In the first weeks of the year, professional athlete-turned-actor Wyatt Russell emerged from a minor real estate bidding fracas with the keys to a full-blooded, 1930-built Monterey Colonial-style in Santa Monica. Russell wound up paying $5.368 million for the four-bedroom, four-bath house, which sits on a quiet street on the edge of Pacific Palisades. The home had been listed at $4.75 million at the end of last year.

Much of the home’s .13-acre lot is occupied by a hedgerow-protected backyard carpet of lawn, ideal background for the classic second-floor balcony that overlooks it, although a red brick back patio and a small front courtyard provide timeless atmospherics.

Inside the home, highlights include the kitchen, where bevel-edged marble counter and island tops, and matching counter-to-ceiling backsplashes, are contrasted with white or oak cabinetry and a burnished brass vent hood. The little space transitions seamlessly into a dayroom, with French doors opening onto the courtyard; a total of five set of French doors open to the space on ground level, with an additional set opening to a small glade with an outdoor fireplace.

The master bedroom is floored in dark-finished plank hardwood which is likely original, and opens via its own set of French doors to the balcony. The other bedrooms follow suit, including a kid’s bedroom which features panoramic wall covering that’d been quite fetching to the younger set.

Russell’s upcoming projects include miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven, with Andrew Garfield.