Affleck remodels, then sells

Ben Affleck has sold his Beverly Hills-area home for $4.5 million.

The actor had owned the home since March 2002, when he bought it for about $3 million from actress Drew Barrymore. While she owned it, the main house suffered a major fire. After the fire, what little was left of the main house was removed.

Affleck remodeled the three guesthouses on the 2.5-acre property, and he converted the tennis court to a basketball court. He lived in all three of the guesthouses. The compound, built in the ‘20s, also has a theater and a pool. It’s off a private drive and is behind gates.

Affleck, 31, hasn’t yet purchased a new home in the L.A. area. He sold his former Hollywood Hills home, which he used most recently as a rental.

Actress Jennifer Lopez, 34, owns a home in a Westside gated community, however, and she has been seen with Affleck many times recently despite the cancellation of their Sept. 14 wedding.

Affleck starred this year as the superhero in “Daredevil,� a film based on the Marvel comic book, and he co-starred with Lopez in the movie “Gigli.� Affleck received an Oscar with Matt Damon for their “Good Will Hunting� (1997) screenplay.

Joyce Flaherty of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, and Brett Lawyer of Prudential John Aaroe, Beverly Hills, represented Affleck, sources said.

Well , they can ask, can’t they?

Billionaire philanthropist Marvin Davis and his wife, Barbara, plan to list their Beverly Hills home, The Knoll, on Monday at $70 million, one of the highest prices ever asked for a single-family home in the Los Angeles area.

The oil magnate, also former owner of 20th Century Fox studios, and his wife have owned the home since March 1984, when they bought it from singer Kenny Rogers. The home, built in 1955, was previously owned by producer Dino De Laurentiis.

The home is on nearly 11 acres and includes a main house of about 26,000 square feet, a pool house, a tennis pavilion, a theater with a full bar and two other houses outside the gates. There are two pools, one indoor, and a tennis court.

The listing will be shared by Barbara Duskin and Ron de Salvo, both with Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills North.

Prinze sells home in Toluca Lake

Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. has sold his former Toluca Lake home, which is next door to Bob and Dolores Hope’s longtime residence, for $2.75 million.

Prinze had purchased the five-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot home with a guesthouse and a pool in 2000 for slightly more than $3 million. He never moved into it and listed it in 2002 for $3.3 million.

The house remained vacant or occupied by friends while he and actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of the longtime TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,� moved to the Westside. The couple, who married in 2002, also went on location while costarring in “Scooby-Doo� (2002).

Gellar listed her Sherman Oaks home in 2002 at about $2.2 million and sold it earlier this year at $1.7 million.

Prinze’s home, on an acre with a tennis court and pool, was formerly owned by Eleanor Von der Ahe of the family that founded Vons Grocery Co.

After selling the house to Prinze, Von der Ahe bought a Toluca Lake home on the Lakeside Country Club Golf Course for $2 million. She put $1.5 million into refurbishing it but then decided the house was too large for her and listed it at $3.5 million. The one-story, 4,500-square-foot home has four bedrooms and a family room.

Andrew Manning of Prudential John Aaroe division in Sherman Oaks has Von der Ahe’s listing.

Monty Iceman of Prudential John Aaroe in Encino and Joan Duffy of the same firm in Sherman Oaks represented Prinze in his sale, sources said.

Chargers’ player buys in West L.A.

Marcellus Wiley, a defensive end with the San Diego Chargers who formerly played with the Buffalo Bills, has purchased a West Los Angeles townhouse for its $669,000 asking price.

Wiley is a native of Compton who attended Columbia University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He plans to live in the townhouse during the off-season.

“This is the third home he’s bought through me this year,� said Deborah Rugley Wiley, the 28-year-old football player’s stepmother, who is a real estate agent with Re/Max, West L.A. “First he bought a home for his sister in Ladera Heights, then he bought a home for his mother, also in Ladera Heights, and now he’s purchased this one.� He also owns a home in Encinitas.

The West L.A. condo has two bedrooms and three bathrooms in nearly 1,700 square feet. The three-level unit is in a small complex built in 1990. The townhouse also has skylights, a breakfast bar, art gallery lighting and an office loft.

Erik Lerner and Brian Linder of Mossler, Deasy & Doe, Beverly Hills, had the listing.

Spice Girl buys home in Los Feliz

Melanie Brown, known as Scary Spice when she was a member of the Spice Girls rock group, has purchased a home in Los Feliz for about $1.5 million.

The house has three bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in slightly more than 3,000 square feet. The mid-century modern has city-to-ocean views, a media room, a 1,500-square-foot terrace and a pool.

Brown, 28, moved from England to pursue an acting career.

Stamie Karakasidis and Jason Callaway of DBL, Sunset Strip, represented Brown, and Nada Nadia Villarreal of DBL, Los Feliz, had the listing.

To see previous columns on celebrity transactions visit www.latimes.com/hotproperty.