No celebrity is more property-obsessed than talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. She and her actress wife Portia de Rossi hop from house to house so frequently that it’s amazing these ladies even remember which direction to point their Porsche when heading home after a night out on the town.
Since Ms. DeGeneres just bought a new Beverly Hills pad and never hangs onto a house for more than a couple years, we moseyed on over to her “old” Beverly Hills abode to see if she had kicked it onto the market yet.
Lo and behold, much to our surprise, records reveal that Ms. DeGeneres has already quietly passed the keys to a new owner! The deal was inked only a few days ago off-market, with no press fanfare.
But here’s the wild part. Our eyeballs popped out of our head, rolled across the hallway, and bounced down the stairs when we saw how much the buyer paid: $35,000,000! For reference, Ms. DeGeneres bought the house less than three years ago — in late 2015 — for “just” $16 million. Yes, that’s a $19,000,000 profit earned in less than three years.
During their ownership, Ms. DeGeneres and Ms. de Rossi did give the place a thorough renovation, but keep in mind that the house is only 5,286-square-feet, which is big but most assuredly not mansion-sized. We highly doubt the couple spent anywhere remotely close to $19 million, even if they encrusted Swarovski crystals into every wall and ceiling.
So the house must sit on a big piece of land with big views, right? Nope. The .71-acre flag lot is very private but nothing notable, and there are little to no views, as far as we know.
Criminy! Kids, Beverly Hills is very, very expensive. And it always will be. But nearly $7,000 per square foot for a flag lot house on less than an acre with no views is some otherworldly level stuff. Congrats to Ms. DeGeneres, we suppose.
Here’s another crazy thing: the new owner is Ms. DeGeneres’s next-door neighbor, a lady named Sue Gross.
Ms. Gross is the ex-wife of billionaire bond trader Bill Gross — they were non-amicably divorced last year after more than 30 years of marriage — and she has been on a very aggressive real estate spending spree for the past few months. But before we get to that, a little further information on her 90210 compound.
Since the transaction was off-market, we unfortunately don’t have any listing pics to share. But the mid-century modern was built in 1966 and has walls of glass, 4 beds and 8 baths, according to records. It also sits right below Ms. Gross’s other bachelorette pad, a $20 million mid-century modern designed by Hal Levitt. She bought that place a mere seven months ago.
You don’t have to be Lieutenant Columbo to deduce that Ms. Gross is a extremely wealthy woman — she has now spent a sanity-defying $55 million for about 1.3-acres of land, two pools, and 11,000-square-feet of mid-century living space.
We really can’t fathom why a single lady with no minor children like Ms. Gross needs or wants a $55 million compound in Beverly Hills. But if you’ve got it, flaunt it, we suppose. And Ms. Gross certainly has got it. Matter of fact, the Beverly Hills place isn’t even her primary residence — this $55 million spread is just her “vacation” home.
Ms. Gross’s main residence is a three-house compound in the Orange County coastal community of Laguna Beach. Worth at least $70 million and located in the ultra-exclusive Irvine Cove gated community, Mr. and Ms. Gross lived in the compound for decades before she was awarded the entire spread in the divorce settlement, which reportedly peeved Mr. Gross to no end.
When she heard that Mr. Gross was plotting a return to Irvine Cove via buying one of her neighbors’ homes, Ms. Gross sprang into action and began outbidding him on all the for-sale properties in the community. She spent $37.8 million on three more houses — she now owns six properties in the enclave — before Mr. Gross ultimately proved successful in his return quest.
Oh dear, what a tangled web we weave. Y’all know how it goes. Anyway, Ms. Gross now owns at least eight Southern California homes worth a minimum of $160 million.
Back to the old Ellen house — this is not the first time that the Gross family has shocked onlookers by paying an outrageous sum of money for a celebrity-owned home. Way back in 2011, when the world was still emerging from recession, the then-married Mr. and Mrs. Gross slammed down $35,000,000 for the Trousdale Estates home of Jennifer Aniston. Though Mr. Gross received that property in the divorce and still owns it, Yolanda has been told he no longer lives there. So the rumors go, the house was gifted to his adult daughter Jennifer Stengaard Gross, a budding real estate baller in her own right.
As for Ms. DeGeneres and Ms. de Rossi — in addition to the new $15 million house in Beverly Hills, they’ve also still got an $18.6 million oceanfront home in Carpinteria, just south of Montecito.