The Milton Katselas Krib Goes Up for Sale

SELLER: Estate of Milton Katselas
LOCATION: N. Alfred Street, West Hollywood, CA
PRICE: $2,600,000
SIZE: 3,800 square feet (approx.), 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Astounding architectural of oxidized iron, glass, concrete pillars & huge sand blasted wooden beams. Floors of wood & polished concrete. Beautiful pool & spa including cabana & bath. Second kitchen out doors for garden entertaining & dining. 4 fireplaces & a wood burning stove. 6 skylights & parking for 7 cars, includes an enclosed garage for 3. Steam shower and sauna in master bath.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Whether they have any real acting chops or not, most actors (and hack-tors) who work their talents and craft in Tinseltown take acting lessons. One of the more legendary acting coaches for the last 30 years was a man named Milton Katselas who went to meet the big drama critic in the sky in October of 2008. As often happens when someone dies, a house goes up for sale and in this case, it's Mister Katsela's West Hollywood hideaway that has been listed by his estate for $2,600,000.

For those who don't already know, Mister Katselas founded the Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school in 1978 where he coached such Hollywood hotshots as George Clooney, Michelle Pfeiffer, Gene Hackman, Doris Roberts, Kate Hudson, Tyne Daly, Patrick Swayze, that poor ladee from Knott's Landing whose face was ravaged by bad plastic surgery and many other notable names.

Before he started instructing film and television actors how to emote in a believable way and cry on cue, Mister Katselas worked as a film and theater director who helmed the original off-Broadway production of Edward Albee's The Zoo Story and the Tony nominated Broadway play Butterflies Are Free as well as the film version that starred Eddie Albert, the fa-boo Goldie Hawn, and Eileen Heckart, who earned an Oscar for her role.

Mister Katselas was also a long time Scientologist who some thought pressured his students to join the church and who reportedly achieved the very high level of "Operating Thetan," which according to Scientology doctrine, means Mister Katselas was capable of "knowing and willing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time," whatever that means. But listen puppies, we're really not here to debate the merits of Scientology or any other religion–for what it's worth Your Mama thinks they're all wacky–so let's get back to the real estate.

Property records show Mister Katselas purchased his N. Alfred Drive property way back in June of 1999 for $379,000. Remember those days children, when you could get a little house in West Hollywood for well under five hundred grand? Anyhoo, listing information shows the house, which was massively renovated and reworked by Mister Katselas into a concrete, oxidized iron and glass structure, currently measures in at approximately 3,800 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms including a master bathroom with steam shower and sauna.

Other amenities include 4 fireplaces (plus a wood burning stove), half a dozen skylights for pulling light into the interior spaces, a loft, an art studio (Mister Katselas was also a painter and sculptor), and wood and polished concrete floors that Your Mama sincerely hopes have a radiant heat system because even though Albert Hammond claimed It Never Rains in Southern California, it does indeed get cold enough that a concrete floor might be a wee bit cold on the toosties on those misty winter mornings.

The grounds, which stretch from the street to a dank alley at the rear, include a pill shaped swimming pool and spa with enough potted plants around the edge that it's almost impossible to get into, a cabana with bathroom so guests need not drag chlorinated water into the house when they have to use the terlit, an outdoor kitchen for cook-outs, and off street parking for 7 cars, a bonified bonus in this tightly packed neighborhood.

According to listing information, the Katselas krib is comprised of two lots with R-3 zoning which means the buyer can rip this house down and put up 8 condos, which at its current asking price, is about the only financially feasible thing to do because this property is simply not located in a neighborhood of 2.6 million dollar houses.