Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Ellen and Portia's Garden of Eden


CURRENT OWNER: Ellen De Generes and Portia Di Rossi
LOCATION: Montecito, CA
PRICE: Listed at $16,900,000
Size: 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 half baths, 4 acres

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Honeys, I finally found this place after hours of looking and looking. I knew this lady-couple had put up their Santa Ynez ranch for sale (price: $11,900,000) and had purchased a spectacular estate in the high-class Montecito for their weekend getaway. After much internet dead ends I hit pay dirt...the actual listing! And children, the listing agents put together an amazing marketing package for this property with pages of descriptions and flyers and brochures galore. So I'm going to have to condense for our little brains.

This property, located just north of Sycamore Canyon Road (I'll keep the street name and house number in my vault), sprawls over 4 acres and was built in 1926 by renowned Santa Barbara architect George Washington Smith for the Ogilvy family. The property includes a Spanish stlyle main house, guesthouse, studio, pool and pool pavilion, tennis court and a three car detached garage. Of course the property is walled and gated with heavily fortified security.

The grounds are fully landscaped with fountains, water features, cutting beds, fruit trees, secluded gardens and the like. A virtual garden of Eden for this Eve/Eve couple.

The house itself has all the accutrement necessary for a life of celebrity weekend leisure...massive wine cellar, media room, multiple fireplaces, office suite, and a 1,300 square foot master encompassing the entire second floor. And of course guesthouse(s) for visitors and assistants.

Ellen is well known for buying, and sometimes also renovating properties, and selling them on for a huge profit (see future postings for some of Ellen's Hollywood Hills homes). This lady has exquisite taste and style and is most certainly blessed with the real estate gene. But I wonder where Miss Portia is going to ride her horses now that the ranch is sold.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is their a Scrabble or game room? I'm hard pressed to believe that they pull up extra chairs around the dining room table for Yahtzee! or Password when Betty White stops by.

Where's the portrait of the Lafoon family?

Living with a tennis court on property is the end, man.

Jay said...

She definitely does not buy foreclosures. She rolls with the big boys.