Just over two years ago, soap opera veteran Blake Berris, who appeared in nearly 1,450 episodes of “Days of Our Lives,” paid “Deadpool” star Morena Baccarin a bit less than $2.1 million for a 1930s knoll-topping traditional in the hills above L.A.’s Silver Lake Reservoir that he and his wife, Alexandra McGuinness, writer-director daughter of Paul McGuinness, the former manager of U2, now have back up for sale at close to $2.5 million.
Listings held by Alyssa Valentine and Kurt Wisner of Compass show that the roughly 3,200-square-foot two-story house was designed by architect Winchton L. Risley and retains much original character alongside modern-day creature comforts. The home sits high and privately above a street-level garage with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The step-down living room features a giant picture window and a full wall of pine built-ins, while a dining room and separate butler’s pantry/breakfast nook provide passage to an updated retro-inspired kitchen with a restored vintage range.
A main floor guest bedroom or office spills out to a dining terrace just outside the kitchen, and two more guest bedrooms upstairs share a bathroom with minty green vintage tile work. Another vintage-tiled Jack-and-Jill bathroom separates the spacious second-floor master bedroom — it includes a small dressing room and is plenty roomy enough to accommodate a cozy sitting area — from a rustically paneled den/bedroom complete with fireplace and built-in desk. French doors lead to a large deck and an expansive, flat and grassy yard that overlooks the surrounding hills and reservoir.
Property records indicate that Berris and McGuinness also maintain a desert getaway, a two-parcel multi-residence compound in Yucca Valley, Calif., they scooped up about three years ago for a tad more than $200,000.