Astounding, for so many reasons.
WHEN Irena Medavoy decided to build her dream home, on two flat acres above Beverly Hills, one thing was really important. "I wanted it warm, cozy, informal," she said, before demonstrating how the living room converts into a screening room. At the push of a button, a 20-foot-wide screen descended from the ceiling and three huge speakers rose from beneath the wood parquet floor. At the other end of the room, a floor-to-ceiling bookcase sank — Batcave-like — revealing a projection room hidden behind it.
By the standards of North Beverly Park, the gated community where Mrs. Medavoy and her husband, the Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy, live, their home — 11,000 square feet in an East Coast traditional style — actually is cozy....
..."I was kind of shocked at first — how big it is," said Mrs. [Avi] Arad, a sculptor. "But you get used to it. Now all the closets are full."
"There is a real sense of community here," Mrs. Arad continued. "We know our neighbors. We've had dinner with them: Sumner Redstone and Paul Reiser..."
....On a recent Friday, Mrs. Medavoy set the table for her weekly dinner and a movie, mostly for neighbors. That night's feature was "The Break-Up" with Jennifer Aniston, just out in theaters, which a messenger from Universal had just delivered in metal movie cans.
Mrs. Medavoy screeched as she glanced at the delivery. " 'United 93'?" she said in horror. "I have 20 people coming over — Sumner, everybody — and they're expecting to see 'The Break-Up.' " She ran after the delivery man, who checked his truck and found the comedy. All was well in the neighborhood...
..."This isn't Versailles, and I'm not Marie Antoinette," insisted Joyce Arad, who might have made the remark because her house, completed in 2003, is a three-story palace built in classical 18th-century French style. The kitchen has two vast stone islands with copper pots hanging around each of them, though Mrs. Arad confesses that she doesn't cook much. Outside is an elegant swimming pool designed to look like the reflecting pond of a chateau, along with several outdoor living areas, with fireplaces and fountains. "I wanted it to be homey and authentic-feeling," she said.
Some publicists are about to get their hands slapped hard ...
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