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Kim Kardashian has gone way beyond reality TV—she’s an actress, a budding lawyer, a foundation garment entrepreneur, a social media influencer, and a real estate powerhouse all rolled into one. Rising from fame on the small screen to self-made billionaire status, the Keeping Up star’s net worth sits around $1.7 billion as of 2025, largely fueled by […] More
Lionel Messi’s real estate holdings are as impressive as his record-breaking career, forming a key part of his growing $850 million fortune. While his legendary run on the pitch has earned him over $1.6 billion, the 38-year-old soccer star’s savvy investments in luxury real estate and hospitality are fueling the next chapter of his wealth. […] More
Once the domain of conspiracy theorists and off-grid survivalists, bunkers have gone glam. Today’s ultra-secure sanctuaries are being built not just beneath remote ranches or desert compounds, but under some of the world’s most elite estates. And these hideaways are no longer concrete boxes filled with canned food—they’re luxury retreats stocked with five-star amenities.
“Clients are thinking more critically about safety and long-term preparedness,” says Chad Carroll of The Chad Carroll Group at Compass. “This isn’t limited to stereotypical ‘doomsday preppers’—we’re talking about business executives, celebrities, and global investors who want peace of mind in any situation.”
Driving this new trend, brokers and builders agree, is a potent mix of global anxiety and cultural influence. “World events have shifted from political theater to geopolitical crisis,” says Naomi Corbi of SAFE (Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments), a firm specializing in ultra-secure residential design. “And for those with deep insight and access to elite-level intelligence, the existential implications are undeniable. They’re acting accordingly.”
That desire has transformed the modern panic room or shelter into something far more extravagant and deeply personal. “What were once rudimentary shelters have become bespoke sanctuaries,” Corbi says. “Today’s clients want features that mirror their lifestyles—often with highly individual touches.”
Today’s secret bunkers and panic rooms can be tailored to reflect each client’s taste and lifestyle.
Courtesy of Naomi Corbi, SAFE
One SAFE client, a professional golfer, installed an immersive simulator replicating the world’s top 50 courses alongside a regulation-grade putting green. Another—a major art collector—commissioned a climate-controlled gallery inside their bunker, protected to NBCET (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Electromagnetic, Technological) standards. Others have requested private theaters, hydroponic gardens, fabrication workshops, holding cells, and even in-shelter crematoriums. As Corbi puts it, “The scale and complexity of these environments have expanded dramatically, evolving far beyond survivalist shelters into fully integrated, high-comfort retreats.”
Bill Rigdon, founder and CEO of Panic Room Builders, has seen that evolution firsthand. His firm began with faith-based shelters for Mormons decades ago and now specializes in full-fledged underground compounds that are often hidden in plain sight. “You go to your bedroom panic room, take an elevator down into a tunnel, and that leads to the bunker,” he explains. “I mean, it’s getting that complicated right now.” Some even include private gun ranges and drone-defense hatches.
In certain markets, the presence of a panic room has become a strategic selling point. “The funny thing is, in L.A., when they can’t sell a house, they’ll call me and say, ‘Can you put a panic room in?’” Rigdon says. While much of this demand is kept quiet, a growing list of high-profile names are rumored to be building bunkers or secure estates. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is said to have bunkers beneath multiple homes, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly building a $300 million compound in Hawaii that includes a 5,000-square-foot underground bunker with its own energy, water, and food infrastructure. Other celebrities—including Kim Kardashian, Tom Cruise, and billionaire Peter Thiel—have reportedly explored or started similar projects.
High-end kitchens and bathrooms are top-of-the-list features.
Courtesy of Naomi Corbi, SAFE
“For these people, there’s no expense,” Rigdon says. “They want that comfort level they’re used to in their residences, and we provide that.” He notes that protection often scales with wealth: Once estates hit nine figures, demand shifts toward full-scale underground sanctuaries. One of his current projects, for a Las Vegas casino magnate, involves a compound with a primary residence estimated at over $200 million—not including the bunker beneath it. Others are opting for remote ranches in Montana or Wyoming, where private airstrips offer quick escape routes. Many of these clients, he adds, have access to elite intelligence regarding geopolitical risks, economic volatility, and even AI threats.
And while discretion remains paramount, some ultra-wealthy clients are becoming more creative with how they use these spaces. “We recently completed a 120-square-foot precision shelter and are now building an 11,000-square-foot subterranean sanctuary for a family of four,” Corbi says. In one extreme case, SAFE even designed a private replica of the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit—complete with harbor and tunnel—for a client’s children to race 100+ mph electric karts underground.
Rigdon notes that many clients are dual-purposing their bunkers as high-end guest residences or weekend retreats. “We did one in a bamboo forest,” he says. “You walk through the trees and—boom—there’s your entry. It’s a bomb shelter, yes, but decorated to the nines, with every comfort you can imagine. And it’s safe.” The final layer of protection? A custom blast door sourced from Switzerland.
Rigdon insists his clients live in their bunkers for a short period after completion to test them out. “I tell them, ‘Once I finish, I want you to stay there for two weeks. You can leave if you have to—but I want you to really use it. Make sure everything you’re counting on is in place. That it feels like a real safety net.’”
Amenities can range from saunas and gymnasiums to shooting ranges and bowling alleys.
Courtesy of Naomi Corbi, SAFE
That ethos is also driving a “try-before-you-need” microtrend. Rigdon’s company currently has plans for a survival facility in Beverly Hills underneath a hotel. “From the air, it’s going to look like an alfalfa field—but it’s not,” he says. Guests will be able to book stays and experience life in a luxury bunker before purchasing a unit of their own—each priced at over $1 million.
Of course, not all high-security features are made public. “Discretion is everything at this level,” says Dina Goldentayer of Douglas Elliman. “These features are rarely highlighted in listing materials… and their existence is typically only disclosed during private conversations between agents and trusted buyers.” Carroll agrees: “These are custom additions tailored to very specific personal needs.”
And, at the top end of the market, security has become just as important as other creature comforts. “Luxury is about peace of mind,” says Carroll. “Today’s buyers aren’t just looking for square footage and finishes—they want autonomy and control. That means full-home generators, reinforced architecture, private water reserves, and, in some cases, even off-grid capability.”
And for some, control means girding against potential threats that sound more like science fiction. “Today’s next-level secure estates must go beyond traditional risks,” says Corbi. “We’ve expanded into protecting against artificial superintelligence, arguably the most profound existential threat humanity has ever faced.” SAFE’s new division, AERIE, offers a new kind of security architecture—designed specifically to defend against threats from superintelligent systems. Radiation protection remains a recurring concern as well, especially in cities like Los Angeles. Rigdon says his team has installed advanced air filtration systems capable of blocking radioactive particles, ensuring residents can safely shelter amid fallout.
Rigdon, who worked as a consultant on the 2002 film Panic Room starring Jodie Foster, has been around a long time and watched pop culture fuel the recent rise of high-end survivalism. Today, apocalyptic narratives, from Hulu’s Paradise to Leave the World Behind on Netflix and James Cameron’s upcoming adaptation of the atomic bomb exposé Ghosts of Hiroshima, are increasingly shaping real-world demand. “People used to laugh at me,” Rigdon says. “Now? I’ve never been busier.”
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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Sandra Bullock might be back in witchy mode filming Practical Magic 2 with Nicole Kidman, but behind the scenes, she’s been conjuring up something even more impressive: one of Hollywood’s smartest and biggest real estate portfolios. Of course, Bullock has the résumé—and paychecks—to back it up. With box-office juggernauts like Speed, The Blind Side, and Gravity, she became one of […] More
Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin is well known for snapping up real estate in jaw-dropping and record-setting deals. Among his most notable acquisitions is a Manhattan penthouse that set a national price record and, because his holdings go far beyond that one landmark purchase, solidified his place among the top buyers of eight- and nine-figure […] More
Few names carry the weight—and warmth—of Oprah Winfrey. With a net worth of $3.1 billion, the 71-year-old media mogul has built an empire that reaches far beyond her groundbreaking talk show. Since rising to fame in the late ’80s, she’s launched the OWN network, invested in WeightWatchers, and inked a headline-making content deal with Apple TV+ that ran through 2022, producing everything from documentaries to her beloved book club.
Much of that fortune stems from savvy reinvestments: profits from The Oprah Winfrey Show and films like The Color Purple, Beloved, and Selma—all co-produced by her Harpo Productions—have reportedly generated more than $2.5 billion to date.
Winfrey, who became the first Black woman to appear on Forbes’ billionaire list in 2003, has cultivated a lifestyle as expansive as her influence. Her Gulfstream G650 is one marker of that scale, but it’s her real estate portfolio that offers the clearest window into how and where she chooses to live.
While Montecito remains her primary base—anchored by her famed Promised Land estate—Winfrey has owned properties across the country, from Hawaii to Colorado. Some have remained in her orbit for decades; others she’s flipped, gifted, or sold for a significant profit. In Chicago, where The Oprah Winfrey Show was taped from 1986 to 2011, she quietly offloaded several holdings, including a 9,600-square-foot condo and multiple units in a historic loft building. In Georgia, she sold a luxe Atlanta penthouse and gifted a five-bedroom home in Douglasville to a friend. And in 2021, she sold her striking 40-acre Orcas Island compound—dubbed Madroneagle—in a discreet $14 million deal after purchasing it at a steep discount just a few years earlier.
Even in Montecito, she’s made calculated moves. In 2021, she split a $10.8 million estate into parcels, later selling the main farmhouse to Friends star Jennifer Aniston for $14.8 million, while the smaller cottages went to her longtime friend and personal trainer Bob Greene.
Winfrey has often said she seeks out homes that inspire and elevate—and her real estate portfolio proves she’s done exactly that. Based on what she’s paid, her holdings total over $120 million. But when you factor in appreciation and upgrades—especially in places like Montecito and Maui—that number could easily be north of $150 million today. Below, a closer look at the standout properties in her extraordinary collection.
Promised Land
Image Credit: Google Earth More
Published on July 4, 2025
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Call it the new celebrity arms race—not for Birkins or Labubus, but for architectural trophies signed by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, and John Lautner. For today’s ultra-wealthy, owning a name-brand house is the ultimate flex. From Malibu to Montecito, these homes aren’t just places to live—they’re cultural capital, conversation starters, and investment-grade icons.
The limited number of well-preserved homes by A-list architects does make them a needle in a haystack when hunting for a home, but due to the care and resources required to restore and update these types of structures, their pool of potential buyers can be somewhat limited to those with a dedicated penchant and a deep pocketbook for one-of-a-kind labors of love and frequent maintenance. And in a market where scarcity drives desire, architectural provenance is becoming just as valuable as ocean views or square footage.
Look at Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who shattered California’s real estate record in 2023 with their $200 million all-cash throwdown for a minimalist fortress in Malibu by the Japanese master Tadao Ando, originally built for art collectors William and Maria Bell. Floating above the Pacific, the concrete house cemented Ando’s status as architecture-world royalty. Rapper Kanye West grabbed another Ando home in Malibu back in 2021 for $57.3 million. Much to the surprise of many, he gutted it, then listed the unfinished shell for $53 million. It eventually sold for just $21 million to a crowdfunding real estate development concern, who quickly flipped it to property developer Andrew Mazzella for more than $30 million.
Kanye West bought a Tadao Ando home in Malibu, gutted it, then sold the unfinished property at a huge loss.
Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian—whose Axel Vervoordt–designed home in the L.A. suburb of Hidden Hills helped launch the creamy, monastic minimalism movement in interior design—is said to be building her own Ando–designed escape near Palm Springs. Designer and filmmaker Tom Ford, meanwhile, commissioned Ando to build an austere, geometric masterpiece on his sprawling Cerro Pelon Ranch in New Mexico. Ford first listed the property in 2016 for $75 million, later dropping the price to $48 million in 2019 before it quietly sold to an undisclosed buyer in 2021.
Then there’s Austrian-American innovator Richard Neutra, who draws a cult-like following. His iconic Brown House in L.A.’s Bel Air neighborhood passed from the hands of Ford (who owned it for nearly 20 years) to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, and finally, writer-producer Ryan Murphy, who scooped it up for $29 million in 2022. The six-time Emmy-winning TV producer gave it a glow-up, had it showcased on Architectural Digest, and recently relisted it for $34 million. DeGeneres and de Rossi, serial buyers and sellers of pedigreed real estate, have also owned homes by A. Quincy Jones, Wallace Frost, and Hal Levitt.
Richard Neutra’s Brown House in Bel Air has passed through the hands of Tom Ford, Ellen DeGeneres, and Ryan Murphy.
Matthew Momberger
John Lautner homes are another favorite among the entertainment industry elite. After buying the oceanfront Stevens House in the guard-gated Malibu Colony, Edward Norton sold a much more classically beachy bungalow on Las Flores Beach to Benny Blanco. Back when Courteney Cox and David Arquette were still married, they owned a tour-de-force Lautner on Carbon Beach, which was later sold to the one-time owner of the L.A. Dodgers, Frank McCourt, for $33.5 million.
Four decades after entertainer Bob and Dolores Hope commissioned Lautner to build what would become one of his most iconic and unconventional works, the Bob Hope House in Palm Springs is currently undergoing a meticulous restoration to bring the 24,000-square-foot spaceship-like residence back in line with the architect’s original vision.
In the ’70s, Bob Hope commissioned John Lautner to build a mountaintop opus in Palm Springs.
Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Few architects have a résumé that spans both A-list ownership and starring roles on screen, but Lautner’s legacy certainly isn’t confined to real life. On Apple TV’s The Studio, Seth Rogen’s character lives in the Foster Carling House in the Hollywood Hills, while Patty Keigh, played by Catherine O’Hara, inhabits the Harvey House, long owned by actress Kelly Lynch and her husband, writer-producer Mitch Glazer, who famously outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for the hilltop spread.
And of course, there’s Frank Lloyd Wright—the original starchitect. His 1924 Ennis House in Los Angeles, with its Mayan Revival façade and Blade Runner cameo, was restored by billionaire investor Ron Burkle, who sold it for $18 million in 2019. (Burkle currently owns the aforementioned Bob Hope residence in Palm Springs.) That same year, fashion designer Marc Jacobs scooped up Wright’s Max Hoffman House in Rye, New York, for just over $9 million. The waterfront Usonian-style abode was lovingly restored over four years, in collaboration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House still draw major buyers, including billionaire Ron Burkle.
Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Long a getaway for elite sun seekers and a proving ground for maverick architects, Palm Springs and the surrounding communities have become a sandbox for provenance collectors. Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio owns a 1964 house by midcentury master Donald Wexler that was originally built for singer Dinah Shore; he now rents the restored and updated home as a luxe retreat.
Back in L.A., Denzel Washington once lived in a Toluca Lake home designed by the acclaimed Paul R. Williams that had previously been owned by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Williams famously counted a slew of high-caliber clients like Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, and Lucille Ball as clients; Jay Paley, a founder of CBS, commissioned a Williams-designed mansion in Bel Air that was later owned by the late hotelier Barron Hilton and is now owned by former Google exec Eric Schmidt.
Diane Keaton is also a well-known aficionado of homes by esteemed architects, having restored multiple architecturally significant and historic homes across L.A., including a Spanish Colonial Revival by Lloyd Wright (Frank’s son). And Brad Pitt, forever the design obsessive, once tapped Frank Gehry for a custom build and currently owns a glass-walled pavilion in the Hollywood Hills by Case Study architect and educator Craig Ellwood.
The truth is, at the highest levels of wealth and luxury, owning something beautiful isn’t enough. You want something authored. And a signature on the blueprints? That has become one of the world’s ultimate status symbols.
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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Among Silicon Valley’s elite, Eric Schmidt stands out not only as a visionary tech leader but also as a prolific real estate collector, acquiring multiple high-profile properties—even several within the same month. While not all holdings are publicly listed, his portfolio is estimated to be worth half a billion dollars or more. Schmidt previously served […] More
