Los Angeles Touring

A lawsuit accusing President Trump of violating the constitution's emoluments clause can proceed, a federal judge said Friday. Never before has an emoluments case gone to trial in the U.S.

Federal District Judge Peter Messitte denied Trump's request for a stay and ordered the two parties to begin the discovery process.

The ruling means the plaintiffs, the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C., have some power to obtain documents from the president and his business ventures. Trump notably has not released his tax returns and has maintained ownership of his businesses.

Karl Racine, the D.C. attorney general who is up for re-election Tuesday, called the news a big win. "Our case is moving forward, and we will continue to work to stop Trump from illegally profiting from the presidency," he tweeted.

As far back as Jan. 2017, Trump's legal team has pushed back against emoluments concerns. "Paying for a hotel room is not a gift or a present, and it has nothing to do with an office," Trump lawyer Sheri Dillon said before the president's inauguration.

As NPR's Peter Overby has reported, the lawsuit claims Trump violated two different clauses in the constitution, known as emoluments clauses: one that forbids federal government officials from accepting gifts from foreign government officials, and another that says the president may not accept benefits from state governments.

Peter has written that the plaintiffs will be interested to learn more about the foreign dignitaries who have been noted staying at the Trump International Hotel a few blocks from the White House.

As Peter writes, the attorneys general will want to obtain:

• records covering the hotel's business with foreign government officials;
• records of cash going from the hotel to the Trump revokable trust that holds the hotel, and then to Trump;
• documents from the federal General Services Administration, which leases the hotel building to the Trump hotel corporation, and from the U.S. Treasury, which handles the lease payments.

At the same time, some 200 Democratic members of Congress are suing the president over violations of the emoluments clause. A judge in Washington, D.C., district court ruled in September that the lawmakers have standing to sue the president.

The Trump International Hotel, which opened shortly before the 2016 election, has invited scrutiny since Trump took office. An investigation by member station WAMU and Reveal showed a Malaysian prime minister spent money at the hotel while the subject of a government corruption probe.

Additionally, as NPR's Jackie Northam has reported, the hotel's lease, which is through the Government Services Administration, explicitly says no U.S. elected official may hold that lease — a clause Trump has apparently been violating since he became president. And House Democrats have raised questions about the president's involvement in deciding whether the FBI headquarters should move from its current site in downtown Washington, D.C. They're asking whether he wants to prevent another hotel from moving in across the street from the Trump International.

French bakery La Tropézienne just opened a third bakery in Los Angeles, right across the street from the Downtown’s Terroni. The traditional French bakery and cafe, whose first location is on La Brea Avenue, opened its DTLA expansion on November 7.

It took a year to convert the bygone clothing shop into a 1,600 square foot cafe and bakery, which is larger than the original La Brea location. Speaking of large, the cafe has a massive Brigitte Bardot painting as tribute to the French movie star, who was responsible for naming the tart tropezienne in Saint-Tropez many decades ago.

Every menu item down to the buttery croissants, pain au chocolate, and macarons are from chef Jonathan Breter, former head pastry chef at DTLA’s Le Petit Paris. Both locations make everything from scratch daily. The team also assembles salads, quiche, charcuterie, tartines, sandwiches, and classic French breakfasts.

Although the bakery name is a common one throughout France, LA’s La Tropézienne is independently-owned by Philippe Ktorza and Jonathan Khalifa. The duo made the leap into the LA market in early 2017, then with a second shop in West Hollywood in September. Hours are 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. everyday.

La Tropézienne. 757-761 Main Street Los Angeles, CA

Nearly 700 rent-controlled tenants were evicted in Los Angeles City Council Districts 4 and 13 in the past five years under the Ellis Act—a 1985 California law meant to allow aging landlords to evict rent controlled tenants and retire, but one that activists say has increasingly been exploited by investors and developers as California rents rise—according to a Ledger analysis of city data.

But according to Larry Gross of the Coalition for Economic Survival, a Los Angeles based non-profit renters’ rights organization, that number only represents a small piece of the picture.

“What [the city’s data] represents is landlords who actually go through the Ellis eviction process, which means that they have to file a declaration with the housing department,” said Gross. “What we’re seeing more of though, is landlords who are avoiding the process altogether.”

Under the Ellis Act, landlords are required to provide tenants with a minimum of 120 days’ written notice and a resettlement fee—typically around $8,000, but sometimes as high as $20,000 depending on factors such as age, disability and income—if they plan to remove the building from the rental housing market, most commonly for a condominium conversion.

However, according to Gross, landlords can circumvent this process through “cash for keys” schemes, where tenants sign away their legal rights and voluntarily move in exchange for a cash settlement.

While cash for keys contracts are not illegal, Gross said, they can often be predatory, aimed at those who don’t understand their rights and are willing to accept less money and less notice than they are legally entitled to.

“Especially targeted are tenants that are seniors or have disabilities” because they are eligible for a year’s notice before they are evicted under Ellis, Gross said.

A 2016 city ordinance meant to address such issues now requires landlords to inform tenants of their rights and file any cash for keys agreements with the city’s housing department.

But according to Gross, while the ordinance may look good on paper, it is hard to enforce.

“All [a landlord has] to do is not observe the ordinance and tell the tenants, ‘You gotta get out’ … then if the tenant raises an issue [the property owner] can say, ‘Okay we didn’t know.’ They’re likely to get a lot of tenants who don’t know their rights out that way.”

Additionally, according to Gross, the majority of building owners who file such evictions couldn’t be further from the elderly mom and pop landlords the bill was designed to protect.

“Most of these Ellis evictions … are from owners who purchased the buildings within the last year with the express purpose of displacing existing tenants and jacking up rents one way or another,” Gross said, whether that be through a condo conversion, illegally listing the units on Airbnb or simply flouting the law and re-renting the apartments at market rate.

Under the law, Ellised buildings are meant to be taken off the rental market permanently, but are only monitored by the city for five years.

When units are returned to the market within that time period, tenants have a legal right to return at close to their previous rent amount.

Such was the case for Sylvie Shain, who recently moved back into Franklin Village’s Villa Carlotta building.

Shain was evicted from the Franklin Avenue apartment complex two years ago, when a new owner filed Ellis paperwork, citing plans to turn it into a boutique hotel.

Ultimately those plans fell through due to community opposition, and the building was instead converted into Airbnb-style rental housing for stays of 30 days or more.

Shain said she and four other former tenants received notice from the city that the units had returned to the market and they were eligible to move back in.

But according to Shain, most of the others who had been her neighbors in the 50-unit complex had signed cash for keys agreements, relinquishing their right to return.

Of the five who retained their rights, Shain was the only one who ultimately opted to return to the building through a process she said was “stressful, time consuming and expensive.”

According to Shain, the initial lease agreement for her return to the building was significantly more restrictive than her previous one in terms of things like noise or guest policies.

“The [housing] department’s stance is that I have the right to return, but what does that mean if you are provided lease restrictions that are so prohibitive that they keep you from living your day to day life?” said Shain.

So Shain hired a lawyer to help negotiate the terms of her new lease, and while she was successful in doing so, Shain said she remains in debt for her attorney’s fees.

But Shain’s case was rare. Many Ellised buildings do not return to the market, and when they do, landlords don’t always follow city protocol.

Tenants of 1655 Rodney Drive in Los Feliz received Ellis notices in early 2015 after their building was purchased by a new owner.

But according to several former tenants, while the notices claimed the building was being taken off the rental market, the landlord immediately began renting to new tenants, with no apparent repercussions.

“Literally the day the last tenants in our building were moving out towards the end, the driveway entrance was blocked by tenants moving in,” said Mark Simon, a former resident of the building. “Within three months, the building was nearly full with new tenants.”

According to Simon, when he and other tenants reported the violation to the city’s housing department, they were told that without rent receipts from the new tenants, who were believed to be paying in cash under the table, there was little that could be done.

Simon, 70, had lived in the Rodney Drive building for 23 years when he received his eviction notice.

“It was like having an atomic bomb go off in my life,” he said. “But thank goodness I knew my rights. Most people have no idea.”

And that, is what CES’s Gross said troubles him the most.

According to Gross, when tenants are properly Ellised, there is a paper trail. But when landlords use intimidation techniques or questionable cash for keys contracts to vacate tenants from a building before filing Ellis Act paperwork, there is often no record of the eviction, making it impossible to get a true count of how many rent-controlled tenants have been displaced.

“The only way we know [if a landlord is breaking the law] is when [the tenants] come to us,” said Gross. “I worry about the ones we don’t know about.”

The city’s housing department did not respond to interview requests on deadline.

Santa Barbara-based MEMs technology developer Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) said early this morning that it has received a majority equity financing from Cerium Technology. Size and terms of the majority equity investment were not announced. Cerium Technology is an investment firm focused on the Internet-of-Things (IoT) market. IMT said it will use the funding to accerate growth in the IoT sensing and communications markets. The company's MEMS technology uses precision scale manufacturing of structure-on-a-chip, which are used for things like force and motion sensors, relays and RF switches, and more. IMT is currently led by CEO Craig Ensley.

Update:

House of Wax (1953) Featuring A Tribute to Vincent Price
Sunday, October 28, 7:00 Pm
Alex Theatre
216 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91203
$17 [$12.50 Ticket + $4.50 Fees ]

Parties

"King Tut's Tomb Comes Alive for its tenth Year Running at the amazing Egyptian Theatre Courtyard! This 10th Annual event made a name for itself every year as the best selling and #1 rated party by HalloweenLA.com in Hollywood, California each and every year. This year it grows even larger when Top International House DJs headline the main stage. Also performing, LA’s Top DJ openers will rock the dance floor to get your groove on-- in full costume with all your friends!"

Haunted Night in Little Tokyo: The Block Party 2018
Saturday, Oct. 27 6pm-12am
2nd Street in between Central & San Pedro Street
Little Tokyo
Free

 Haunted Night in Little Tokyo: The Block Party is a one night Halloween festival with music and entertainment, local food and retail vendors, beer garden and a costume contest.

A Night at the Haunted Mansion
Friday, October 26, 9PM - 2AM
5574 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood
Free, Must Register
21+

"Calling all BOYS & GHOULS...for one night only, step beyond the velvet curtains on All Hallows Eve and into an evening of nouveau Franco frights and hellish delights that can only be known as A Night at The Haunted Mansion. NO ONE HERE MAKES IT OUT ALIVE."

6th Annual Santa Monica Zombie Crawl
Saturday, Oct. 27, 6 p.m.-Close
Rusty's Surf Ranch 256 Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica, CA 90401
$15 and up
21+

*Dress like a zombie.
Enjoy Spooky Food & Drink Specials All Night at over 8 of the city's most popular bars & restaurants starting at Rusty's on the Pier and ending at the Official After Party at 1212 on the Promenade with DJ, Dancing, Late Night Happy Hour Menu, Contests & more.

800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Free 

"Two-Day, Family Friendly Event to Feature a Zombie Zone Hay Maze, Treats-on-Track Trail, Hourly Monster Mash Dance Party and Pet Parade & Costume Contest."

Mourning and Halloween Tours at Heritage Square Museum

Oct. 27-28, noon – 4pm

Heritage Square

3800 Homer Street

$20 adults, $15 members/seniors $8 children, free for kids 5 and younger.

Adults can join in reenactment of an Edwardian funeral to learn customs and attitudes about turn-of-the-century death as well as join in a séance. The kid’s program (only on Sunday Oct. 28) features period games, harvest crafts, trick or treating and a pumpkin patch. Free with admission

Entertainment 

Pageant of the Monsters 

October 26 – 28, and 31, 2018

6:00 – 9:30 pm

Festival of Arts
Pageant of the Masters
650 Laguna Canyon Road
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Adult tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door

“Resurrecting an event from years past, the Pageant’s backstage will transform into a haunted house with an artistic twist. The Festival of Arts grounds will be filled with ghoulish tricks and treats including art activities, live music, wandering zombies and other “spook-tacular” surprises.”

The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid

October 26, 27, 28, 7:30PM - 11:30PM

Private residence

$300.00

21+

Disco Dining Club & The Grim Wreather Present: The Flowering of the Strange Orchid. A 3-night, botanical horror dinner party. Exploring the symbiotic relationship between man and flower, The Flowering Of The Strange Orchid's uniquely decadent interpretation of Halloween dares to elevate the Fall season. This is your favorite holiday...exaggerated with all the opulence, grandeur and hedonism of any Disco Dining Club soiree.

Theatricum’s 7th annual ‘BOO-tanicum’

Saturday, Oct. 27 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.*

* Haunted house opens promptly at 7 p.m.: don’t be late — people will be dying to get in.

Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum

1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.

Topanga CA  90290

(midway between Pacific Coast Highway and the Ventura Freeway)

General Admission: $15

Kids 6-15: $10

Ages 5 and under: free

Theatricum BOO-tanicum — Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum transforms into the haunted BOO-tanicum with the company’s 8th annual Halloween extravaganza, highlighted by its unique and infamous haunted house. Enjoy the tricks and treats of the season on the wooded grounds with a host of enticements including ghost stories, game booths, festive food and libations, performances by Creative PlayGround, Peter Alsop, comedy improv group Off the Grid; and more. Beware of zombie thespians! Come on down… if you dare.

The Sanderson Sisters' Halloween Special
Saturday, October 27, 11:59pm

UCBT Franklin

5919 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028

$5

The witches of Hocus Pocus present Never Before seen/Deleted Scenes from never-aired Halloween Specials. That's right, the Sanderson sisters are back and have enchanted a television to show them original Halloween scenes from their favorite movies and tv shows.

Featuring Binx the Cat: in a cage. 

LA Opera: Vampyr
October 27, 31
8pm
The Theatre at Ace Hotel
929 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015
$29.00 and up

"Menace lurks behind every shadow in a remote village filled with secrets. Our annual Halloween mash-up of opera and cinema returns to the spectacular Theatre at Ace Hotel with filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer’s surreal 1932 masterwork, one of the most unsettling vampire movies ever made. Composer Joby Talbot creates a compelling new score for chamber orchestra and singers, performed live with a rare screening of this cinematic gem, underestimated for decades but now regarded as an important landmark of the horror genre."

Film

Horror Week

Rooftop Cinema Club

Oct 25-27& 30

Level Downtown LA

$$

They're “creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're all together ooky,” they’re the Rooftop Cinema Club October screening schedule! LEVEL will be hosting ‘Horror Week’ beginning on October 25th with What We Do In The Shadows, Silence of the Lambs (October 26), Poltergeist (October 27), Alien, (October 30), and ending the week with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which will be sure to help you sleep at night.

 The Fog
October 26 – November 1
Nuarte Theatre
$

The Fog wafts back into theaters in late October. John Carpenter’s first post-Halloween venture into the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired, apocalyptic vein that he would continue to mine in films like The Thing (1982) and Prince of Darkness  (1987), THE FOG depicts the seaside California town of Antonio Bay in the grips of an ancient curse and a creeping mist. Drenched in malevolent atmosphere and packing an ensemble cast.

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES / THE DEVIL’S RAIN 

Fri, Oct 26, 7:30pm 

Aero Theatre 1328 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90403

$ 

All Night Horrorthon 13
Sat, Oct 27, 2018
7:30pm
Aero Theatre 1328 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90403
$25

One of our favorite events for Halloween season. And this year it's the special 13 version of the thon that keeps you up all night.

What's playing"
1. Jason X -Space is the place
2. Body Melt
3. Link
4. Maximum Overdrive-Stephen King on cocaine in the 80's directed this
5. Zombie 3
6. Curtains
7. Antropophagus

"Spend all night at the Aero Theatre’s 13th annual Horrorthon! Complete with between-film free food, giveaways, trailers and crazy shorts, this movie marathon feels like rowdiest and most bizarre sleepover you’ll ever attend. Expect special appearances by the beloved Corn Gorn and his bride, Frost Nixon, Wizard Policeman, George Washingmachine and more from the Horrorthon canon. Be prepared to be showered with candy from Randy and DVDs at random. Pack your pillows and survival kits and don’t be shy…the louder you scream, the better your chances of being crowned Mister Horrorthon 2018. Oh, and did we mention stack upon stacks of free pizza and Monster drinks?"

Suspiria Q&As 
Saturday, Oct. 27, 6pm and 6:30pm
ArcLight Hollywood
$

With Director Luca Guadagnino & Actors Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson. ArcLight Cinemas is excited to announce two Q&As for the upcoming film - Suspiria. ArcLight Hollywood will host the Q&As on Saturday 10/27 after the 6:00pm & 6:30pm shows. A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Reserve now!

FRANKENSTEIN / BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Sun, Oct 28, 7:30pm

Aero Theatre 1328 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90403

$ 

 
Halloween back in theaters

Playhouse 7, 10.29.14 - 10.29.14

NoHo 7, 10.29.14 - 10.29.14

Claremont 5, 10.30.13 - 10.30.13 

$ 

Simply, a classic that started the genre of slasher films.


"This release features a RESTORED and REMASTERED digital print supervised by cinematographer Dean Cundey. A psychotic murderer, institutionalized since childhood for the murder of his sister, escapes and stalks a bookish adolescent girl and her friends while his doctor chases him through the streets."

Source: https://www.ttdila.com/2018/10/halloween-weekend-what-to-do.html

Many old homes in the foothills above the world-famous Sunset Strip have a celebrity history. Of course that’s partly due to their Hollywood proximity, but also because droves of them are blessed with both privacy and stunning LA skyline views, assets famous folks usually can’t find down in the flats.

Take today’s property. Originally built way back in 1938, the Mediterranean mini-compound sits on a puny .16-acre lot just steps above hectic Sunset Boulevard. Yet it is all but invisible from the street out front, tucked away up a long (gated) driveway and behind another house. Westward views drink in the radiant sunsets, and tall hedges eliminate the neighbors and amplify the tranquil atmosphere.

And yet you’re an easy stroll from perennially chic Sunset Plaza and the bustling city of West Hollywood.

We digress. In 2006, the petite property was acquired by actress Robin Ruzan during her divorce from longtime hubby Mike Myers. Our Ms. Ruzan bounced around in her single lady shack until 2013, when she famously sold it to pop star Nick Jonas.

Very soon, apparently, young Mr. Jonas tired of his bachelor pad. He flipped it for $3,400,000 barely a year after his purchase — just a wee bit more than the $3.2 million he paid Ms. Ruzan.

The next owner was a non-famous gentleman from WeHo. Our Mr. Gentleman quickly embarked on a cosmetic overhaul of the hovel’s rather ho-hum interiors. He also totally redid the minuscule backyard, replacing the old lagoon-style pool with a far more contemporary (and sexy) infinity-edged number.

In July (2018), Mr. Gentleman successfully flipped the micro-compound for $5,175,000 in an all-cash deal. Remodel or not, that’s a huge price jump for just three years of ownership, and Yolanda was intrigued because the big-bucks buyer is listed as a mysterious and deliberately opaque entity with a Silicon Valley address. After several weeks of sleepless nights, your gurl did what any normal person would do: we dialed up our omnipotent friend U.N. Owen and begged him to tell us who bought the place.

Thankfully, Mr. Owen took pity on us and came through in the clutch. The proud new owner, he whispered, is a young woman named Sophie Schmidt.

31-year-old Miss Schmidt is the only living child of multi-billionaire Eric Schmidt, the businessman famous for serving as CEO of Google for a full decade, from 2001 until 2011. He was also Executive Chairman of Alphabet, Inc (Google’s parent company) for nearly 17 years, up until he stepped down less than one year ago.

As y’all might expect, Mr. Schmidt has been one of the richest men in Silicon Valley (and on the globe) for many years. Forbes claims he’s got a mind-bogglin’ $13.7 billion and is the 106th richest human on the globe, while the Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists his net worth at $13.1 billion. Whatever the case, homeboy is loaded.

(And for the record, we say Miss Schmidt is her father’s only “living” child because she had a sister, Alison, who sadly passed away last year “after a long illness,” according to her parents.)

As for Sophie, she’s led an enviably adventurous life for her young years. Miss Schmidt holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and an MBA from Stanford GSB, arguably the world’s most prestigious business school. She’s enjoyed various internships/jobs all over the globe — Myanmar, China, South Africa, New York, London and Dubai are just some of the places she’s lived — including as a consultant for Myanmar’s Richardson Center and as a Random House book editor in Manhattan.

But Miss Schmidt’s most notable career milestone (thus far) is unquestionably the 2.5 years she spent as Uber’s official spokeswoman. During this period — beginning in 2015 and ending earlier this year — the media frequently called upon her to issue statements about this, that, and everything else. And given Uber’s extremely high-profile, volatile nature — is that firm ever not in some sort of turmoil? — Miss Schmidt was a very busy lass dealing with all the shenanigans up in that bitch.

We ain’t sure what Miss Schmidt has been up to since her Uber departure, but her LinkedIn profile now lists her occupation as “Writer”. Perhaps she’s out selling screenplays to Hollywood, or maybe she’s elbow-deep into her first Nora Roberts-style romance novel. Who knows? Not Yolanda.

Oh, speaking of writing, Miss Schmidt first attracted extensive media attention way back in 2013 after she published an impressively detailed blog recouping her recent visit to North Korea. The blog post — which is still live, btw — contains dozens of photographs and richly descriptive stories. It’s really quite impressive and offers a rare window into the notoriously cloistered country. And it’s more in-depth than even Yolanda’s endless ramblings! Naturally, the blog went viral and that was that.

FYI, Miss Schmidt is quite the funny lady — her famous post is titled “It might not get weirder than this” and includes pithy takeaways such as “[North Korea is] like the Truman show, on a country level,” “[Kim Jong Un] has a degree from the bullshit Kensington University,” and “Only with connectivity [does North Korea have] a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping up with the 21st century.” She also described her luxury lodgings as a “bizarre mix of marble grandeur and what passed for chic … in the 1970s,” filled with “tacky fake floral arrangements” and “gaudy light fixtures“.

Zing! Teach Yolanda your snarky ways, Miss Schmidt. But first, the house.

For y’all Kool-aid drinkers who still don’t believe our real estate is a wee bit overpriced, check this out. Not only does $5.2 million not buy you a mansion, this place has no garage at all. Miss Schmidt must wedge her Range Rover (or whatever luxury vehicle she drives) into a carport that looks barely wide enough to accommodate a Prius.

Oh well, at least the carport is secured behind tall security gates and protected by a high-end security system with cameras & etc. Naturally.

The carport sits directly beneath a microscopic guesthouse with a kitchenette and full bathroom. From the guesthouse, a wooden staircase leads down to a stone pathway that gradually slopes up to the main residence. For those rare rainy LA days, let’s pray Miss Schmidt remembers to pack an umbrella in her car — otherwise she’ll have to make a mad dash from her vehicle all the way to the front door.

Then again, Miss Schmidt braved North Korea in winter. What’s a little SoCal drizzle?

The home’s front door has an eye-catching tile surround, which Yolanda thinks might be original to the property. However, there are few other old-school relics within the 3,300-square-foot structure — the whole place was massaged into a clean-lined contemporary. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

To the left of the entryway is a fireplace-equipped living room with French doors leading to the backyard. To the right is a step-down family room, and straight ahead is the sunny formal dining room with clear sightlines over the LA basin below.

As for the kitchen, it lies just off the family room and flaunts high-end appliances, including a beautifully boozy wine cooler. The entire house is outfitted with new hardwood floors, and we appreciate how the staged artworks in each room provide them with much-needed pops of color.

All three of the main house’s bedrooms are upstairs. That includes the massive master suite — it takes up about half the second floor — with its fireplace, sitting area, walk-in closet and thoroughly modernized bath. Across the hall, two guest bedrooms share a single full bathroom.

One of the guest bedrooms is outfitted as a study, so this casa is only a 2-bed situation at the moment.

Yolanda is not trying to offend, but we must say this is perhaps the dinkiest backyard we’ve ever seen at this price point. Still, if you don’t need a giant amount of outdoor space with your $5.2 million house, this might be just the ticket. There’s a lovely infinity-edged pool and a view to make up for it, though that cement pond is likely too small for serious swimming.

Anyway, the seller did a good job at maximizing the precious little land available. Around the home’s north side is an outdoor BBQ station and over by the front door is an outdoor table suitable for al fresco dining.

Yolanda believes this is Miss Schmidt’s first-ever home purchase — congrats, missy. Prior to this, when she wasn’t living overseas, the lass bunked up in her father’s Atherton (CA) residence.

Like most folks at his near-limitless wealth level, Papa Schmidt maintains an extensive portfolio of lavish residences — both on land, at sea, and in the air. In addition to his Atherton home, he’s got a Gulfstream V jet, a superyacht christened Gladiator, a $15 million New York City penthouse, a waterfront villa in Miami, and a Nantucket mansion primarily occupied by his estranged wife Wendy Schmidt.

In 2007, Mr. Schmidt paid Ellen DeGeneres exactly $20 million for a stunning George Washington Smith-designed in the posh seaside community of Montecito (CA).

Reality TV junkies may recognize Mr. Schmidt’s Montecito home as the location for celebrity supernova Kim Kardashian’s 2011 nuptials to some unfortunate bloke whose name Yolanda has utterly forgotten. Before the ink on the marriage certificate was even dry, Kimmy was off to get the big D — divorce, that is.

Poor Mr. Schmidt had a very difficult time renting out his mansion following the Kardashian katastrophe, reportedly because rich folks believed the estate was now “cursed“. Oh, brother.

But we digress. Mr. Schmidt also has a large estate in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of LA. Records show he paid the estate of Veronique Passani — she’s the late widow of legendary actor Gregory Peck — $22,000,000 for the spread in 2014. The house has been extensively remodeled in the four years since.

Mr. Schmidt’s LA pad is located on what is arguably the most exclusive street in the city. Some of his nearest neighbors include major ballers like Diddy, Facebook’s Sean Parker, Petra Ecclestone, Daren Metropolous, Sir Ridley Scott and Mr. Chow.

Listing agent: Richard Klug, Sotheby’s International Realty