James franco buys hip la pad

James Franco has bought himself a hip new LA pad in the cool neighbourhood of Silver Lake.

The trendy area, mostly known for its alternative music scene, is a good match for the 127 Hours star, who shunned the Beverly Hills crowd to pick his new home.

Indeed, Franco's duplex is no star mansion or glamorous estate with panoramic views of the Los Angeles skyline. Rather, it is a "mini compound", reports Zillow, with two bedrooms plus an additional detached one-bed unit for friends or renting guests.

The idiosyncratic movie star, who has also turned his hand to poetry and literature, was previously living in New York, where he has been studying at multiple universities. Now, as he works toward an English PhD from Yale and lines up a co-teaching post on a film class at the University of Southern California, he has made the leap to LA.

The home itself cost a distinctly unglamorous $775,000, although its history is no less starry: it used to belong to Mad Men's costume designer, Jane Bryant.