Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Did Y'all See...

...that Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi have re-listed their southern California horse ranch with a new, improved and much lower $10,995,000 asking price? Well they did.

Your Mama previously discussed—at length, as per usual—the Sapphic couple's equestrian compound so, rather than go over it all again with a fine-toothed celebrity real estate gossip's comb, suffice to say...

Missus Degeneres and de Rossi picked up their horsey haven in the swanky Hidden Valley area near Thousand Oaks in June 2009 for about $8.5 million. They first attempted to unload the bucolic retreat about two years later with an asking price of $16,500,000. The asking price eventually dropped to $14,900,000 before it was taken off the open market in the fall of 2011.

The 26-acre, multi-residence ranch property has eight fully updated and upgraded farmhouse-style cottages all decked out and done up in a rustic kind of contemporary day-core featured in a recent issue of Elle Decor. There's also, as per listing details and other online resources, a ranch office, a couple of barns converted to art studios/entertainment spaces, a screened yoga pavilion, a tree house, a tennis court, extensive equestrian facilities (hay barn, stables, riding rings, and etc.), and—y'all can bet—a state of the art security system. Altogether, according to listing details, the property encompasses eight bedrooms,10.5 bathrooms, and (at least) 4 fireplaces spread throughout the various residences and outbuildings.

Last year the property-mad pair sold their celebrity pedigreed compound above Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills for nearly $40 million to squeaky clean media mogul Ryan Seacrest and paid $17.4 million for an 8,000-ish square foot Hal Leavitt-designed mid-century modern in the lower Trousdale Estates area of Beverly Hills that had previously been owned by maximalist lady-decorator Kelly Wearstler.

They currently own a modest condominium in Beverly Hills —presumably purchased for staff or family—that's up for sale at $899,000 and just a few months ago it was revealed they spent a spectacular $26,500,000 to acquire a 13-acre estate in tony Toro Canyon near Montecito, CA with a pristine 10,500 square foot 1920s Tuscan-style villa that had been painstakingly restored by high-brow decorator John Saladino as his private residence.*

*Mister Saladino sold the estate for $16,500,000 in March 2012 to a Kiwi couple who, apparently, flipped less than a year later at a tremendous ten million dollar profit to Missus Degeneres and de Rossi.

listing photos: Sotheby's International Realty

14 comments:

Rosco Mare said...

Seriously dull and dreary day-core....unlike Ellen's funny and likeable on-air personality.

Anonymous said...

Flip flip flip flip and flippity flop. The mania of these empty headed intellectual mediocrities to constantly house hop has something pathological about it. I think a competent shrink needs to analyze the phenom.

Anonymous said...

Re the Montecito estate: 10 million bucks more a year later?? Are these ladies dense?

Anonymous said...

Confidential to Anonymous Kinder 4:00 p.m.:

Several years ago, the Rabbi explained Real Estate Attachment Disorder (READ) to the Kinderlach: The celebrities, when shorties, moved with their parents from one house to another, and as a result were never able to form healthy, long-lasting relationships with their childhood homes. The celebrities as grownups are then doomed to sadly repeat the cycle. Forced long-term residencies have demonstrated limited successes while remaining controversial, as the houses are then subjected to the undeserved, rageful tantrums of their celebrity owners. The Rabbi lobbied mightfully, although without triumph, to have READ added to DSM V.

Diagnostically yours,
Professor Rabbi Hedda LaCasa, MD, PhD, MSW, LCSW, AB

Anonymous said...

She needs to get therapy and help. Buy one damn house and settle down and enjoy the damn place.

Anonymous said...

Very Restoration Hardware. Or rather RH as they now intend to be called. . . Sure they paid lots of money to come up with that attempt to reconcile their name with their new product mix. I wonder if Banana Republic ever thought about becoming BR?

Anyway, as soon as I saw this place on the cover of Elle Decor I knew its fate. Not that with Ellen it would ever be different, cover or no cover.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand this vilification of Ellen because of her hobby. We don't denigrate Jay Leno for the money he spends buying, restoring, showing and maintaining cars. My guess is both Ellen's and Jay's gains/losses on their hobbies are more in proportion to their income and net worth than many people who collect Beanie Babies, Mae West Chalk Dolls or go to Las Vegas (or Atlantic City) once per month.

Anonymous said...

I love it. I think the styling/furnishings are perfectly suited for what the interior architecture dictates. I hope the exterior has a barn/farm/ranch look, as opposed to a Mediterranean or Tuscan. Although, I would never guess this was the home of 2 women.

Anonymous said...

It's not. Ellen is a man in drag.

Avalon Apartments said...

It is hard to imagine Ellen living in such a house. Like Rosco Mare said, it looks dull. I am also not sure that it can sell for $10,995,000 even with all those renovations. They might settle for a lot less than what they have spent on it.

Anonymous said...

Mama I am so sick of hearing about these two. They are more annoying than Aniston and the Ecclestones combined!

Sandpiper said...

This property shows such caring restraint. It's aesthetically peaceful and perfectly sited ... in Hidden Valley no less. What more can one ask?

Anonymous said...

I get depressed just looking at those pictures. It's like still life. I bet you just sit in that home and listen to complete silence other than the ticking of a clock. Where are my SSRIs?

Anonymous said...

A little meh on the style. Not bad, just over use of white, which she seems to do. But if it ain't broke, she clearly has success with this stuff..