The Backyard at the W Hotel 930 HilgardAvenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 310.443.0201 The Backyard with an iconic design by Thom Filicia (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) and an alluring menu of Mediterranean-influenced California cuisine, The Backyard at the W offers the best alfresco dining in L.A. This hidden oasis, the poolside restaurant and…

By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times January 11, 2012, 12:54 p.m. Actor Pierce Brosnan has sold his Malibu beach retreat for $2.6 million. Brosnan and his wife, environmental activist and former broadcast journalist Keely Shaye Smith, put the property on the market at $3.9 million in 2010 while building another house nearby. The gated Mediterranean…

By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times January 4, 2012, 2:40 p.m. The Beverly Hills Post Office-area home that entertainer Ed McMahon fought to keep from foreclosure in a much-publicized battle in 2008 has sold in an all-cash deal for its most recent asking price of $3.475 million. Six offers came in on the property following…