James Belushi Relists Brentwood Villa for $28 Million
James Belushi is reportedly trying yet again to find the right buyer for his beloved Brentwood Park villa, relisting the sprawling, 11,821-square-foot abode for $27.995 million, two years after he initially put it on the market for $38.5 million. Belushi and his wife, Jennifer, bought the property more than a decade ago and completely rebuilt the home with the help of designer Michael S. Smith and architect Oscar Shamamian. “I really don’t make a move without consulting him,” Belushi told Architectural Digest back in 2010. “I have the same confidence in him that a director has in his production designer. I can say to him, ‘I want this kind of feel. Can you give me this kind of feel?’ And he can.”
The home features six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, with living and dining room spaces, a combination study and library, a kitchen, a family room, and a screening room ideal for family movie nights. French doors off the family room and kitchen areas open out onto a pergola-topped patio, with its own outdoor fireplace for chillier L.A. nights. A running theme throughout the cozy home: detailed plaster ceilings that conjure images of a rustic Italian villa.
“One thing I’ve learned as an actor and comedian is that it’s hard to be simple,” Belushi told AD in 2010. “If you allow things to get too complicated, if your jokes get too wordy, it muddies everything up.” Out back, the home features a wide expanse of flat green lawn, a number of stone fountains, and meandering pathways meant to provide a meditative space. Belushi and his wife purchased the property next door shortly after construction on their home was underway, and they converted it into a large garden with fruit trees and a semi-hidden spa. (“It changed the entire nature” of the building project,” Smith told AD at the time.)
A clear blue swimming pool boasts a pool house with a Jacuzzi and a cold plunge, while a separate guesthouse is located elsewhere on the grounds. Back in 2010, Belushi said: “I was always just working on what was in front of me, trying to get the next job. I never thought about it. Now I lie in my bed at night and think: Why would I want to go to any hotel room in the world when I have a room like this?”
