Jamie Foxx purchases Thousand Oaks villa

Jamie Foxx, the Oscar-winning star of "Ray," is fond of recalling what Ray Charles once told him --"If you feel it, then you know it's right."

So, given Foxx's business acumen, it's safe to assume that his $10.5 million purchase of a 17,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa in the Thousand Oaks community of Hidden Valley felt "right."

The house, built in 1995, sits on 40 acres. It has 10 bedrooms, 12 baths, a library, family and game rooms, a full gym and master-bedroom suite with a sitting room, an atrium, sauna and balcony.

The estate in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, also has an Olympic-size pool, a spa, a cabana studio, a north-south tennis court, playing fields and two guesthouses.

Foxx, 39, who won a best-actor Oscar for "Ray," starred in "Dreamgirls" and has sold more than 2 million copies of his album "Unpredictable."

He moved to California from Texas around 1990 to work on his music career and, as a stand-up comic, changed his name from Eric Morlon Bishop to Jamie Foxx in homage to actor Redd Foxx.

His album "Peep This" was released in 1994, but he found earlier success in TV comedy, first with "In Living Color" (1991-94) and then with "The Jamie Foxx Show" (1996-2001). By the late '90s, Foxx's career on the big screen had taken off.

Kirstie Alley shares portion

of home and good fortune

Actress Kirstie Alley, who donated goods last week to tornado victims in her native state of Kansas, has bought a house in east Hollywood for about $749,000.

The Jenny Craig spokeswoman, who lost 75 pounds on the weight-loss program, found out what other home buyers are discovering about the neighborhood. Housing can be less expensive there than in the bordering communities of Los Feliz, Hollywood and Silver Lake.

Alley plans to use the house as an office and perhaps as living quarters for her assistants, said Frank Barbano, who had the listing and represented her in the purchase.

The actress already has a residence a mile away from the house that she just bought, as well as homes in Oregon and Kansas. She likes the proximity of her newly acquired house to shops, Barbano said.

Alley has designed the interiors of a number of her homes. Barbano said she was drawn to her new purchase by its vintage claw-foot bathtubs, the Cape Cod-style baths, the cathedral ceiling and a balcony with city views.

Alley, also a producer and writer, plays a 50-ish screenwriter who can't find work in the upcoming TV movie "Write & Wrong."