British star Dame Helen Mirren’s ‘legendary’ Los Angeles home of more than 30 years is perilously close to one of the city’s deadly wildfires, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.
The $15million mansion is in the heart of the Hollywood Hills area currently ablaze because of the so-called ‘Sunset Fire’, which began when a palm tree ignited and has swamped 60 acres of land including much of the Runyan Canyon overnight.
The grand house, built in 2011 in six acres of exotic gardens, has only had four owners, all of whom have been movie luminaries, and is threatened by an inferno now just 500 yards from its door.
The British actress’ property is in a mandatory evacuation order area, where tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and threatened with arrest if they return.
The mansion is to the east of the Runyan Canyon, where fire still rages today, and just a short walk from Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Bowl.
Firefighters have been fighting the Sunset Fire – one of five in the city – since last night while local residents have been using their own garden hoses to try to keep it at bay.
One LA insider said: ‘Dame Helen’s home is very close to the fire. You can see the flames to the west and north. It is edging closer with every hour’.
Dame Helen, who is likely to be at her home in Nevada, is not the only British star to be caught up in the tragedy. Sir Anthony Hopkins’ $6million four-bedroom property the Pacific Palisades area of the city has been destroyed.
Hollywood power couple Ms Mirren and her movie director husband Taylor Hackford are in the process of selling the property, which is on the market for $14.9million and described as a ‘legendary’ compound in the listing.
They have a home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, which they have spent increasing amounts of time at since the pandemic.
The Sunset fire ‘exploded’ yesterday evening and has been raging ever since, engulfing more than 50 acres of land and threatening homes in one of the world’s most exclusive neighbourhoods.
Dame Helen and her husband have been trying to sell it for several years, slashing more than $3.5million off the price in recent years.
It is currently on the market for $14.9million and was being rented out for around $45,000 a month.
Located within six-and-a-half acres of sophisticated landscaping and mature trees and situated at the top of a winding drive, the 10,200 sq ft estate includes a guest house and a total of eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms.
Built in 1911, the house has beautiful finishes from the era, including large rooms, French doors opening onto the Hollywood hills, a paneled library, hardwood floors and large fireboxes in the fireplaces.
Outside, the gated, manicured grounds feature a large swimming pool with a diving board and envy-inducing views of downtown Los Angeles, combining tranquility, privacy and convenience.
The separate guest house offers three bedrooms and there’s also a garage with capacity for five cars, with an office and an apartment above.
The star couple bought in in the 1990s, becoming the latest in a stream of big names to live there.
Former owners include Dustin Farnum, star of DeMille’s Squaw Man, writer and producer Mark Hellinger, who famously worked with Humphrey Bogart, and Gail Patrick, executive producer of the popular 1950’s/60’s Perry Mason television series where the home was sometimes used as a film location for the show.
Jamie Lee Curtis, James Woods, Mandy Moore, Mark Hamill and Maria Shriver were among the other celebrities forced to evacuate as out-of-control fires in Los Angeles swept across some of the most lavish real estate in the world.
The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres (5,000 hectares) in Pacific Palisades, a picturesque neighborhood between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu that is home to many film, television and music stars.