Rare mountain retreat on a gated private road at the top of Laurel Canyon currently owned by Gene Simmons listed for $2.1million ...
He’s not just the hard rock idol with a demon-painted face and fire-spitting long tongue. Gene Simmons is first a businessman and marketing wizard, often asked to speak at investment seminars. Of course his love of music and forming bands as a youth had a lot to do with his initial music career, but KISS was also a business with a brand engineered in the 1970s when bands with the most fire and theatrics were popular with teen music buyers. A man of many interests, his business plan is really quite simple and highly successful. If one has multiple business interests and one fails, you still have income from the others. Now looking in locations other than California to put his real estate investment dollars, he has recently put one of his Los Angeles properties on the market. Completely updated with three floors and terraces on a hillside and good views, it is priced at $2.1 million.
It wasn’t until his reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, that most people became aware of Simmons’ entrepreneurial talent. As fans followed the family through everyday life, Gene saw a new business venture almost every time he walked through a new door. The ideas flowed from his head to his mouth like a spring bubbling out of the earth. This was a whole new Gene Simmons to his fans. Viewers were transfixed watching this side of a celebrity who before they only associated with KISS in his makeup and garb. Safe to say that a lot of his $400 million net worth has come from astute investments. Never a believer in anyone having just one job, one rental property or one business investment, he insists that to be financially safe, one must have at least two jobs and more than that of all the others. As living proof that his strategy has continued to work, he is asked to speak on the subject at financial and investment seminars in the United States and Canada.
Located at the top of Laurel Canyon on a gated street, the house has been home to various celebrities over the years who feel the need for privacy while being close to the studios. Excellent views from its three floors and decks include the city skyline, the Hollywood sign, Griffith Park Observatory, the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains. Measuring 2,342 square feet, the house has four bedrooms, two baths, is designed on an open plan and was built in 1968. Updated for 21st-century lifestyles, there is a large living room with fireplace and a family room on the second level.
Now that Gene Simmons is considering expanding his real estate investments farther afield, he has decided to sell this charming hillside house at the top of Laurel Canyon with views extending from the Hollywood sign to the Pacific Ocean. Priced at $2.1 million, the listing agents are Lisa Young and Kennon Earl of Compass, Beverly Hills.
Photo credit: Richard Horn
