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By Wendy Bowman
Writer
A little over eight years ago, veteran film producer Avi Lerner and his wife Heidi Jo Markel, also in the entertainment industry, bought a teardown property in the Hollywood Hills, high above Sunset Boulevard. The couple subsequently enlisted architect John Mares to create their dream house.
“We did the designs back in 2015, but waited a few years before starting the construction,” says Markel. “The build started in 2019, but we stopped during the pandemic, and did a redesign when [New York-based interior designer] Rod Winterrowd came on board for the project.”
Finally completed last year, the result is a sleek modern residence that’s now popped up for sale, asking a smidge under $7 million. Tucked away on a gated and fenced parcel spanning less than a quarter-acre — in the lower Laurel Canyon area, near the historic Houdini estate — the white stucco and flat-roof structure is fronted by an attached two-car garage. Inside, six bedrooms and five baths are spread across nearly 5,000 square feet of living space.
Main-level highlights include an entry foyer displaying a curving staircase topped by a matchstick chandelier, which flows to an open-concept great room featuring a wood-paneled kitchen outfitted with a marble-clad eat-in island and high-end stainless appliances, along with a casual dining area, and family room sporting a fireplace and sliding glass doors spilling out to a terrace.
Elsewhere is a den, an office and exercise room, plus an upstairs master retreat with an expansive wraparound balcony and a luxe bath; and outdoors, the private, hedge-lined backyard hosts a small pool surrounded by an 18th-century European-style garden.
Israel-born Lerner, founder of Millennium Media, is currently working on developing the sci-fi thriller “Subservience” starring Megan Fox and Michele Morrone, with previous credits including “The Expendables” and “Rambo” franchises. As for Markel, she produced “Jolt” with Lerner in 2021.
In addition to their for-sale Hollywood Hills home, the couple reportedly maintain a Las Vegas condo they acquired in 2015 for $910,000, and another condo in the Lincoln Center area of New York City that they paid around $500,000 for back in the mid-1990s. They sold their Laurel Canyon tennis court estate in 2021.
The listing is held by a slew of AKG|Christie’s International Real Estate agents, including Christopher Dawes, Diana Knox, Kirby Gillon, Bryce Lowe and Aaron Kirman.
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