Bel-Air mansion built for Iris Cantor sells for $40 million

La Belle Vie, the mammoth Bel-Air residence built in 1993 for philanthropist Iris Cantor by her husband, Bernard Gerald Cantor, has sold for $40 million, public records show. The sale is one of the highest this year in Los Angeles County.

The mansion had been marketed at $53 million since 2009. It was designed to house the Cantors’ extensive art collections.

The 35,000 square feet of living space include a three-story entry hall, a formal library, a media room, a gym, a billiards room, a beauty salon, three kitchens, 12 fireplaces, nine bedrooms, 21 bathrooms and a staff wing. The property includes a pool, a tennis court and a 10-car garage.

Iris Cantor is chairwoman and president of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, which supports the visual arts and medical, educational and cultural institutions. B. Gerald Cantor, who died in 1996 at 79, cofounded the securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Ron de Salvo of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, was the listing agent, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

Singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, who has been sporting emerald highlights in her hair, may soon see another kind of green. She has listed her home in a gated Bel-Air community for $9.5 million.

The Mediterranean-style house, built in 2003, has a two-story foyer, a wine cellar and tasting room, a gym, eight bedrooms and 101/2 bathrooms within its 12,184 square feet. The master bedroom suite includes a kitchenette, a fireplace, a patio, walk-in closets and dual bathrooms. The garage can park 10 cars. Among outdoor amenities are an open-air kitchen-barbecue area, a swimming pool and a spa.

Lavigne, 26, has been touring to promote her latest studio album, “Goodbye Lullaby,” which was released earlier this year, and is working on her fifth album. Her debut album, “Let Go,” was released in 2002.

The pop star and her then-husband, Sum 41 singer and guitarist Deryck Whibley, bought the house in 2007 for its current asking price.

Jade Mills and Zach Quittman of Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills South, are the listing agents.

Comic and actor Cheech Marin has listed a home in Malibu at $5,995,000.

The 1929 Craftsman-style house sits on nearly an acre on a low bluff above 120 feet of beach frontage. The three-bedroom main house includes a master suite with stained-glass windows. A three-bedroom guesthouse has a gym and a detached music room.

Since he partnered with Tommy Chong in the ‘70s and ‘80s counterculture comedy duo Cheech & Chong, the 64-year-old Marin has starred on “Nash Bridges” (1996-2001) and was a regular on “Judging Amy” (2004-05).

The listing agents are Irene Dazzan-Palmer and Sandro Dazzan of Coldwell Banker, Malibu Colony.

Actor Dan Cortese and his wife, DeeDee, have listed their Malibu house for sale at $3.25 million.

The Mediterranean-style home, built in 1997, sits in a gated community on more than three-quarters of an acre of parklike grounds with a lagoon pool, spa, pond and waterfalls. The 6,322-square-foot house has a sweeping staircase entry, five bedrooms and six bathrooms with an attached guesthouse.

Cortese, 43, starred in the TV series “Rock Me, Baby” (2003-2004) and “Veronica’s Closet” (1997-2000) and appeared in the 1995 season of “Melrose Place.” He hosted “Money Hungry” (2010) and “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad” (2008).

DeeDee Cortese and Christopher Cortazzo of Coldwell Banker, Malibu West, are the listing agents.

The Studio City estate of the late Joseph Barbera, co-founder of Hanna Barbera Studios, and his wife, Sheila, is listed at $6,795,000.

Set on 2 acres in Fryman Estates and built in 1988, the main residence has floor-to-ceiling stone fireplaces in the living and family rooms and a formal dining room large enough to seat 16. Including staff quarters, the property has five bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms in the 6,899 square feet.

The garage of 7,200 square feet houses a replica of Barbera’s office at Hanna Barbera, multiple cars, an administrative office and storage.

An entertainment area is adjacent to the pool and spa. The estate also has a lighted tennis court.

Barbera died in 2006 at 95.

Sheila Barbera will be making her primary residence at her Old Las Palmas estate in Palm Springs.

Karen Misraje of Partners Trust, Beverly Hills, is the listing agent.

Update: TV and film actor J.K. Simmons has sold his Hollywood Hills-area contemporary home for $1,585,000.

The two-story view home, built in 2000, sits on more than half an acre on a gated street. It has five bedrooms and five bathrooms in about 4,190 square feet, with vaulted ceilings, three fireplaces and a balcony off the master suite. One bedroom was converted into an office. The garage holds three cars.

Simmons, 56, who played hard-boiled editor J. Jonah Jameson in the “Spider-Man” movies, will reprise the role in the upcoming “Ultimate Spider-Man” television series. He costarred as an assistant police chief on “The Closer” (2005-11) and was a police psychiatrist on “Law & Order” (1997-2004).

The property had been bought in 2003 for $1.45 million.

Denny Kagasoff of Prudential California, Beverly Hills, was the listing agent, and John Chris DeStefano of Westside Estate Agency, Beverly Hills, represented the buyer, according to the MLS.

lauren.beale@latimes.com