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    Mel B’s Former English Estate Just Listed for $15 Million

    A 1,000-year-old English manor that was once a wartime headquarters—and later home to Mel B—is looking for a new owner.

    Tucked away in the charming village of Little Marlow, about an hour outside London, the Manor is a Grade II-listed estate with nearly a millennium of history. Asking £11 million (roughly $15 million), the property offers a rare blend of regal pedigree, wartime significance, and pop culture flair, as well as a secret passageway or two for good measure.

    Let’s start with the basics: this place is old. As in, it was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. Over the centuries, the manor has undergone countless transformations and welcomed many big names. During World War II, the building served as HQ for the 5th Battalion of the Black Watch. It’s said that General Eisenhower and General Montgomery huddled here ahead of the D-Day landings. There’s even a hidden screen in the drawing room where they supposedly reviewed plans. And yes, Queen Elizabeth II was a guest: She reportedly inspected the troops on the very lawns that now host garden parties and tennis matches.

    Fast-forward to the 1990s and the manor found itself with a new kind of icon in residence: Mel B, a.k.a. Scary Spice. She owned the home during the Spice Girls’ heyday, adding a layer of pop royalty to the estate’s already stacked résumé.

    RELATED: This $6.7 Million Ultra-Modern U.K. Home Appeared in the Robert Pattinson Sci-Fi Film ‘Mickey 17’

    The interior has original oak beams, Elizabethan paneling, and ornate cornicing.

    Nick Ingram Photography; Savills

    Today, the seven-bedroom estate is a true standout, with layers of history and personality in every room. A 17th-century oak staircase anchors the interiors, winding through grand halls and high-ceilinged living spaces. There are Jacobean fireplaces, ornate cornicing, and Georgian sash windows with original wooden shutters. The library is fitted with a secret door, the mirrored cloakroom is pure theater, and the orangery opens onto manicured lawns through three sets of French doors. Down below, the original Elizabethan cellars feature a 14-bin wine vault and a brick-lined passageway that leads to the river. (You know, just in case you ever need to make a dramatic exit.)

    Upstairs, a large, balconied hall connects to the seven bedrooms. The principal suite showcases a custom-designed dressing room lined with bespoke cabinetry. (A new spa-like en suite is currently in the works.) A set of steps leads to the bedroom itself, where full-height wardrobes provide extra storage space. Two additional rooms share a sleek Jack-and-Jill shower room, while four more have en suite baths. On the top floor, two more bedrooms and a playroom offer flexible space, giving owners the potential to reconfigure or expand.

    RELATED: This Stately Late 19th-Century English Manor House Can Now Be Yours for $4.7 Million

    A vaulted spa complex with a pool, gym, sauna, steam room, and treatment rooms.

    Nick Ingram Photography; Savills

    But it’s not all dusty grandeur. The current owners, who’ve lived here for 25 years, added a luxe spa complex with a full-size pool, gym, sauna, steam room, and treatment rooms all under one dramatic vaulted ceiling. And then there’s the mirrored cloakroom: a bathroom covered in mirrors, with two facing toilets, disco balls, and a vibe that’s pure Studio 54.

    Outside, the grounds span nearly nine acres and include a bridge to a private island, a Victorian greenhouse, an orchard with 120-year-old pear trees, formal English gardens, and even a private gate to the local church. There’s also a separate two-bedroom lodge on-site, plus garages for seven cars.

    “This is one of the most spectacular country houses I have been fortunate enough to see,” says Victoria Knight, property agent with Savills. “It’s incredibly rare in this area to have a Manor House set so centrally within a village and still offer privacy.”

    Click here to see more photos of Mel B’s former home.

    Nick Ingram Photography; Savills

    Authors

    Abby Montanez

    Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…

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    Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo List Rob Lowe’s Former Montecito Home for $65 Million

    Now that Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo have relocated to another SoCal property to be closer to their children’s school, according to Architectural Digest, the Maroon 5 frontman and his supermodel wife have decided to part ways with the sprawling Montecito estate they’ve owned for the past three years.

    After paying private equity tycoon Jack McGinley $52 million in a clandestine off-market deal for the Georgian-style spread, which was designed by architect Don Nulty and built in 2009 for 9-1-1: Lone Star actor Rob Lowe, Levine and Prinsloo have put the place back on the market for $65 million. And though that’s a whopping $13 million more than they shelled out in 2022, the couple undertook an extensive (and costly) renovation in collaboration with Clements Design during their tenure.

    Riskin Partners Estate Group of Village Properties and Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency hold the listing.

    A wood-paneled lounge is ideal for entertaining with a cozy fireplace and walk-in bar.

    Jason Rick/Luxury Portfolio International

    RELATED: Meg Ryan Has Relisted Her Revamped Montecito Estate for $19.5 Million

    Huddled securely behind a lengthy gated driveway on more than three acres overlooking sweeping ocean and mountain vistas, the multi-structure compound dubbed Oakview features a 10,000-square-foot main home and a two-bedroom guesthouse, plus a separate one-bedroom pool house—for an overall total of nine bedrooms and 14 baths in roughly 13,300 square feet.

    Standing out within the primary dwelling is a fireside living room flaunting a row of French doors spilling out to a covered veranda. A coffered-ceiling lounge has a walk-in bar; the formal dining room seats 10; and an eat-in kitchen comes with a La Cornue range and an accompanying breakfast room. A primary suite sports dual dressing rooms and a soaking tub-equipped bath, while glitzy amenities range from a gym and wellness area to an ebony-hued movie theater, a catering kitchen, and a wine cellar.

    Picturesque ocean views are available courtesy of numerous sitting areas across the property.

    Jason Rick/Luxury Portfolio International

    RELATED: A Modernist Home in Montecito Designed by a Pioneering Architect Just Listed for $18 Million

    Outdoors, the grassy grounds host a pergola-shaded dining area warmed by a fireplace and a kitchen setup outfitted with a wood-burning pizza oven, along with a Baja shelf pool, a sports court, vegetable gardens, and a chicken coop. Two garages and a motor court are also on the premises.

    If history prevails, Levine and Prinsloo will likely make out like bandits when it comes to profiting from their latest real estate investment. In 2022, the pair took in $51 million for a Pacific Palisades compound they purchased from Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck in late 2018 for $32 million. Before that, they sold another Montecito estate for $28.5 million, which is $5.8 million more than they doled out for it just three months earlier. And back in late 2018, only a year after buying the place for around $34 million, the couple transferred their glam Beverly Hills estate to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi for $42.5 million.

    Click here for more photos of the Montecito residence.

    Jason Rick/Luxury Portfolio International

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

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    This $8.2 Million Converted Warehouse in London Once Housed the Pet Shop Boys’ Recording Studio

    Back in the ’80s, it was synths, stardom, and studio sessions for the Pet Shop Boys at this Clerkenwell warehouse that once echoed with the beats of West End Girls. Today, the building is hitting a different kind of high note as a three-story, design-forward live-work space listed for £6 million (about $8.2 million) with Savills.

    It was home to the artist and filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, who rented the ground-floor studio space to the six-time Grammy-nominated duo while she lived upstairs. The keys were eventually shared with her husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the Avengers: Age of Ultron and Kick-Ass star who—drumroll, martinis please—is reportedly the frontrunner to star as Agent 007 in the next James Bond movie.

    RELATED: This $33.2 Million Private Island in the U.K. Has Long Been an Under-the-Radar Creative Haven

    The 60-foot-long great room is framed by exposed wood beams and Crittall steel windows and doors.

    Daisy Powles/Savills

    Following their tenure, the couple sold the home to film director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) and Grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar. They called in architect Charles Tashima for a top-to-bottom renovation that respected the rustic bones of the Victorian warehouse while adding flourishes that feel very contemporary. Think Moroccan tiles, reclaimed wood, and limestone salvaged from Heathrow Terminal 2, The London Standard reported.

    The overall result is a seriously stylish 4,414-square-foot bohemian sanctuary hidden in plain sight, just minutes from the Barbican and, of course, the West End. Behind the original wagon doors (a nod to its 19th-century life as part of the Whitbread Brewery complex), you’ll find a private courtyard and a nearly 60-foot-long living/dining room framed by exposed beams and floor-to-ceiling Crittall windows. Capping it off is a rooftop terrace.

    RELATED: Sting’s Former Home in London’s Leafy Hampstead Just Hit the Market for $16.4 Million

    Frosted window panes add privacy to the airy primary bedroom.

    Daisy Powles/Savills

    On the ground floor, the Pet Shop Boys’ former studio is still fully soundproofed but is currently used as a commercial space, though you could easily turn it back into a creative suite if the musical mood strikes. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, four bathrooms, and plenty of tucked-away surprises, including a laundry space hidden behind oak paneling and a reading nook that could be converted to a fourth bedroom.

    The current owners, a tech entrepreneur and a publisher, have added their own twists, including deep orange rubber flooring in the entry hall and a bespoke kitchen built for entertaining. The property is freehold (meaning the land beneath the structure is owned) and zoned for mixed use, giving you flexibility whether you’re composing synth-pop bangers, plotting the next indie film, prepping for a screen test as Britain’s favorite spy, or just relaxing with friends and family. And while it may no longer double as a recording studio, rest assured—it’s still Bond-level discreet.

    Click here to see more photos of the boho London loft.

    Daisy Powles/Savills

    Authors

    Abby Montanez

    Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…

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    Tom Petty’s Longtime Malibu Estate Could Now Be Yours for $15.5 Million

    If you were hoping to run down that dream of owning a musically pedigreed SoCal home last year and the $19 million price tag was just a little too hefty at the time, don’t back down now. Tom Petty’s longtime main digs nestled within a gated enclave high above Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway just popped back up for sale with a new ask, and it’s $3.5 million less than before.

    All you need is a cool $15.5 million, and you can happily claim the coveted keys to the legendary musician’s Mediterranean-style estate. Myra Nourmand and Levi Freeman of Nourmand & Associates hold the listing.

    The creamy stucco and terracotta-roof home is accessed via a portico entryway.

    Pierre Galant

    RELATED: David Duchovny’s Malibu Home and Train Caboose Guest Cottage Sell for $11 Million

    Petty, who passed away in 2017 at age 66, purchased the property in spring 1998 for $3.75 million. Tucked away on nearly three acres near Escondido Beach and Paradise Cove, off a private lane that’s shared with three other homes, the updated 1940s spread includes a main home, a separate guesthouse, and another structure that served as a recording studio—for a total of seven bedrooms and 10 baths in roughly 10,000 square feet.

    The living room’s vaulted wood-beam ceiling is dotted with skylights donning hand-carved covers.

    Pierre Galant

    Standing out within the single-level primary dwelling is a sunken fireside living room, which features skylights embellished with hand-carved covers and French doors opening out to a trellised patio. Other highlights include a 16-seat dining room sequestered behind archways accented with wrought-iron detailing, plus a kitchen outfitted with an eat-in island, a Wolf range, a butler’s pantry, and a breakfast nook.

    Elsewhere is a music room where the rocker liked to perfect his tunes, as well as a bookshelf-lined library, a gym, and a massage room. An inviting primary suite has a fireplace, a private fountain-clad patio, a huge walk-in closet, and a luxe bath equipped with a soaking tub and a Moroccan-tiled steam shower.

    The sports court on the property is ideal for basketball and pickleball.

    Pierre Galant

    RELATED: Reality TV Titan Mark Burnett Is Asking $350,000 Per Month for His Blufftop Estate in Malibu

    Three more en suite guest bedrooms open to a brick courtyard with a sitting area, while the garden-laced grounds host a pool and spillover spa, an alfresco dining terrace with a built-in barbecue, an in-ground fire pit, a lighted sports court, koi ponds, and cascading waterfalls. There’s also a gated parking area out front that can accommodate at least 15 vehicles.

    Petty’s estate also still lays claim to a small bungalow in Pacific Palisades. His oceanfront Malibu cottage quickly sold to Canadian hotel mogul Salim Sayanin in early 2023 for nearly $10.3 million, which was $400,000 over the asking price; and in late 2023, the musician’s widow, Dana York, paid $6.6 million for a revamped 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival-style home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

    Click here for more photos of the SoCal residence.

    Pierre Galant

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

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    A Dr. Seuss Collaborator’s Former N.Y.C. Townhouse Can Be Yours for $13.5 Million

    Ever wish walls could talk? If the ones within this Upper East Side townhouse long owned by the late Phyllis Cerf Wagner could indeed speak, they most assuredly would have their share of fascinating tales to spin. Think stories of all the famous guests from Judy Garland to Frank Sinatra who visited the historic premises at some point during a 60-plus-year tenure that saw the Manhattan socialite, onetime movie actress, and collaborator with Dr. Seuss on a series of landmark children’s books outlive not just one but two prominent spouses.

    Records show Wagner purchased the Italianate-style property in 1941 with her first husband Bennett Cerf, co-founder of the Random House publishing company. After he died in 1971, she went on to wed former New York City mayor Robert Wagner Jr., who passed away in in 1991, and then remained in the home until her death in 2006 at age 90. The residence subsequently sold for $8.5 million to jewelry designer Suzanne Sheik, the mother of Barely Breathing singer Duncan Sheik, before going to the current unnamed owner in 2010 for $14 million.

    Now the towering 16-room spread between Lexington and Park avenues in the Lenox Hill neighborhood is being offered for $13.5 million, with the listing shared by James Weiss, Andrew Schwartz, and Ty Mabry of The Corcoran Group.

    Phyllis at work in the 1950s with her first husband Bennett Cerf, the co-founder of Random House.

    Graphic House/Archive Photos/Getty Images

    RELATED: Art Dealer Barbara Gladstone’s Elegant Manhattan Row House Lists for $12 Million

    Designed and built in the 1870s by architect Robert Sexton, the recently renovated brick structure clocks in at 20 feet wide with five bedrooms and seven baths in 7,200 square feet of art deco-inspired living space boasting high ceilings, several wood-burning fireplaces, and a hydraulic elevator to all five levels. A security system and air-conditioning have also been added to the mix.

    Upon entry, a marble-clad foyer flows to an eat-in kitchen flaunting a pricey La Cornue range. From there, a coffered-ceiling sitting and dining area opens to a private trellis-covered garden featuring a water wall, mature plantings, and custom lighting. The parlor level, meanwhile, hosts a reception lounge with a black-and-white-striped living room on one side and a library/dining room on the other.

    A fireside sitting and dining area flows out to a trellis-covered garden with a water wall.

    Lifestyle Production Group

    RELATED: Abraham Lincoln’s Granddaughter Lived in This N.Y.C. Townhouse. Now It Can Be Yours for $10.5 Million.

    The third level lends way to a bay-windowed primary suite outfitted with a morning bar and a pass-through wardrobe that connects to a bath sporting dual vanities, a large glass-encased shower, and a soaking tub alongside window coverings embellished with glass orbs. More bedrooms and a sky-lit den/office can be found on the top two floors, while a wine cellar and laundry room are situated down in the basement.

    When the townhouse was last sold, it came complete with artwork by Andy Warhol, Anish Kapoor, and Roy Lichtenstein; books signed by William Faulkner and Joan Didion; and an oil painting by Frank Sinatra. Those items are currently on display but are not, unfortunately, included in the sale this time around.

    Click here for more photos of the Upper East Side residence.

    Lifestyle Production Group

    Authors

    Wendy Bowman

    Wendy Bowman is a real estate writer at Robb Report. Before that, she was a freelancer for Modern Luxury and several other media outlets, where she primarily covered luxury properties for…

    Read More More

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    Historic €180 Million Chateau In France (PHOTOS)

    Photo credit: Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo listed with Brigitte Kahan of kretz real estate LOCATION: 1 Dom. d’Armainvilliers, 77220 Tournan-en-Brie, France SQUARE FOOTAGE: 96,875 BEDROOMS & BATHROOMS: 40 bedrooms PRICE: €425,000,000 €180,000,000 This exquisite 100-room French Chateau, named “Chateau d’Armainvilliers”, is located in Tournan-en-Brie, France and is situated on 2,500 acres of land. It was built […] More