One less place to hang Lakers cap

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has sold a bluff-top contemporary in Malibu that had been listed at $7,999,000.

The main house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,374 square feet. Walls of glass frame ocean views in the living room. A guesthouse has two one-bedroom suites, and a stairway leads to the beach.

DiCaprio, 34, put the property on the market in mid-November. He purchased it for $6.35 million in 2007, according to public records.

The three-time Oscar nominee has the lead in the upcoming thriller “Shutter Island,” scheduled for October release. Last year, he starred in “Body of Lies” and “Revolutionary Road” and was ranked as the fifth-highest-paid actor in Hollywood by Forbes magazine. Among his acting credits are “Blood Diamond” (2006), “Catch Me if You Can” (2002) and “Titanic” (1997).

He is a producer of “Greensburg,” a series in its second season on Planet Green about a community in the Midwest rebuilding after a 2007 tornado. The actor-environmentalist-producer-writer-Lakers fan wears many hats -- literally. After studying photos of DiCaprio courtside at Staples Center since 2004, Canada’s National Post observed last month that it looks like he never wears the same baseball cap twice.

The listing agents were Katie Bentzen and Sarah Kosasky of Bentzen Levin Real Estate, Malibu.

Ex-talent manager knows best now

Former talent manager Sandy Gallin has put his 42nd residential project -- a more than 12,000-square-foot remodel and expansion in Bel-Air -- on the market at $32 million.

The late-’30s Paul Williams-designed traditional was home to “Father Knows Best” actress Jane Wyatt until her death. Gallin purchased the house in 2007 for $7 million, with the intention of tearing it down and building a two-story contemporary.

“I bought it for the land and the view, and five days after I closed escrow, I heard from the landmark conservation board that I couldn’t tear it down,” he said. “I was ready to have a heart attack.”

But the result is a seven-bedroom, 12-bathroom home that blends Williams’ traditional style with the contemporary architecture of Scott Mitchell, who has worked with Gallin on about half a dozen houses. Among the signature Williams design elements is a two-story circular entryway with a sweeping staircase.

Gallin wanted to replace Wyatt’s terraced gardens with more flat yard space and built three sets of retaining walls, one of which serves as a wall along the new 140-foot infinity pool. He estimates he spent more than $7 million on hardscape, trees and other landscaping.

To make the interior contiguous, he chose reclaimed white oak for floors throughout the house and wood for the ceilings and walls of many rooms, spending more than $3 million on the wood and labor. Gallin, whose extensive credits have included TV and film production and managing the musical talents of Barbra Streisand and Dolly Parton, has reinvented himself by rebuilding and flipping expensive houses. Frank Sinatra, “Survivor” producer Mark Burnett and sax player Kenny G all purchased Gallin properties.

Although he had thought this would be his last project, this latest home is “too big for one person,” Gallin said. “I need to definitely build another.”

The listing agents are Ernie Carswell of Teles Properties, Beverly Hills, and Kurt Rappaport, Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills.

She did it again: Spears drops price

Britney Spears’ Beverly Hills Post Office-area villa is back on the market at $6,499,000, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

The pop star most recently listed the house in September at $7.9 million and reduced the price to $7,195,000 before letting the listing expire in March.

The Italian Renaissance-inspired home, built in 2001 in a gated community, has six bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms in about 7,500 square feet. There are marble, hardwood and mosaic tile floors and carved millwork. The master bedroom has a fireplace and his-and-her bathrooms. The landscaped grounds include a swimming pool and a gated motor court.

Spears, 27, launched her comeback “Circus” tour in New Orleans in March. Named after her sixth studio album, which debuted late last year in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, the tour is in London through mid-June before moving on to other parts of the United Kingdom and Europe.

Tomer Fridman of Ewing & Associates, Sotheby’s International Realty, Calabasas, has the listing.

Priorities change for former linebacker

Former NFL and XFL linebacker Mike Croel and his wife, Cassaundra, have sold their Sunset Strip-area home for $1,912,000.

The renovated contemporary has four bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in 5,380 square feet. There are four fireplaces, high ceilings and exposed wood, creating the feel of a ski lodge inside the house. The walled compound includes a guesthouse and a lagoon pool.

Croel, 40, was the NFL defensive rookie of the year in 1991 when he was a member of the Denver Broncos. He also played for the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks. In the XFL, he was with the Los Angeles Xtreme.

The Croels are looking at Beverly Hills-area homes with easier access to schools, according to Ernie Carswell of Teles Properties, Beverly Hills. Carswell shared the listing with Sarah Blanchard of the same office.

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lauren.beale@latimes.com