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      in Luxury

      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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      in Luxury

      James Cameron’s Massive Santa Barbara Ranch Just Hit the Market for $33 Million

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      It’s fitting that the director of Titanic would live on a massive piece of property. But that won’t be the case for too much longer.

      James Cameron has listed his Santa Barbara mansion for a cool $33 million, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Sitting on 100 acres of land, the estate is located in the Hollister Ranch community, a private residential neighborhood that restricts development to leave room for local wildlife.

      The main home is an 8,000-square-foot behemoth with five bedrooms, the listing agent Emily Kellenberger of Village Properties/Forbes Global Properties told the WSJ. (She shares the listing with Jeff Kruthers of Hollister Ranch Realty.) Inside, you’ll also find two offices, a gym, a game room, and a media room. Cameron and his wife spent a year remodeling the house, putting in quartzite floors and restoring the original wood.

      The kitchen

      Blake Bronstad

      “The previous owner had had a lot of marble,” Cameron told the newspaper. “We brought it back down to something that felt connected to the land.” He added that an upstairs room with views of the ocean was used as his library and office, where he wrote parts of Avatar and its more recent sequel.

      A 2,000-square-foot guesthouse sits elsewhere on the property, along with a tennis court and a lagoon-style pool surrounded by palm trees. Cameron used a 24,000-square-foot equestrian barn to store a helicopter and other vehicles, with a helicopter landing pad helpfully available as well.

      Cameron and his wife are both big environmentalists, so the property plays into that aspect of their lives too. Organic gardens throughout the estate have allowed the couple to grow much of their own food, while solar and wind power supply up to 100 kilowatts, with enough storage to stay off the grid indefinitely. Plus, the property is water-autonomous, with wells for both agricultural water and drinking water.

      The primary bedroom

      Blake Bronstad

      The couple has decided to ditch their property as a way of reducing their carbon footprint, Cameron told The Wall Street Journal. They also own 5,000 acres in New Zealand, 10,000 acres in Saskatchewan, and a home in Crested Butte, Colorado, and they spend time near both Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.

      “One major criticism, especially if you’re seen as a high-visibility, or high-net worth person is, ‘Oh, you’ve got all these properties all over the place. That’s not very sustainable,’” Cameron said. “We’re trying to walk the walk of sustainability.”

      Here, that means walking away from the coastal manse, and allowing someone else to enjoy its bountiful grounds.

      Click here to see all the images of James Cameron’s home. More

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      in Luxury

      Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi Just Dropped $70 Million on a Santa Barbara Compound

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      Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi recently added yet another multimillion-dollar property to their real estate portfolio—and this time, it set a record. The couple’s newest California compound cost them a whopping $70 million, making it the most expensive deal in the history of Santa Barbara County. 

      DeGeneres and de Rossi’s side-by-side properties sit atop an oceanside bluff in Carpinteria and total about 10 acres. The two adjacent parcels are divided into a three-and-a-half-acre Tuscan-inspired farmhouse and a larger landscaped lot with open lawns and a small lake, reported Dirt. Together they dropped $41.7 million on the mansion and another $28.2 million on the mostly vacant land next door. The compound also includes its own private trail that leads to the beach down below.

      The opportunity to scoop these up comes from seller and retired hedge fund manager Bruce Kovner, who put his 22-acre oceanfront site on the market. Known as the Sanctuary at Loon Point, the property consists of two homes and three lots of land on Padaro Lane. DeGeneres and de Rossi now own one of those abodes, plus a parcel.  

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      Their stone-clad estate has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms spread across three levels and an impressive 9,066 square feet. Given its Italian influence, there are stone archways, exposed wood-beam ceilings, marble detailing and mosaic tiling throughout. Of course, the pad also has custom copper gutters and bronze windows and doors that were imported from Italy, reported Architectural Digest. Outside, there are Renaissance-style statues and olive trees akin to what you’d see in Tuscany and the roof has been constructed from terracotta. 

      Elsewhere, the great room is outfitted with a massive antique marble fireplace, and nearby, the chef’s kitchen has been decked out with state-of-the-art appliances, dual butler pantries and a large center island. There’s also a wine cellar and a swanky movie theater with leather recliners on the first floor. Upstairs, the primary suite sports two walk-in closets and a private spa terrace that overlooks the grounds. Speaking of which, the compound comes with a marble and mosaic-tile swimming pool, an outdoor kitchen and raised garden beds. In terms of entertainment, we’re sure DeGeneres and de Rossi will put the extra spa, several fire pits and a few alfresco dining areas to good use.    More