Sketch Comedy King Michael McDonald Lists Hollywood Hills House

SELLER: Michael McDonald
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $3,495,000
SIZE: 3,250 square feet, 2-3 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A friendly birdie we'll call Lou Neetoones flew down and let Your Mama know that (comedy) actor/writer/director/producer Michael McDonald hoisted his long time (and just about diabolically earth-tonal) home in Los Angeles's Nichols Canyon on the open market with a $3,495,000 price tag.

Before Mister McDonald achieved physical comedy genius-ness on MadTV—that's right we said it so deal with it—the former loan officer appeared in a slew of gawdawful horror and thriller franchise sequels. There was Bloodfist IV, V, VI and VII,  Leprechaun 2, The Unborn II, and let's not forget Carnosaur 2 and 3. Not only did he show up in a bunch of horror movies, in the 1990s Mister McDonald penned a handful of really bad horror movies for both the small and the silver screens (The Crazysitter, A Bucket of Blood and Alien Avengers I and II).

During his long tenure at MadTV (1998-2008), Mister McDonald frequently appeared as Dr. Toilet on the sitcom Scrubs and since the sketch comedy show went dark in 2008 he's landed recurring parts on a couple of sitcoms including Rita Rocks, Cougar Town* and, currently, on the clever (and Emmy-nominated) short-form web-series turned half-hour cable sitcom Web Therapy.

Property records show Mister McDonald paid $1,979,000 for his hillside abode in the Hollywood Hills in December 2004 and current listing details, which include floor plans (below), show the updated and upgraded three story Mediterranean-style villa was built in 1977 and is currently configured with two generous bedroom suites and a total of 4.5 bathrooms.

We're not sure if it was Mister McDonald who's responsible or if perhaps a previous owner did it but whatever landscaping there may have once been in the front yard was ripped out and replaced with an apron of polished Mexican pavers that provides five off-street parking spaces in addition to the two in the attached, direct access garage. We know some of you would prefer a carpet of unnaturally green grass but do y'all know how rare that a house in the Hills of Hollywood can claim seven off-street parking spaces?

A spider web of vines and shrubs clings to the windowless street façade where double carved wood doors set into a shallow portico open not, as expected, directly into the house but rather into a small tiled-courtyard that Mister McDonald dressed with a couple of potted palms and a glass-topped cafe table for four. Two sets of arched French doors—we j'adore all the arched French doors—give access to the uppermost level of the residence; One set opens into a stair hall (with a privately situated powder pooper) and the other into a much roomier main foyer.

The dark brown wood floors in the foyer continue through a wide archway into an open-concept living area that spans the full width of the back of the house and opens through three sets of arched French doors to a slender, awning-shaded and heater-equipped balcony also spans the full width of the back of the house. The "formal" living room area is anchored by a fireplace with (what looks to Your Mama like) a cast concrete mantelpiece and furnished with a whole bunch of brown thing set off against a ruby red Persian (or maybe it's Oriental) rug and another potted palm.

An extra-wide archway connects the living room to the dining room where there are more arched French doors and more brown (and mostly wood) furniture set atop a rug red accents. Yet another archway links the dining room to the center island outfitted with custom, medium brown-toned raised panel cabinetry, a mix of granite and marble counter tops, and high-grade appliances.

On the middle level, two master-style bedroom suites each have a bedroom with direct access via (non-arched) French doors to a small, private terrace that connects by way of long stairway to the lower level backyard area. Each master suite also has a separate sitting room with French doors and Juliet balcony, adequate (if not exactly celebrity-scaled) closets, and a renovated (if not exactly decoratively thrilling) en suite facility. One suite has a custom-fitted walk-in closet and a weird little wood stove heater thing in the corner of the bedroom and the other has a step down sitting room and a jetted bathtub in addition to the glass-enclosed shower stall. One (or possibly both) of the sitting rooms could be converted to bedrooms and, should the next owner want to do such a thing, a hall-accessible three-quarter bathroom easily accommodates such a reconfiguration.

The stairs continue down to the tile-floored lowest level where a dishwasher-equipped kitchenette with a bizarrely high center island snack counter. An adjoining sunken family room is furnished with a large tan sectional sofa and a wall-mounted flat screen television not to mention another one of those wood-burning stove heater thingamabobs in the corner. On the other side of the kitchenette there's  just enough space for a small dinette set and a compact three-quarter bathroom.

French doors in the dining area open to a half-flight of exterior steps that descend to a column-lined, vine-draped, and trellis-shaded terrace that overlooks the the swimming pool. Even more steps lead down to the pool terrace where there's an awning-shaded open-air cabana at one end and at the other a heater-equipped outdoor kitchen and dining area enshrouded in dense, jungle-like foliage. An octagonal, eight-person spa was placed off by itself for maximum spa-time privacy in a forest of ferns.

Lucky for potential buyers who might feel a real connection to Mister McDonald's affinity for all things khaki-, beige-, camel-, chamois-, tan-, ecru- and otherwise brown-colored things, listing information indicates "Most furnishings avail for sale sep."

*Mister McDonald, to his professionally expansive credit and among a sundry of other gigs, wrote three episodes, directed more than 20, and produced 50+ episodes of Cougar Town.

listing photos: Hilton & Hyland