April 2, 2010
Tennis Legend Pete Sampras's New Home
By Mark David
Photo: Joyce Rey/Coldwell Banker Previews
Tennis titan Pete Sampras buys in Brentwood and lists in Lake Sherwood.
The press has been abuzz the last few days with the celebrity real estate news of retired professional tennis titan Pete Sampras flipping his recently completed, 16,000+ square foot mansion in Lake Sherwood, CA on the market with a bone-chilling asking price of $25 million.
However, not so much has been revealed about the much more modest Los Angeles residence that he and his wife Bridgette Wilson snatched up in late December, 2009. Shelterpop decided to take a look at Sampras's new digs.
Pete's New Pad
Property records show that the 14-time Grand Slam-winning tennis ace and the former Teen Miss USA paid $5.6 million for a newly constructed and perfectly private pad at the tail end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the quiet but star-studded Brentwood area of Los Angeles.
The traditional clapboard and stacked stone house is uniquely sited on a .55 acre parcel surrounded by a natural redwood forest.
Ten Fireplaces
According to listing information, the property claims a total of 10 fireplaces including two located outdoors and one in the formal living room. The airy interior rooms have chestnut colored wide plank wood floors, soaring ceilings perforated with numerous skylights, and large windows and French doors that open into the gardens and flagstone terraces that surround the house.
A cook's kitchen
The gourmet kitchen, kitted out with high-grade appliances, a huge work island and white cabinetry, is open to the family room. A flat screen television can be mounted above the monolithic stacked stone fireplace and loads of built in cabinetry around the room contain bookshelves, storage space, a desk and a full-sized wine refrigerator. A breakfast area wrapped in towering walls of glass looks out on the lushly planted and terraced hillside. A spiral staircase winds up from the family room to a cozy, bookshelf lined loft area.
A library that's a media room too
One of the many fireplaces anchors the library/media room where a built-in window seat makes for a cozy spot to read a book plucked from the wall of built-in bookshelves. A large movie screen drops out of the ceiling at the touch of the button turning the library into an instant home theater space.
Room for the whole family
The Sampras clan's secluded six bedroom and five and a half bathroom residence includes two master bedrooms. One is located on the first floor and the other, a super-sized suite on the second floor, has a sitting area with fireplace, a massive, room-sized closet, and a sky-lit bathroom with heated floors. The upstairs master suite opens out to two terraces including one with an outdoor shower and fireplace.
Backyard delights
Although the property does not currently have a swimming pool or --- somewhat surprisingly --- a tennis court, the half-acre grounds still offer plenty of features to keep the Sampras family busy and entertained. A huge flat lawn wraps around the house and in addition to the multiple terraces, there's an outdoor kitchen and a heated, trellis-covered terrace situated directly across the yard from a large flat wall onto which movies can be projected.
A forested fantasyland
A deck, sited just up the hillside from the house and accessible through the second floor master suite is set amid a small forest of redwood trees. The nearly hidden outdoor retreat, shaded by trees and surrounded by lush and verdant landscaping, has a fire pit, several sitting areas, and a sunken spa. A small waterfall spills into a lily-pad strewn pond and rustic pathways meander and climb up the hillside and wind through the Redwood forest.