Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Mariah Cary Says Bye-Bye to the Bahamas

SELLER: Mariah Carey (and Nick Cannon)
LOCATION: Windermere Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas
PRICE: $5,500,000
SIZE: (approx.) 4,000 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: For more than half a century privacy-seeking celebs, deep-pocketed plutocrats and various British royals—including the late Princess Diana—have holidayed on Windermere Island, a slim, semi-remote sliver of powdery pink-hued sand off the Bahamian island of Eleuthera accessible only by private helicopter or a short, guard-gated bridge.

5-time Grammy- and 31-time Billboard Music Award-winning American pop music superstar Mariah Carey—a dedicated vocal acrobat with a piercing, laser-sharp four octave vocal range— has done a little vacaying on Windermere Island since at least 2007 or 2008 when she bought a secluded, beachfront compound called Villa Sea Lily.

Your Mama can't be certain exactly what the parabolically curvaceous Miz Carey coughed up for Villa Sea Lily but scads of reports from the time of her purchase show she shelled out somewhere around $5,000,000 for the estate that was last listed—as far as we can tell from our entirely unscientific research—with an asking price $4,900,000.

She and comedian cum musician turned tee-vee presenter Nick Cannon were hitched at the seaside estate in a secret ceremony, in May 2008, after less than two months of (public) courtship. Contrary to the odds in Vegas and romance cynics (like Your Mama), Mister Cannon and Miz Carey remain married and last year produced a set of twins. In April they renewed their nuptial vows in a small ceremony in Paris with a night-time view of the Eiffel Tower.

However, while it appears these two will be keeping each other for the foreseeable future they are looking to dump their Windermere Island hideaway that we discovered—thanks to a real estate leg up from an informant we call Chatty Charlie—is up for grabs with a $5,500,000 asking price. In fact, children, listing information we peeped indicates the property has actually been on the market undetected since early June...of last year. In 2011!

Current listing information is understandably somewhat parsimonious about the details of the property but an old (lease) listing Your Mama dug out of our (chaotic and incomplete) archives revealed, at the time of Miz Carey's purchase, the private, (approx.) 3-acre seaside compound comprised four pavilions (and two garages) arranged in a tight cluster around an interior courtyard with approx.) 4,000 square feet of air-conditioned interior living space and (approx.) 3,500 square feet of marble walkways, terraces and covered, outdoor living areas.

A pair of almost identical pavilions flank the kitchen and service quarters and house the compound's 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, according to current listing information. Each of Villa Sea Lily's three bedroom suites, as per listing information we peeped, offers a marble bathroom and—thank heavens—a wet bar. At least one of the bedroom suites has a private living room area.

The airy, main outdoor living/dining area—just above the swimming pool with sweeping dune, beach and ocean views obstructed only by swaying palm trees and blinding sunshine—juts forward from between the bedrooms pavilions and includes a stone fireplace, built-in barbecue and—as noted in the listing photos—lots of wicker chairs and a slew of slip-covered sofas in bright white and turqwahze colors.

The 40-foot long swimming pool, nestled into scrubby dunes and surrounded by marble sunbathing terraces, sits between the main outdoor living pavilion and the slender strip of pink(ish) sand that Jacques-Yves Cousteau (allegedly) declared one of the most beautiful in the world.

A beach side ramada tucked into the dunes offers Miz Carey, her kids and their entourage a convenient spot to escape the punishing Caribbean sunshine. It does not, however and as far as we know, have a facility so anyone with a bladder full of booze or seawater will have—as we see it—only three options: find a semi-hidden spot in the dunes; cop a squat over a bucket while your minimum wage housegurl or best gay girlfriend holds a towel up around you and hands you a tissue; make the short but mildly arduous climb up from the beach to the residence. Which option do the children think Miz Carey would choose? We know what we'd do. How about Mister Carey? But we digress...

Miz Carey and Mister Cannon—who, Your Mama revealed earlier this week, have been spending some time this summer at a pricey rental pad in the Hamptons—owns several other luxury properties including a gated estate in Bel Air once owned by Farrah Fawcett, a Mario Buatta-designed triplex penthouse in New York City and—so we've been told—a villa on Capri, a scenically stunning resort island in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the western coast of Italy (and the location of the ridiculously remote and incomparably magnificent Casa Malaparte, seen here in in stills from the 1963 Jean Luc Godard film Contempt with Brigette Bardot).

listing photos: Ocean Villas Group

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

But who's going to drive (boat/car) their stuff from the Bahamas to the Hamptons? http://bit.ly/LFpkYl

Blogger1 said...

I read a comment on the Carey/CannonHamptons post, that explained why she is selling this property! Leave it to a greedy developer to ruin privacy. Not to mention tarnish the exclusivity. That exactly why these "exclusive islands" should have laws in place, not unlike Beverly Park, to keep people from doing such things as sub-dividing and building resorts! I don't blame her for selling. The home is beautiful and peaceful looking!! As someone stated, she and her financial advisors are very smart when it comes to her real estate.Plus, after livingin that gargantuan marital home she shared in Bedford, NY it's safe to say that she prefers comfort over complexity. I love that she does'nt feel the need to spend 30 mil or more on a home, although she easily could!! I would love to see her Capri and Aspen homes, although I doubt she will EVER show them. They seem to only give the public what they want to give, when they want to give it and thats what old school "celebrity" is about!! Sorry for the rant...LOVE THE BLOG!!!

Mama, you may not know nut Mariah also owns a home in hoity toity Aspen, CO as well!! Not sure if it's in Starwood or just up near red mountain but i'm sure it's nice!!

Anonymous said...

"Mariah Carey possesses a five-octave vocal range,and has the ability to reach notes beyond the 7th octave." (Wikipedia)...and yet, most of her music is absolute crap...go figure.

frankly I don't care where she lives as no doubt she will decorate anything she owns with pink glitter and baby unicorns.

The woman seemingly has no taste,
Nick Cannon, delicious as he is, notwithstanding.

Petra's said...

Nick Cannon... delicious?!?!

Hunny, I think you may be the one who fails the taste test.

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymouse 11:39AM

Wow you sound a bit angry...no??
Not a big fan of her music but she has made some great, memorable songs unlike the useless dribble put out there today!! Her sales and her stats don't lie so give credit where it's due.

SB: How do you figure she decorates in pink glitter and gold when the world has only seen her NYC PH and the interior of a beach home? Neither of which were filled with pink glitter and gold?? I'm sure Mariah is sipping wine in the Hamptons that cost more than what you make in the first fiscal quarter so cary on love!

Anonymous said...

@ Petra

I have actually seen Nick Cannon in person a few times in LA and I must say he is quite tall and handsome and not as bony as he appears on TV! In other words, he looks handsome and healthy....NOT hollywood aka short and druggy! LOL

ExcitingLA said...

i love your description of Miz Carey. right on the money mama! oh, and the property is nice too....

Anonymous said...

LOL! i said in the last post how she and nick cannon havent used this property in years! windermere island had 20 homes on it when she purchased hers, then someone bought the entire north half of the island, subdivided and built 50+ homes. Ps. the place next dooor is on 3 beachfront lots with private tennis court and private dock on savannah sound and its listed at 3.6 million. Good luck mimi. your gonna need it.