Take a look at this incredible mega estate in Ukraine owned by Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov, who is a Ukrainian billionaire businessman and oligarch. Known as the richest man in the Ukraine (with a net worth of $7.6 billion USD), Rinat also bought the world’s most expensive flat in London in 2011 for $221 million and […] More
She’s back! After a dozen years hopping around between New York City, the Hamptons and Lisbon, Portugal, Madonna has decided to set down some multimillion-dollar roots in Los Angeles.
Though she’s recently been on the East Coast, where she celebrated Easter in the Hamptons, the shape-shifting pop star returned to the City of Angels last year amid the Covid-19 quarantines, and while in town as been holed up in a lavish rented estate in the Coldwater Canyon area of Beverly Hills. Her decision to stay a while just might have something to do with the biopic about her life that she’s slated to direct and that she has co-written with Diablo Cody.
The mononymous “Like A Virgin” singer, now 62, social media savvy and still pushing sociocultural buttons, turning out fashion trends and making hit records— her 14th studio album, “Madame X,” released in 2019, was her ninth to debut at the top of the Billboard 200, looked far and wide for a suitable mansion to call home. In the end she eschewed her former real estate stomping grounds of Beverly Hills and the Hollywood Hills, where she’s owned homes in decades past, and instead headed for the suburbs, dropping $19.3 million on The Weeknd’s mansion in guard-gated and celeb-filled Hidden Hills.
Entrance of the gated home featuring a large motor court.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The Weeknd purchased the then-brand-new mansion almost four years ago for $18.2 million and initially put it on the market amid piles of publicity with a much-too-optimistic ask of not quite $25 million. The price eventually dipped to almost $22 million before Madge came along and bargained another $2.7 million off the price. With nine bedrooms and nine full and two half bathrooms spread over about 12,500 square feet between the seven-bedroom main house and two-bedroom guest house, there’s plenty of room for the gap-toothed OG Material Girl, who rolls deep with four of her six children along with a retinue of assistants, nannies and security personnel.
The Weeknd was represented by Angel Salvador at The Agency while Madonna was represented in the deal by Trevor Wright at The Beverly Hills Estates.
A gated drive rolls down to a large motor court, while the double-height foyer sets the stage for the clean-lined contemporary opulence found throughout the property.
The bright interior of the home’s entrance space.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The stair gallery next to the foyer is plenty capacious enough that a baby grand piano can comfortably be nipped under the floating staircase.
The wooden staircase next to the home gallery.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The formal living room spills out to the backyard, while the formal dining room includes an eye-catching nearby walk-in wine room with custom LED lighting.
The formal living room.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The colossal kitchen is chock-a-block with premium quality culinary accouterment and has not just one but two huge islands with stone counters that waterfall off the ends. Adjoining the kitchen is a breakfast nook and a huge family room where a wall of glass disappears into the walls to seamlessly unite the room with a heated loggia.
The spacious kitchen with two large islands.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
In addition to a staff wing off the kitchen and family room, the main floor includes a spacious guest suite, a gym, a media lounge and an office with a black marble fireplace.
The cozy office space with a black marble fireplace.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The primary bedroom presides over a wing of its own on the second floor and includes a fireplace set into a polished stone wall between LED-lit display shelves and a private balcony with a view over the backyard. There are also two fitted walk-in closets and a lavishly appointed bath.
The primary bedroom with a private balcony and expansive view.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Between the main house and an open-air pavilion, complete with fireplace and outdoor kitchen, are a velvety expanse of evenly mown lawn and a zero-edge swimming pool and spa.
The zero-edge pool and spa on the property.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
The horse barn has been converted to additional flexible living space, while the five-car garage easily doubles as an at-home disco with custom violet-colored LED lighting.
The futuristic five-car garage with LED lighting.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
Tucked up into the hillside behind the pool house, there’s a shaded viewing terrace alongside the full-sized outdoor basketball court.
The shaded terrace and full-size basketball court.
Photo Courtesy: Realtor.com
A few of Madonna’s new neighbors in Hidden Hills include Lil Wayne, who just spent $15.4 million on his big ol’ Hidden Hills manse, Drake, John Stamos, Dwyane Wade, Jeffree Star, Lori Loughlin and several members of the Kardashian clan.
Madge’s former house in Beverly Hills, which she bought in 2003 for $12.5 million from Sela Ward and sold a decade later for $19.5 million, is now owned by Rockstar energy drink mogul Russ Weiner who scooped it up in 2015 for $19 million and has had it on and off the market more times over the last four years than anyone would ever bother to count at a variety of prices that soared as high as $49 million and dipped briefly in late 2020 and early 2021 to $29.995 million. It is currently listed at $35 million.
The globe-trotting diva’s stateside holdings include a massive triple-wide townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side she bought almost a dozen years ago for $32 million and a 30-ish-acre horse farm in the Hamptons. And, about 3.5 years ago she was widely reported to have spent about $9 million for an 18th-century Moorish Revival mansion near Lisbon, in Portugal.
Check out more images of the estate below.
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Usually when a home is taken off the market and then relisted, the price gets a shave. Not in this case. Gene Simmons of KISS gave the asking price on his Beverly Hills mansion a $3 million hike, raising it from $22 million in October 2020 to $25 million this week.
The property still has a house with over 13,000 square feet, seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, formal and informal dining rooms, office, bar and bonus room. Plus, the full-sized tennis court, parking for 30 cars and a pool with a 60-foot waterslide. So what’s changed?
The estate got a few upgrades over the winter months. “We didn’t want anyone to come in and complain,” Simmons tells Robb Report. So they replaced some of the electrical, added a new roof system to prevent leaves from clogging the gutters, changed some remaining wood parts of the home to poured concrete and added more foliage. The five lead-lined safety rooms dotted throughout the house were also made more secure and easier for residents to access. “If a bad guy breaks in,” Simmons says, “he’ll never find you.” The estate also sits on nearly two acres, with lush greenery helping to keep it private.
The home has four levels on one side and three on the other, meeting in the middle at the gorgeous great room with those tall windows on each side. On the lower level, there’s a six-car garage, a billiards room and a wine cellar, though the musician doesn’t drink. While one wing was used for meeting and his KISS museum memorabilia, he decided against building a music or recording room, instead opting to keep the place as an escape.
The patio and pool.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
While Simmons and his wife, model-actor Shannon Tweed, bought the property in 1987, it didn’t always look so spectacular, but it did have a storied past. The home that was originally on-site was a 3,500-square-foot wooden farmhouse. “We flattened it and brought in tons of soil, spent close to $11 million sprucing up the place,” Simmons says.
They bought the acreage from Irving Azoff, who went on to manage Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles. “The Eagles were put together on the property,” Simmons says. And before that, Nicholas Schenk, one of the original Hollywood moguls, used to keep his mistress at the estate.
A regulation-size tennis court is on site.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The Simmonses gradually renovated it and completed the build on the estate’s current house in 2000. While the exterior of the home has plenty of drama with its enormous windows, dual staircases and multiple wings, inside, the vibe is less rockstar and more family-traditional, with a flair for comfort and simplicity (though admittedly on a grand scale) rather than excess. Much of which was showcased on their television show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels.
In October, when the couple first listed the Benedict Canyon place, it was said that they were moving to another residence they already owned in tax-free Washington state. But that is inaccurate—Simmons has never owned property there. And recently, there have been murmurings about Simmons and Tweed purchasing a house in a gated Malibu community, atop a secluded peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. Simmons is now setting the record straight—Tweed has purchased the house as a personal investment with her own money, but they do not plan to live there. She also bought a lakefront property in Whistler, Simmons says. The duo has apparently long kept their accounts, taxes, investments and business interests separate. “Good fences make good neighbors,” he says.
The grand foyer.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
That said, the couple still plans to leave LA for a quieter lifestyle and escape the celebrity map listings and tour buses. “We’ve always loved LA, but you do have to deal with fires every year, every once in a while the ground shakes, and those tourist buses. Everything has its time,” Simmons says. “The house is too big for us. It’s just Shannon and myself and four dogs. The empty nest thing is happening.” They’re headed for neighboring Nevada. “In Nevada, we’re close enough. The kids have their homes here in LA. It’s just an hour flight.”
He’s already purchased a 12,000-square-foot home there with an indoor swimming pool with slides and is considering buying an adjacent 90-acre parcel. What’s with all the slides? “If you’re going to entertain, some folks want to sip coffee but others want to swing from the chandeliers,” he says. “A home shouldn’t just be a home, but a place where you have parties and enjoy yourself.”
The Beverly Hills listing remains in the hands of Million Dollar Listing brokers Matt and Josh Altman of the Altman Brothers for Douglas Elliman.
Wide-plank flooring and incredible woodwork elevate the living room.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The home office.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The dining room.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The kitchen.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
Soaring windows let sunshine in, even to the upper floor.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The primary bedroom suite.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
Simmons’ Beverly Hills estate.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles
The mansion has seven bedrooms and nine baths.
Photo: Christopher Amitrano and Marc Angeles More
Now that ski season is coming to a close, comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica, have not one, but two Telluride, Colo., estates on the market. For the larger property—about 27 acres—and its house, they’re asking $14.95 million. For the smaller one—on a mere 17 acres with just a four-bedroom home—the price tag is $2.78 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The second parcel will first be offered to the buyer of the main house. “It’s another spectacular home, says Compass listing agent Bill Fandel, surrounded by aspens and with dramatic views.
This isn’t the first time the bigger residence has been on the market. In 2011, after a massive renovation, the 12,500-square-foot home was listed for $18.25 million but then was taken off the market. Now, with the price drop and buyers looking for secluded, resort-style retreats, the timing might be better. The home is being sold furnished, so you could enjoy the same view Seinfeld that did from the same leather recliner.
The double-height windows let in the light.
Photo: Joshua Johnson
The larger home has 11 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and a spacious kitchen suitable for feeding a full house with its commercial appliances, acres of countertop space and several dining areas. Done in a modern farmhouse style, warm wood paneling and reclaimed plank flooring pervades both the entertainment and private spaces, with beams crisscrossing the ceilings. The double-height living room has a massive stone fireplace, plenty of sunshine and views of Wilson Peak.
A gym, yoga studio, lower level rec room with ping-pong and other games, a wine room, gear room for skis and other toys round out some of the amenities (alas, there’s no baseball diamond like the one at his Hamptons pad). The heated garage surprises by holding only four cars—Seinfeld is a known Porsche collector. But he does have other several other places to park that collection. But the garage also has a few bells and whistles for auto enthusiasts, including the ability to wash cars inside it, even in winter. Outside there’s a 5,500-square-foot deck and miles of manicured trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter and hiking, running and mountain biking in summer. The trails cross over Turkey Creek and lead into the abutting National Forest.
A stone fireplace is the focal point (besides the view) for the living room.
Photo: Joshua Johnson
Built in 1991, the home was purchased by the couple for $7.55 million in 2007, according to Fandel. It was originally built for a Hollywood director and was featured in Architectural Digest in 1994. When the Seinfelds bought it, Fandel says, “They completely reimagined and expanded the house.” The outdoor terraces are heated so they can be used year round. The cobblestone driveway is also heated to melt snow and ice. But unlike many other homes in ski towns, “it’s as good a summer house as it is a ski house,” Fandel says. “In some places the outdoor spaces and yards are overlooked, but not here.” It’s located just 10 minutes from Telluride’s ski resort.
In addition to the Colorado and Hamptons estates, the Seinfelds have bought and sold many properties in Manhattan, their home base, as well as in Los Angeles.
The farmhouse-style kitchen
Photo: Joshua Johnson
A look at the whole shebang
Photo: Joshua Johnson More
First listed in 2018 for $28 million, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal’s massive home in Windermere, Fla., was finally sold. But the deal fell through, and the palatial estate is now back on the market for $16.5 million, with a few key updates.
Gone is the ginormous Shaq-sized round bed in the primary bedroom; added is an improved pool area, complete with a summer kitchen, as well as landscaping and minor cosmetic fixes, such as fresh coats of paint and exterior pressure washes.
But the mansion remains as massive as ever at 31,000 square feet, with a 6,000-square-foot indoor basketball court, 12 bedrooms and 15 baths. Of course, everything about this home was done on a grand scale. The two-story great room alone is more than 1,100 square feet, with its glass walls looking out to the pool and tranquil Lake Butler. The formal dining room, with its handcrafted wood paneling and molding, seats 16. In the kitchen, there’s a Viking six-burner stove, two built-in Wolf steamers, a side-by-side Sub-Zero fridge and freezer plus a second glass-doored fridge and two double-door convection ovens.
The outsized porte cochere at the home’s entrance
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
Also on the main level are some of the residence’s best amenities: a sound-proofed cinema room; a “gentleman’s room” with game tables, a wet bar, wine fridge and ice maker; a separate, enclosed cedar-planked humidor and wine storage; an aquarium room with a triangular saltwater fish tank; the guest wing with its five en suite bedrooms, great room and bar; and the basketball court.
On the second level, the primary suite is a secluded retreat that takes up a full wing of the estate. The bedroom is 900 square feet and has a private balcony, a drop-down screen for the projector TV and a marble fireplace. The walk-in closet is actually four separate rooms with custom shelving and a center island. Dual bathrooms have jetted showers, and one has a two-person Jacuzzi tub. Four other en suite bedrooms are also on the second level.
The great room
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
Shaq likes his cars, so there’s also a 17-car garage with an attached fitness studio. A second garage houses another nine dream machines, as well as a dance studio and an enclosed recording studio (where *NSYNC is rumored to have recorded some of their first songs).
The property sits on three acres of land in Windermere’s gated neighborhood of Isleworth, a prestigious golfing community with its own string of lakes. It’s in the most secluded section of the neighborhood. While the common amenities offer a lot, so does Shaq’s place. He named his 95-foot pool Shaq-apulco, and it does feel like a private resort out on the terrace with the large hot tub and expansive outdoor kitchen. A tiki-style cabana overlooks the sandy beach on Lake Butler, and there’s 700 feet of lakefront. A dock and boat lift provide direct access to the water.
The fully loaded kitchen
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The NBA star is selling because he spends much more time in Atlanta these days with his job as a sports analyst for TNT, but he told listing agent Benjamin Hillman the things he’ll miss most about this mansion, which he built in 1990, are “those panoramic views of Lake Butler and the fun water activities like riding his wave runners through the chain of lakes in Windermere.”
The family room
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The games room
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The home theater
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The 44-foot-long home office
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The huge primary bedroom
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
One of four rooms inside the master walk-in closet
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The two-person jetted tub in the master bath
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
One of the other 11 bedrooms in the home
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The indoor basketball court is wired for sound.
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The dance studio and secondary garage
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
The 95-foot pool is 15 feet deep
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
Shaq named his pool area Shaq-apulco.
Photo: Christian Pestana Rodriguez/Premier Sotheby’s International Realty More
Rihanna apparently caused a big stir by skipping the 2021 Grammy awards, leaving the spotlight to other music superstars like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift. Reports said the Barbadian singer’s absence was due to not being nominated—and then there’s the pesky fact that her much-anticipated upcoming album “R9” still has yet to surface, despite being years in the works. Of course, Rihanna’s also been busy with other things, too, like becoming a retail mogul. Sales of the burgeoning cosmetics tycoon’s Fenty Beauty makeup line have gone bonkers, and her Savage x Fenty lingerie brand is now reportedly valued at a whopping $1 billion.
The Grammys skip might also have something to do with the fact that Rihanna recently found residential love in a not-so-hopeless place. The singer has just acquired a new house—a $13.8 million mansion, to be exact—and the property is located on a highly coveted cul-de-sac in the mountains above Beverly Hills. Neighbors include Sir Paul McCartney, and a few doors away lies a sumptuous estate that was leased for several years to Mariah Carey, and was more recently rented by Madonna during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Originally built in the 1930s, the Rihanna estate was formerly owned by Mary Sheldon, the daughter of I Dream of Jeanie creator Sidney Sheldon. In 2016, Sheldon sold the dated house for $4.3 million to entrepreneur and investor Daniel Starr, whose acquisition of the property was chronicled on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing.
The mansion blends both contemporary and traditional elements.
Alexis Adam
Starr subsequently spent millions to demolish and rebuild nearly every inch of the house (and he would later sue his contractors for those millions, alleging fraud and shoddy workmanship.) Last year, the property was put up for sale, asking $15 million. The transfer to Rihanna appears to have gone down off-market, but the Umbrella empress forked over $13.8 million for the premises, according to tax records.
Invisible from the street behind tall hedges and big gates, the 7,600-square-foot mansion is approached a driveway that slopes up to meet the two-car attached garage. A curved flight of stairs ascends to the house, which sports a crisply contemporary look with white paint paired against a black metal roof and black trim. The mansion features a “sophisticated design” that “blends both contemporary and traditional elements,” per the listing, and the place pays clear homage to the trendy modern farmhouse look, with its French white oak hardwood floors and open floorplan.
A glass front door pivots into the foyer, which is dominated by a giant black bull sculpture—grab life by the horns, if you will—and overlooks the proverbial heart of the property: an open-air central courtyard with an al fresco terrace, pool, spa, and firepit.
The open-air central courtyard features a pool, spa, and firepit.
Alexis Adam
Public spaces of note include a fireplace-equipped living room with walls of Fleetwood glass sliders opening to the outdoors, while the luxe wet bar area goes for a more masculine look with its moody splash of dark gray hues. The bar services an intimate family room/lounge/library with another fireplace, plus floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves.
The listing describes the kitchen as “stunningly executed.” Indeed, nearly every surface is slathered in marble, and there are not one but two islands, both with brass fixtures. Top-of-the-line stainless appliances service a breakfast banquette that goes way glam with tufted black leather seating.
Upstairs, the master suite looks as though it just stepped out of a Bali resort travel guide, with a five-star bedroom that overlooks Coldwater Canyon, and a custom closet with black lacquer cabinetry. Decked out in a unique, thickly-veined marble, the spa-esque master bath opens to an al fresco lounge area.
The estate offers plenty of privacy for the star.
Alexis Adam
The half-acre property is steeply sloped, so tall retaining walls encircle the house and yard, providing security plus privacy—ideal for a big celebrity.
In case anyone didn’t know, Rihanna is a real estate mogul in the making who owns at least four other multimillion-dollar homes, including a $6.8 million Hollywood Hills estate, a vacation retreat in her native Barbados, and a high-floor condo along LA’s Wilshire Corridor. The 33-year-old’s current main residence, however, is a $5.5 million penthouse in Century City’s coveted The Century skyscraper, where residents have 24/7 concierge and doorman services, plus gym, spa, and in-house restaurant facilities. Some of the high-profile neighbors in that building include Candy Spelling, Matthew Perry, and celeb chef Nobu Matsuhisa.
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