Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tuesday Tidbit: Ellen Degeneres



Late last week Your Mama discussed the 26-acre equestrian extravaganza in Thousand Oaks, CA that chat show host Ellen Degeneres and her actress wife Portia de Rossi have on the market with an asking price of $16,500,000.

Celebrity real estate gossips and watchers know the horsey spread in Thousand Oaks isn't the only posh property in the Los Angeles area the Missus Degeneres and de Rossi own but want to unload from their property portfolio. Rumors started to slip and slide down the celebrity real estate gossip grapevine in early 2011 that the couple desired to divest themselves of the deluxe Beverly Hills, CA compound they've spent many tens of millions of dollars amassing and customizing.

In the fall of 2007 the property mad pair coughed up an almost unbelievable $29,000,000 for the main portion of the compound, which they bought from residuals rich Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick. A few months later the compound loving ladies shelled out an additional $8,500,000 for the property next door that they razed and replaced with a serene, watery garden with long views down the rugged, mansion-dotted canyons and over the twinkling lights of Lala Land.

The following June the real estate flip-floppers spent $5,000,000 for an adjacent fixer upper and just a month later they shelled out another $5,500,000 for a hillside house with oblique views into the backyard of the main house. Altogether, according to our ever-present bejeweled abacus, the Missus Degeneres and de Rossi dumped an astonishing forty-eight million clams for the various properties that comprise the compound, not counting renovation and customization costs.

In late May (2011), the swankety-swank Degenere-de Rossi compound finally hit the open market with an undisclosed price that several sources swear was $60,000,000 for the entire multi-parcel, multi-residence compound. A few weeks ago, amid rumors that Formula One Racing heiress Tamara Ecclestone rejected the compound as not grand enough for her grandiose real estate tastes, the property disappeared from the listing agent's website.

Lo and behold, yesterday the couple's compound popped back up on the market with an official asking price of $49,000,000.

New listing information shows the compound contains a total of 9 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms spread throughout a sprawling single-story a main house, a detached guest house tucked into the hillside at the front of the house and and guest/staff apartment, fitness facility and underground parking garage tucked discretely underneath the swimming pool with its adjacent pavilion. The compound includes an additional and separate 3 bedroom house for staff, security, extended family, or whatever.

Listing information goes on to reveal there are more than half a dozen fireplaces on the property, lavishly landscaped grounds that include a meandering pond and grassy back yard with infinity-edged swimming pool and spa, and state-of-the-art security systems.

Certainly the Missus D. and de R. sit high on a mountain of money that would make the knees of ordinary rich people turn to jelly with envy and Your Mama needs a god damn nerve pill to smooth out the bitter agita caused by the financial flabbergast that overwhelms us when we consider the the monetary resources it takes just to pay the taxes and upkeep costs for their high-maintenance Beverly Hills compound as well as their Thousand Oaks horse farm.

It not known where Miz Degeneres and Miz de Rossi would like to reside next but Your Mama has heard–but can not confirm–from someone in a position to know such matters that the couple would like to simplify their real estate lives with the acquisition of an in-town estate/ranchette where they can both live and house their horses. We shall see, puppies, we shall see.

listing photos: Westside Estate Agency

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm actually really starting to like this hoouse. I first I was iffy, but the more I see, the more I like. I'm not sure the real value of the cobbled together property but would say most people don't need this privacy and entire street... and if they do, they want a bigger house.

I'd say they are gonna take a wash on this... and the buyer will prolly unload the other house on the street and possibly even the water garden lot next door.

Desert Donna said...

I dont need Mommas abacus beads to figure out that this new price is nearing what they have in this compilation of homes, if it includes all of the properties they assembled? This may be the first loss for Miz D..

Anonymous said...

It includes the 3 properties they bought on the same street. It does not include the final peace up on the hill overlooking the compound.

Anonymous said...

Stunning and unique property up in the canyons of Beverly Hills.

Commentary: They will not make money on the sale.

Commentary 2: Gorgeous home but the exposed beams and adobeish fireplace in the main living area is very odd and is unsettling to my sensitive eyes. Paint the Beams or make them metal.... but a modern chic fireplace with some modern marble or stone and boom perfecto!

Anonymous said...

this house is featured on the cover of Architectural Digest's November 2011 issue.

best_damn_show_evah! said...

Never mind that. What matters is that Arrested Development is comin back!

Tylor said...

More Pictures:
http://www.melindaritz.com/portfolio.html

- This was before they bought it

Anonymous said...

I love Ellen... and the house... and normally she makes great decisions but this wasn't one. She WAY overpaid when she bought the house bc she just wanted it... then she forked out a ton of money for the house next door that she tore down... the lot wasn't worth what she paid for it then... and now the market is down. If she really wants to sell this, I think she'll be lucky to get $30-35m for the house, lot and shitty house down the street.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps, they are purposely pricing this low and trying to set up a bidding war. Yes, she overpaid but arguably the sum is worth far more than the parts. I wouldn't think any developer could make financial sense of this in terms of breaking it up again, so maybe they'll have to hunker down and wait a while. Or maybe not, if the Aniston sale is any indication.

By the way, Architectural Digest should show some journalistic integrity and stop timing these cover stories to coincide with the listings of these properties. I know that this house and Aniston's (to name only two recent ones of the many they have featured in this way) are considered big gets but come on.

lil' gay boy said...

Even if they fail to turn a tidy profit on this compound, the pleasure of creating it, coupled with the millions they have already amassed on other flips should be more than ample compensation.

Anonymous said...

They amassed the various parcels and developed the landscape plan, but wasn't the house done by the Will and Grace guy?

Anonymous said...

I like Ellen. She is discovering that California is a desert. I imagine it costs too much to keep the place watered. I hope she mentions that to potential buyers.

Anonymous said...

extravagant lesbo

angie said...

This is a nice place, but nothing about it reaches out and grabs me as must have been the case with Ellen. Her apparent eagerness to liquefy every asset she could lay her hands on in order to possess and expand on it convinced me she had finally found HOME. I'm tempted to think there must be a larger underlying personal reason for this sale; time will tell.

Tylor said...

I really like this house! especially the round library! except on google maps 3D when you look at the skylight above the bathroom, you can see right into the bath tub!

Anonymous said...

This is clearly a person with too much $ and too much time on her (their) hands. Why dont they use their $ to start a foundation to help those less fortunate? I know I know Im naive, that isnt the LA way..............

richard thomm said...

Modern and stylish home!