He'll vet buyer of £3.8m house

John Cleese is buying himself a new neighbour.

The comic bought the house next to his Californian beachside mansion so he could choose a quiet neighbour.

And now he has put it on the market for £3.8million.

The 62-year-old ex-Python told the LA Times: "We're looking for a film director or maybe a scriptwriter--someone who doesn't have loud parties.

"I said to my wife that we were too old to move again. I'm not just selling a house. I'm buying a neighbour."

Cleese brought the home in 1994 with his wife Alyce Faye, and snapped up the neighbouring property last year.

He said: "We fell in love with Santa Barbara. Occasionally we see a dozen surfers, but the houses are in a little enclave."

The couple have a house in London, but spend most their time in the US.

"There are a lot of reasons to be here," said Cleese. "Ninety percent of my work is here."

His latest project there is playing the owner of a TV network in a US sitcom called Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central), which debuts, predictably enough, on Wednesday.

Cleese blasts Beeb bosses

Published: 25 Mar 2002