Latin Pop King Quitting Castle

Spanish-language superstar Juan Gabriel, the singer-songwriter who has had more records on the Latin charts than any other artist, has put his Malibu home on the market at $6.75 million.

Gabriel, unrecognized by much of the Anglo population, is the most-played Spanish voice on Los Angeles radio.

He received a Life Achievement Award at the first Ritmo Latino awards, handed out in October at the 6,200-seat Universal Amphitheatre, where he has set a record for sold-out concerts by a Latin artist. Gabriel has sold out at least 39 consecutive concerts--three a year for 13 years.

Known as the king of Latin pop, Gabriel also has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide. He has explored the wide variety of Mexican music and, unlike many other Spanish-language singers, he has resisted recording a crossover album in English. He has said, “Mexican music must be defended, with vigilance.�

He has owned his Malibu home for about five years. Gabriel decided to sell it because he is moving to another of his homes in another state.

Described in a 1999 cover story in The Times’ Calendar section as “the highest-paid Spanish-language singer on Earth,� Gabriel, who was the youngest of 10 children and spent eight years of his early life in an orphanage in his native Mexico, owns ranches and mansions in a number of states as well as south of the border. Recently, he has spent most of his time in Malibu, Miami and Mexico.

His Malibu home, on six landscaped acres, has six bedrooms plus a guest house in 8,100 square feet. Built in 1991, the home also has three fireplaces, an infinity pool and an ocean view.

Nancy Pelegrino of Pelegrino Properties in Marina del Rey has the listing.

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Michael Madsen, who starred in the 1998-99 ABC series “Vengeance Unlimited,� has sold one of his two houses on Broad Beach in Malibu for close to its $2.6-million asking price.

Madsen, 40, has appeared in such movies as “Species II� (1998), “Donny Brasco� (1997), “Species� (1995), “Free Willy 2� (1995) and “Reservoir Dogs� (1992). He played Susan Sarandon’s boyfriend in “Thelma & Louise� (1991).

He sold his former Broad Beach home, once owned by actor Lee Marvin, to a Los Angeles psychiatrist.

Madsen and his wife, DeAnna, had owned the 2,100-square-foot house since 1995. Built in 1948, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house is on a sandy beach and has a large beach-side deck and cabana.

The Madsens moved some time ago to their other Broad Beach home, which they bought in August from actor Ted Danson for about $2.4 million. That house, which has five bedrooms in about 3,400 square feet, was built in 1976 by Keith Moon, drummer for the rock band the Who.

Katie Ribnick Bentzen of Fred Sands Estates, Malibu, represented the buyer of the Madsens’ former home; Alan Mark, of the same office, had the listing.

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Candace Garvey, an interior designer and wife of former L.A. Dodgers star Steve Garvey, has sold a Pacific Palisades home that she had purchased in April and redecorated. The asking price was just under $5 million.

The country English-style house has six bedrooms, an office, library, pool and spa. The house was built in the 1940s.

The Garveys recently purchased a home in Utah, sources said. The asking price was $8.5 million.

Steve Garvey, 51, was one of the premier first basemen of his time. A 10-time All-Star, he was with the Dodgers for 12 seasons when he left the team in 1982. He played with the San Diego Padres before retiring in 1988.

Earlier this month, he sued the Major League Baseball Players Assn. seeking pension and medical benefits for the 1988 and ’89 seasons. A federal appeals court ruling in February possibly entitles him to more than $3 million. He claims he was cheated out of a contract for the ’88 and ’89 seasons.

The former baseball player and his wife, 41, were married in 1989. He runs a marketing and consulting company based in San Diego.

Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, had the listing.

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Nicholas Matzorkis, the 37-year-old founder of US Search.com, and his wife, Susan, have purchased a Bel-Air home for about its $4.75-million asking price.

Together, the couple developed US Search.com, a leading Internet-based provider of public record information.

Nicholas Matzorkis was first in the news in 1997 when he helped to discover the mass suicide of the 39 Heaven’s Gate cult members in Rancho Santa Fe. Several Web page designers at his Interactive Entertainment Group were among those who died.

Matzorkis sold control of US Search.com in 1998 but earned about $17 million from its initial public offering and retained a title, salary and 10.4% interest, which is in a trust overseen by Rockefeller scion Nicholas Rockefeller.

Rockefeller, an Internet attorney, also advised the couple on their home purchase.

They bought a newly built 8,400-square-foot home with a tennis court on one acre.

Joe Babajian and Kyle Grasso at Fred Sands Estates, Beverly Hills, handled the transaction.

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Joe Weller, chairman and chief executive of Glendale-based food and beverage giant Nestle USA, and his wife, Carol, have purchased a Beverly Hills home for $3.1 million. The couple had been living in a condo along the Wilshire Corridor.

They bought a four-bedroom 5,500-square-foot house that was rebuilt by developers Chris Bedrosian and John Berchi. The developers have six Beverly Hills home projects, which will be priced from $3 million to $18 million when they go on the market, probably within the next six months.

Kurt Rappaport and Loren Judd of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, represented the sellers.

One of the first houses to be designed by the late Cliff May, “father of the California ranch-style house,� has been listed at just under $1.1 million.

The house was built in about 1936 in La Habra Heights. This is the first time the house has been for sale since 1959. That is when it was purchased by Robert and Sharon Lynch, who were married for 50 years when he died at 79 in 1997.

Robert Lynch, once the owner of Huntington Park First Savings and Loan Assn., also served, at various times, as president of the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Palm Springs Desert Museum and Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra Heights.

The La Habra Heights house is on a 2.3-acre promontory with a pool and gardens. The 5,000-square-foot home has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and maid’s quarters. The hacienda-style home also has a library, breakfast room, wood-beam ceilings, mission-like tiled corridors and original tiled baths.

The house was one of the first three or four designed by May in California. May designed nearly 20,000 single-story ranch-style houses.

“And it’s almost completely original, down to its meat locker,� said Crosby Doe of Mossler, Deasy & Doe in Beverly Hills. He shares the listing with Eileen Green at Century 21 Chuck Stevens Realty in La Habra.

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For the Record: John Langley is executive producer of the TV series “Cops,� not Bertram Van Munster, as was reported in Hot Property, March 12. Van Munster was a co-producer and producer on “Cops.�

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Did you miss Thursday’s Hot Property column in Southern California Living? Want to see previous columns on celebrity real estate transactions? Visit http://ukobiw.net/hotproperty on the Internet for more Hot Properties.