Boulevard.