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      Ellen DeGeneres Puts Her Palatial Montecito Estate Up for Grabs at $46 Million

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      Ellen DeGeneres has always preferred to update historic estates rather than buying land and building anew. Over the years, the former talk show host has remodeled numerous homes, and now she’s got the often challenging process honed to a science. Witness this spectacular estate in Montecito, which she and Portia de Rossi bought this June. In just four months, the couple and their skilled team have already given the 8-acre property a complete renovation and hoisted it back up for sale.

      That expertise won’t come cheap; the asking price is $46.5 million, more than double the $22.5 million DeGeneres and de Rossi originally paid. But the scale and historical nature of the estate ranks it among the grandest in all of Montecito.

      Built in 1919 and known as Pompeiian Court, the house and its grounds are hidden behind an enormous iron gate and a quarter-mile-long driveway that ends in a circular motorcourt surrounded by olive trees. Described as a “classic Roman courtyard residence” in the listing, the palatial main structure was fully remodeled circa 2000 before being re-transformed by DeGeneres into a minimalist and soothingly neutral retreat that embodies the current trend of quiet luxury.

      Quiet, refined luxury is now Pompeiian Court’s ethos.

      Jason Rick / Blake Bronstad

      In contrast to many of Montecito’s other historic mansions, Pompeiian Court is a rare single-story manor, with all of its rooms opening to a central courtyard laced with Roman columns and warmed by an outdoor fireplace. In addition to the main house, there are four ancillary structures scattered around the 8-acre property: two guesthouses, a poolside cabana and a petite art studio.

      The exquisitely manicured grounds include formal hedgerows and lawns, mature Italian cypresses, ancient oaks and eucalyptus trees. Both the swimming pool and full-size tennis court are privately tucked well away from the main house, and there are several large fountains and walking paths on the premises. There’s also a chardonnay vineyard.

      Robert Riskin at Riskin Partners Group holds the listing.

      Click here for more photos of Ellen DeGeneres’ latest residential project. More

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      The One That Got Away: Inside Katy Perry’s Fight Over a $15 Million Montecito Estate

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      In October 2020, Katy Perry paid $14.2 million for a hillside estate in Montecito, the seaside enclave that has long been considered one of California‘s poshest neighborhoods. The purchase was widely reported, and the pop star and her fiancée Orlando Bloom promptly made the 9-acre compound their main residence.

      What went unreported at the time was that Perry’s scenic new estate was not the property she had really wanted to buy. Back in July 2020, court records now show, and following an extensive house hunt, the “California Gurl” entered into an agreement to pay $15 million for a different Montecito estate, this one significantly smaller but also much closer to Montecito’s trendy downtown area than the other. But what initially seemed a clear-cut transaction has since devolved into a messy three years of legal wrangling and lurid allegations.

      Perry paid $14.2 million for this Montecito tennis court estate in late 2020, but it wasn’t the house she really wanted.

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      In 2020, amid the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, wealthy residents from Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities fled to peaceful Montecito, sending real estate prices skyrocketing. In May 2020, Dallas-based entrepreneur Carl Westcott — the founder of 1-800-Flowers — paid $11.3 million for a 2.5-acre property sitting just a few doors away from Oprah Winfrey’s storied “Promised Land” complex.

      Within a month of his purchase, Westcott had already hired an agent to court potential buyers who wanted to buy his new home. One of them was Maria Shriver, who offered $13 million for the nearly 10,000 square foot house, which sports eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. Facing competition, California’s former First Lady subsequently upped her offer to $13.5 million. But Shriver was ultimately outbid by Perry, who ponied up the $15 million now in dispute. On July 14, 2020, Westcott signed the agreement to sell the house for $3.7 million more than he had paid less than two months prior.

      Almost immediately, Westcott appears to have had second thoughts about the deal. On July 22, 2020, according to a deposition, the 84-year-old contacted his real estate agent and asked about cancelling the contract, citing capital gains taxes and his girlfriend’s reluctance to move again. Two days later, an attorney hired by Perry’s business manager contacted Westcott, informing him that Perry and Bloom still wanted to buy the house and reminding him of his contractual obligation to complete the sale.

      The Montecito house at the center of the multimillion-dollar legal war has formal gardens, a guesthouse and sits on 2.5 acres of land.

      Google Earth

      In August 2020, Westcott sued Perry’s business manager, claiming through his attorneys that the real estate contract should be voided because “the combination of age, frailty from his back condition and recent surgery, and the opiates he was taking several times a day rendered [Westcott] of unsound mind.”

      Perry promptly countersued Westcott for millions in damages and has scoffed at his claims, noting that “[Westcott] was competent when he hired an experienced real estate broker, vetted the brokerage commission rate, arranged showings of the property, entertained multiple offers, sought alternative houses, and ultimately negotiated a highly lucrative sale.”

      For now, the Montecito estate’s property title remains in Westcott’s name, though the high-maintenance estate has reportedly been left vacant as the three-plus-year legal battle unfolded. In any case, a judicial decision on the matter could finally be reached as soon as November; the two sides are currently battling it out in a Los Angeles courtroom.

      And for whatever reason, this is not the first time Perry has faced a dispute with elderly people over pricey real estate. Back in 2014, Perry was involved in another legal tussle with several nuns after the local Archdiocese accepted her $14.5 million offer for a 22,000-square-foot convent in Los Angeles, which the singer intended to convert into a single-family home. Perry won that battle after years of wrangling, but ultimately lost interest in the property and declined to complete her purchase. More

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      Rob Lowe Just Sold His Epic Montecito Estate for a Cool $45 Million

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      It took a few years, but Rob Lowe has finally managed to offload his majestic Montecito estate for an equally majestic price, as was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The $45.5 million, off-market deal is one of the priciest to ever close in the celeb-studded seaside enclave, and it’s perhaps the largest since 2001, when Oprah Winfrey paid $50 million for her world-famous (and ever-expanding) compound, the so-called “Promised Land” estate.
      The new owners of Lowe’s former residence are healthcare-focused private equity executive Jack McGinley and his wife Julie, who have long been based mainly on the East Coast. But the couple are not new to Montecito, or to record-smashing sale prices, for that matter. Way back in 2012, the couple agreed to pay somewhere around $50 million for a different but no less sumptuous estate that happens to sit right next door to Oprah’s house. But for publicly unknown reasons, that deal collapsed and the mansion, long owned by now-deceased professional sports tycoon Ed Snider, was eventually sold in 2017 for a relatively paltry $35 million to cosmetics mogul Jamie Kern Lima. (The McGinleys instead paid $27.5 million for a smaller Montecito estate; records show that property was quietly sold last month for $27 million to an as-yet-unidentified buyer.)
      Although Lowe initially floated the property on the market for an even $47 million back in 2018, the final sales price is actually well above the $42.5 million that the Parks and Recreation star last asked for the property, which he custom built for his family.

      Known as Oakview, the 10,000 sq. ft. structure is sited on a 3.4-acre lot in a neighborhood filled to the brim with other megamansions, though the Lowe estate is certainly one of the bigger ones around. The East Coast-style construction was inspired by the antebellum architecture that graces the Virginian countryside, and is clad in white clapboard and accented with striking black shutters. Inside, the place was completely tailored for the Lowes by a small army of designers, among them acclaimed architect Don Nulty, who worked in tandem with Feng Shui expert David Cho, while the interiors were done up by designers David Phoenix and Kyle Irwin. The impeccably manicured, park-like grounds were dreamt up by Mark Rios.
      Four Doric columns stand guard in front of a Greek Revival-style portico that features a black coffered door. Inside, the styling follows the same grandiosity as the exterior—albeit with a modern twist. Pure white walls, handsome hardwood floors, bespoke architectural details and recessed lighting can be found throughout the space. The formal living room boasts an oversized traditional-style fireplace with an elaborate, all-white mantle, two eye-catching chandeliers, a series of three motorized pocket glass doors that lead out to the patio and delicate handcrafted moldings. The room is generously spacious and bathed in natural light, thanks to the glass doors.

      The kitchen is luxuriously roomy and offers an oversized island that works overtime as a kitchen prep area, breakfast bar. and a place to house the dishwasher and a proofing oven. The room is lit with a smattering of recessed lights, and by three pendulum lanterns that hang over the island. The kitchen also offers a tongue-and-groove coffered ceiling, plenty of cabinetry, Carrara marble countertops and chef’s grade appliances—including an industrial-sized gas range. Adjoining the breakfast bar, there’s a casual dining area located underneath a modern chandelier.
      On more posh occasions, meals can be taken in the mansion’s formal dining area, a regal space that boasts tastefully coffered walls, custom crown molding, fancy bronze wall sconces and a show-stopping chandelier. For large events, there’s also a secondary catering kitchen located in the basement, connected to the dining room via an old-fashioned dumbwaiter.

      Conveniently, each of the house’s guest and family rooms have their own ensuite bathroom. Several of the upstairs bedrooms have French doors that open up to a huge shared veranda with ocean views, plus ample seating and billiard and ping pong tables. The elegantly subdued master suite is stunning, with an obligatory fireplace, a private balcony, plus plenty of built-in shelving for the avid book collector. There are dual marble bathrooms, and a boutique-style closet/dressing room. Outdoors, an approximately 800-square-foot Greek Revival-style poolside cabana has one bedroom and bathroom, and there’s also a standalone two-bedroom, two-bath guest cottage.
      The grounds of the property are just as magnificent as one would expect, with verdantly lush gardens multiple ancient oaks. Lavender-lined paths lead to all of the luxe al fresco amenities, including a 55-foot swimming pool and a sunken tennis court.
      Check out more photos of the property below: More