Janus Cercone and Michael Manheim, who are Emmy and Golden Globe winners, spent their careers writing and producing films before they started designing houses. While this may seem like a drastic pivot, there’s a creative energy and buzz about developing properties that isn’t so different from being on set. Their firm, JAMAN Properties, has attracted celebs like Conan O’Brien and Fran Drescher with their cinematic creations. Now, the duo is listing their latest renovation project, a Point Dume estate called Peacock Alley, for $16.85 million.
The moniker is a nod to the wild peacocks that wander the neighborhood, and to the Waldorf Astoria’s famous promenade of the same name. It also evokes a sense of maximalism, which is appropriate given the new design. The home treats every room like a scene. The all-black Art Deco chef’s kitchen centers on a 9-by-6-foot island with an Arabescato Corchia marble sink, alongside an outdoor dining table that once belonged to Tom Petty. Leaning into the theme, one powder room is lined with 3,500 ethically sourced peacock feathers. A cashmere-walled screening room and a mirrored “piano bar” also display luxurious character, along with a 55-foot pool, an infrared sauna, and a meditation garden.
The married couple bought the house in 2024 for $7.46 million, calling the existing structure “ugly”, according to Mansion Global. Cercone has said their team reworked nearly every room and reoriented the house entirely. The four-bedroom, six-bathroom property also comes with a separate guest house and a membership to the private Riviera II Beach Club, known for some of the best surfing on the California coast. Cercone and Manheim, 35-year residents of Malibu, designed the home around the town’s own values: A connection to nature, creativity, and a sense of place that resists the beige-box aesthetic common to most beachfront listings.
“It’s a place where you go to get away from the craziness and away from the transactional side of the business of Hollywood,” Cercone said. “It’s about being comfortable with yourself in your home.” Jeff Chertow of Pinnacle Estate Properties represents the listing.
