Chris Carter sells his houses

From Bergproperties.com:

September 28, 2009

“X-Files” creator Chris Carter stays under radar screen as he lists a 4,209-square-foot house he owns in Malibu, CA for $17.495M; also, Carter has a second home in Malibu on the market for $7.9M

Chris Carter, the writer who created the popular 1990s series “The X-Files,” has placed a 4,209-square-foot house he owns in Malibu, Calif. on the market for $17,495,000.

In a Big Time Listings exclusive, we can report on Carter’s listing of the Zumirez Drive house. We give terrific credit to Carter for somehow managing to keep his ownership of this house, which hit the market back on July 28, a secret from all of us celebrity real estate gossips for nearly two months.

Carter’s house is one that we long had had on our “to-do” list as a potential “Which celebrity’s house is this?” subject, because the house had several telltale markers of being celebrity-owned: 1) The house’s owner as shown in public records not as Carter, but rather as something called the Lucklucky Trust. As we always tell our readers, Los Angeles-area homes owned by whimsically named trusts more often than not are celebrity-owned. And 2) The seller and listing agent together decided to keep the house’s address out of the MLS. That’s sometimes — but not always — a sign that an owner is a celeb (regardless, it’s a rare move and always a sign that an owner desires lots of privacy.) We would note, however, that the money manager whose name appears on the deed for the house is *not* one of our regulars — it’s an L.A.-based money manager named A.M. Massie.

Over the weekend, however, we finally attacked this item with vigor and after a lot of work were able to deduce that the owner of the 4,209-square-foot house here is none other than Carter himself. In addition, we have learned that Carter has a second home on the same street in Malibu on the market for $7,900,000. We’ll get to that one in a moment.

First, though, let’s discuss his more expensive house that he has for sale.

Built in 2004, Carter’s house has four and a half baths, significant volume, walls of glass, wood and stone floors, “clean lines,” and “quality materials,” according to public records and listing information. The house and landscaped, 1.28-acre (or 1.29-acre, depending on which public-records database one consults) property overlook a surfing beach (appropriate for Carter, given his background as a surfer), according to public records and listing information. Outdoor features include gardens and beach access; we would caution that the house is not directly on the beach itself, but it’s darn close.

Carter (shown here with his X-Files pals David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson) clearly bought this house new, since his trust paid $3,500,000 for the land (and possibly a previous house on the property) back in 2001, according to public records.

Check out an online listing sheet for the house — complete with photos — here.

Separately, Carter has listed another house that he owns in Malibu. Public records say that that four-bedroom house measures 2,981 square feet (although the Los Angeles Times’ Ruth Ryon — in the only time she ever wrote about any of Carter’s holdings — called it 3,500 square feet back in 1999) and sits on a 1.06-acre parcel. Features in the house include a spacious great room with vaulted wood ceilings, walls of glass, an open kitchen, a media area, and a master bedroom suite with a vaulted wood ceiling, skylights, a great bathroom and a walk-in closet, according to listing information. Outdoor features on the gated property include a lap pool, a spa, a lighted tennis court, a large koi pond, lush tropical gardens and partial ownership of and easy access to Zumirez Beach, according to listing information. He purchased the home from TV executive producer Dottie Dartland in 1999, according to Ryon’s report at that time.

Below is a rundown of the other properties that Carter owns, according to public records. Get comfortable; the list is a long one:

–Another 2,679-square-foot house on Zumirez Drive, on a 1.03-acre parcel, which he purchased in 2002 for $1,413,500, according to public records. That house is right next door to the one he has on the market for $7,900,000;

–A 130.39-acre farm in Santa Ynez, Calif.;

–A condominium unit in Seaside, Oregon, which Carter purchased in 2004 for $518,000, according to public records;

–A 2,077-square-foot condominium unit in Santa Monica, Calif., which he purchased in 2004 for $1,500,000, according to public records;

–Three parcels on Hot Springs Road in Santa Barbara, Calif., each of which measure about an acre and each of which may or may not contain a house;

–and a house on three-plus acres on Jameson Lane in Santa Barbara, Calif., which Carter purchased in early 2008 for $4,600,000, according to public records.

One final, notable property note: Carter also sold a 2,019-square-foot house at 1155 Via de la Paz in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades area to “Growing Pains” star Joanna Kerns in 2004 for $1,400,000, according to public records. (Kerns turned around and sold that house in 2006 for $1,655,000, according to public records.)