Afternoon Delights: Russell, Katy, Mitt, Troy, and Vince

Scraggly and scathing British comedian Russell Brand has dropped $2.224 million on a 4,800 square foot, multi-story residence high, high, high in the Hollywood Hills that was designed by architect Selden Price, built in 1926 on a steep hillside with panoramic city lights view, and was once home to Laurence Olivier. (source: L.A. Times; listing photos: The Agency)

Speaking of Russell Brand...

::::::::

His international pop star ex-wife Katy Perry is having a devil of time selling Park Hill, the 3-ish acre West Hollywood compound she and he bought in June 2011, at the tail end of their marriage, for $6.5 million. The historic estate, perched above the mouth of Laurel Canyon, was first listed on the open market in April (2013) with an asking price of $6,925,000. The price tag was slashed by $430,000 in June and, this week, after two potential sales have fallen through, by another $507,000 bringing the newest and lowest asking price down to $5,988,000, $512,000 less than she paid. Several months ago, Miz Perry spent $11 million on a multi-residence compound in the Hollywood Hills. (source: Trulia Luxe Living and Zillow; listing photo: Teles Properties)

::::::::

Really rich former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has added a nearly 9,000 square foot, log-built ski chalet in Park City, UT, to his property portfolio that already includes a modest townhouse type home in a gated community in Boston, MA, an 11-acre lake-side retreat in Wolfeboro, NH, and an ocean front spread in La Jolla, CA, where he (in)famously plans to install a car elevator.  (source: Curbed via Park Record; listing photo: Prudential Utah)

::::::::

Retired professional quarterback turned Fox Sports commentator  Troy Aikman—he has three Super Bowl wins with the Dallas Cowboys—splashed out $4.3 million on a second home in Dallas that overlooks Turtle Creek Lake. Just a few months ago he paid $4.25 million for a 10,000 square foot house nearby. (source: TMZ and Candy's Dirt; listing photo: via TMZ)

::::::::

Just months after Architectural Digest featured Nine West founder Vince Camuto's Villa Maria—his newly redone 22,000 square foot Victorian mansion on 7.6 manicured acres in the Hamptons—it's back up for sale with a fat asking price of $49,500,000. (source: Wall Street Journal via Curbed; listing photo: Sotheby's International Realty)