Thursday, August 23, 2012

Ellen Degeneres Flips Out in Malibu

Celebrity real estate watchers will recall it was only in mid-December 2011 when talk show queen bee Ellen Degeneres and her actress wife Portia de Rossi shelled out $12,000,000 to snatch up Brad Pitt's bluff top beach house in Malibu, CA.

Well, the property-mad ladies appear to have caught an immediate case of The Celebrity Real Estate Fickle because a snitch named Malibu Ken told Your Mama (and property records confirm) the sleek and glassy, 4,088 square foot, low-slung contemporary on 1.26 ocean front acres was sold in mid-June 2012 for $13,000,000.

The property, which Mister Pitt picked up in early 2004 for $8,410,000, was purchased through a blind trust that Your Mama can't crack but Malibu Ken says scuttlebutt on the (celebrity) real estate street is that the new owner is Tinseltown makeup artist turned cosmetics entrepreneur and television infomercial pioneer Victoria Jackson. 

Miz Jackson is married to direct-marketing tycoon Bill Guthy who shills products direct to consumer, many of which are celebrity-owned skin care and beauty products such as Youthful Essence (by Susan Lucci), Meaningful Beauty (by Cindy Crawford), and In an Instant (by Heidi Klum).

The Missus Degeneres's recently sold the bulk of their Beverly Hills (CA) compound to milquetoast Hollywood mogul Ryan Seacrest for $37,500,000. At about the same time they sold their Bev Hills house to Mister Seacrest, they scooped up a single story mid-century modern house in the lower Trousdale Estates area of Beverly Hills and, as far as we know, they still own and maintain a modest condo in Beverly Hills (probably for staff and/or family), a house in Beverly Hills that borders their old compound (and which we imagine they'll sell soon or eventually), and a spectacular, equestrian-oriented ranch in a particularly fancy-pants corner of Thousand Oaks (CA), which they've had on and off the market the last couple years with an asking price of $16,500,000.

aerial photo: Pacific Coast News

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brad had it on the market for several years & Ellen is able to sell it in a matter of months? She's lucky!

Anonymous said...

What would we do without Ellen?? Everything about her Real Estate life is just interesting. Malibu didnt look like it would work size wise...did she apply for permits and rejected? And why did she keep one property overlooking her BH compound in the Seacrest sale? Why didnt Seacrest buy that one parcel? Why did she buy a 16M property that looks mediocre at best, and per the children here, has very little privacy?? Bueller?

Anonymous said...

Wow, for once she actually made money on a property!

Rugby E. Root said...

1) I'm kinda shocked that Victoria Jackson (and Mr Victoria Jackson) have the taste to buy the place.

2) I'm surprised Ellen sold to Miz Jackson, as Victoria is a Tea Party loonie who frequently writes op-ed pieces for the Wing Nut Daily. she's taken a very strong stance against gay marriage, among other things.

Anonymous said...

Rugby,

Not THAT Victoria Jackson... The other one!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Jackson_(disambiguation)

Anonymous said...

@Rugby E. Root—Different Victoria Jackson (you are talking about the blonde comedienne of SNL fame who is a member of the Tea Party and lives in her hometown of Miami). The Victoria Jackson who is married to Guthy (and purchased the house from Ellen) is an entrepreneur (cosmetics/makeup artist). Go to http://www.vmakeup.com/pages/about-victoria for further information about this Victoria.

Research before you post!!!

Anonymous said...

Ellen's only acts hardcore about that stuff for ratings and press. When it comes down to it, she's just like any other celebrity, money-hungry and profit-driven. She saw an opportunity to make up partly for the loss she took on the BH compound and dove for it.

Petra's said...

Rugby, you're talking about the SNL alum. This is a totally different Victoria Jackson, a global cosmetics entrepreneur who is far wealthier.

Anonymous said...

@Rugby

You leave emotion out of business transactions. Miz Jackson's check obviously cleared the bank and Ellen made a $million off someone she probably wouldn't spill a drink on if she were to catch on fire.

FonHom said...

Not to worry, Rugby E. Root. Different Victoria Jackson. And probably a lot richer.

von said...

Rugby E. Root, I believe you're thinking of Victoria Jackson, formerly of SNL, who is a total nut.

The Victoria Jackson of this article is the cosmetics entrepreneur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Jackson_(entrepreneur)) Different person, don't think she's a Tea Party loonie.

Anonymous said...

Rugby, you got the wrong Victoria Jackson.

Anonymous said...

Actually, when you factor in agent's fees,taxes, maintenance etc. she really made nothing to speak of.

Ellen must be a Realtor's dream!

Anonymous said...

Everyone seems to be forgetting that Ellen had real estate commision(s) to pay on this sale, closing costs, and holding costs while she owned it. Add in the cap gains she pays on the gain and I think she may have just broke even at best.

Anonymous said...

House-hopping: the preferred occupation of the empty neaded and idle rich of Tinseltown A lot easier than reading a book all the way through.

Naughty Nancy said...

Mama, my love, I've got a tip for ya!

"Chateau Liberte LLC"

Awaiting your research! :)

Carla Ridge said...

Anon 1:30 PM -- the house Ellen bought in Trousdale Estates is actually one of the best in the area, an architectural classic by Harold Levitt. If this is anyone's idea of mediocre, I'd sure like to see what they consider exceptional.

I visited the house with Ellen's designer as they were prepping it for their occupancy, and will admit it could use some architectural sprucing up (the sellers had done a 180-degree turn from former owner Kelly Wearstler's decor of the home -- and made some unfortunate decisions in the name of 'paring down').

But again, great location, top architect, fabulous pedigree, and the girls have marvelous taste.

Anonymous said...

Mother of god what world do we live in that Ryan Seacrest has 37 mil.

Anonymous said...

It's deRossi not DiRossi.

Anonymous said...

@7:48 Ms. Seacrest is one of the busiest and richest little gnomes in Hollywood these days - acquired partially by pimping out - tada - The Kardashians!! Gee thanks little guy... enjoy your fake life!

Anonymous said...

@5:42 no one cares about that tagalong ho.

Anonymous said...

I highly doubt the Trousdale house, nice as it is, is anything more than a small stepping stone in Ellen's real estate journey, heh. I can't see how anyone who spent tens of millions to build and fortify a huge compound would be happy there for very long. It is right on one of Trousdale's busier streets. Maybe she thinks she can make big bucks like Jennifer Aniston?

Rugby E. Root said...

Thanks to all who corrected my ignorance. I honestly thought they were the same person.

Happily learn something new every day.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:25 -- how lovely of you to be concerned for her happiness. Sorry that i missed the part where she said she intended to hold onto it for any specific period of time. How long do you think is acceptable? I'm sure EDG and PDR are eager to conform to your conventions.

Anonymous said...

I read "Brad Pitt's bluff top beach house" as

"Brad Pitt's buff top......"

Petra's said...

Haha, 1:42 is probably Portia de Rossi. Her random bitchfits are the stuff of legend.

Anonymous said...

Mama, this might be asking too much, but sometime I'd love to see you do a rundown of all the properties Ellen has owned over the years. She has great taste but my head is spinning just trying to keep up!

Truth Fairy said...

@August 25, 2012 11:59 AM

It's not accurate to project what your mother used to say to you on to other more successful people. "Ho".

Anonymous said...

Anon 7:21 AM -- And you're calling *me* the oversensitive one? Ha!

Love, Anon 1:42

Anonymous said...

Sweetie, I'm from NY. That's how we talk when we're in a [i]good[/i] mood. Sorry 'bout it.