Ellen DeGeneres Just Sold a Midcentury Bungalow in Montecito for $5.2 Million

Back in 2020, after they sold a Beverly Hills mansion to a San Francisco-based venture capitalist for a cool $45 million, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi went on a real estate buying spree in the Santa Barbara area. The former talk show host and actress snatched up a $49 million compound from comedian Dennis Miller, bought back a $14.3 million ranch they had previously owned from Tinder founder Sean Rad, and picked up a two-bedroom, two-bath 1950s bungalow just steps away from Montecito’s Butterfly Beach for $2.9 million, just to name a few of their purchases.

The couple went on to flip the Miller pad for $55 million to an unidentified buyer and once again offloaded the historic Rancho San Leandro hacienda—it’s right next door to Oprah Winfrey’s Promised Land estate—to Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe in an off-market deal for $21 million. Now they’ve come full circle, selling the petite cottage in a bidding war for $5.2 million just days after they listed it for a speck under $5 million. Not only is that around $200,000 over the asking price, but it’s also $2.3 million more than they paid for the place a little more than four years ago.

Tucked away at the end of a lengthy driveway shared with three other homes, amid a nearly half-acre parcel laced with palms, the single-level house was built in 1954 and offers about 1,700 square feet of glass-lined living space that has been extensively renovated through the years. With vaulted ceilings sporting whitewashed exposed beams throughout, the Bali-esque interiors are centered around an open-concept great room hosting a fireside living room, a dining area, and a sleekly designed kitchen outfitted with Portuguese limestone countertops and high-end stainless appliances.

Just off the kitchen is a small guest bedroom that sits across from a full bath and a laundry room. At the end of a hallway is a secluded primary retreat, which features a bedroom with its own patio, along with a walk-in closet and a spa-like bath that comes with a soaking tub and access to a privately walled courtyard. A second enclosed patio off the living area is embellished with a fire pit and a water feature, while a carport rests out front.

The property-mad pair, who have largely decamped to the U.K., are rumored to already be looking at a new and very modern house in the Cotswolds after they experienced issues with flooding and backlash from neighbors over construction work at an $18 million farmhouse they first moved into last year. Back in the U.S., they still lay claim to at least two Montecito homes: a $32 million Roman-style estate known as Pompeiian Court that the two repurchased last year as part of a property swap deal with billionaire mining magnate Robert Friedland, as well as another smaller house nearby.

The just-sold listing was held by Riskin Partners Estate Group of Village Properties/Forbes Global Properties; Mark Bacino of Keller Williams Realty repped the buyer.

Click here for more photos of the Montecito residence.

Source: Luxury - robbreport.com