Cher to auction 700 items from her home

07/31/2006 4:31 PM, AP


Come October, the highest bidder can sleep in Cher's bed. It's one of 700 items from the superstar's Malibu home that will be auctioned beginning Oct. 3. The sale includes furniture, artwork, jewelry, a 2003 H2 Hummer and original costumes by Bob Mackie.

The auction is expected to bring in more than $1 million, said Lee Dunbar of Sotheby's, one of two firms administering the auction.

A "nice percentage" of the proceeds will benefit the Cher Charitable Foundation, the 60-year-old singer-actress said.

"I'm truly excited about it, having had this stuff for so many years," Cher told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I'm only keeping about five items from everything I have."

She decided to put the items up for auction so she can redecorate.

"When I got off the road, something happened and I said, `You know, I think it's time to do something different,'" Cher said. "But my house is so full that there's no way to do something different unless I totally change it."

Cher has collected neo-Gothic art and furniture for more than 25 years. Among the items offered in the auction: a Gothic revival brass bed, circa 1865; an oak reading table; a pair of painted brass chandeliers; and a 16th-century terra-cotta figurine of Jesus Christ.

She plans to redo her home in a mix of styles inspired by Morocco and Tibet. "It sounds crazy, but I'm going to try to mix a whole bunch of cultures together."

About 200 pieces from her extensive wardrobe and costume collection will be sold, including outfits featured on "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" and an original Mackie-designed gown she wore to Oscars.

"The amount of costumes I have is staggering, so this doesn't even make a dent," she said.

She will also auction 85 pieces of jewelry, including beaded items she made herself.

Auction highlights will travel to Sotheby's locations in London, Chicago and New York before the full exhibition opens at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sept. 29. A preview exhibition is now on view at the Beverly Hilton.

"I have loved everything I ever bought," Cher said. "I have loved them and kept them for all these years and now it's time for them to go on."

_____

On the Net:

http://www.cher.com/

http://www.juliensauctions.com

http://www.sothebys.com