This Los Angeles home has decades of star pedigree — and now it’s looking for a new owner.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith — of “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Clerks” and “Mallrats” fame — and his wife, the former journalist Jennifer Smith, are looking to part ways with a property they purchased from none other than Ben Affleck, the Wall Street Journal reported. It asks $5.99 million.
It all began on July 4, 2001, when the couple attended a barbecue party that Affleck hosted.
“We went over to what seemed like this giant French hotel in the Hollywood Hills that had one person living there, and it was Ben,” Kevin Smith told the Journal.
What followed, as is customary, was a house tour led by Affleck, during which time he told the Smiths he was interested in selling due to constant paparazzi presence just outside.
8 Kevin and Jennifer Smith. The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images
8 The property’s exterior. Gavin Cater
8 A chic living area. Gavin Cater
“Then he had to take a phone call, so he left me and Jen in the foyer in the house and Jennifer is like ‘I want this house,’” Smith added.
It was a sign. In 2003, they bought the home for about $1.6 million. Initially, they rented the residence from Affleck — even moving from New Jersey to do so. After a year, the Journal notes, they purchased it — with Affleck selling it to them for about what he paid for it in the 1990s, subtracting the rent paid from the total.
The five-bedroom hillside dwelling, which dates to around 1993 and stands in the Outpost Estates area, became their home.
“Jennifer is always saying, ‘You gave me my dream house,’” Smith told the outlet.
8 The kitchen dazzles with massive exposures. Gavin Cater
8 The home has its own collection of fireplaces. Gavin Cater
8 A formal dining room. Gavin Cater
8 One of five bedrooms. Gavin Cater
8 It’s all crowned by a rooftop pool. Gavin Cater
They raised their now 24-year-old daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, there — and Jennifer’s parents even lived there, too. But now they’ve listed the spread because their daughter and the in-laws have moved out.
It measures about 8,200 square feet and sits on just more than a quarter acre of land. Among the many perks: a roof deck with a pool. Listing images show a spacious windowed kitchen that floods with light, a formal dining room and a living area with a fireplace. The primary suite, which Smith said is his favorite room, has floor-to-ceiling windows and a sitting room with another fireplace.
“The house is so huge, you don’t have to see anyone if you don’t want to,” Smith added. “Our kid had her own side of the house downstairs. My in-laws had their own side of the house downstairs. Jen and I had the floor above that, which is where the primary bedroom is.”
Lori and Brock Harris, of Keller Williams Realty Los Feliz, have the listing.