Inside Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s lavish property portfolio
We’re going to move aside whatever feelings you’re harboring for Ellen DeGeneres at the moment so we can talk about something important: real estate. In her spare time from being the queen of mean, Ellen is the queen of house-flipping.
With the assistance of wife Portia de Rossi, the team has been snatching up homes all around the Los Angeles area and turning them into profitable estates to hand down to other big-name celebrities. Take a look at some of Ellen & Portia’s best work below.
The Tree House
After beginning their romance in 2004, Ellen & Portia nabbed a mid-century modern home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.275 million. Garnering the nickname The Tree House for its 2,000 square feet of outdoor living space, the duo reportedly sold the two-bedroom, two-bathroom property for $2.1 million a year later to late actor Heath Ledger. After that, the property was owned by Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson.
The Montecito property
In 2007, Ellen & Portia acquired a lavish mansion in Montecito, California for $15.75 million – and within a year sold it for $20 million. The home reportedly went on to be the filming location for Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’s wedding in 2011 (yes, that one).
Marriage home
In 2008, Ellen & Portia really stepped into high gear with their real-estate ventures by acquiring a 9,200-sq-ft property along with two neighboring homes to incorporate into the estate. For four years, the couple lived in the Beverly Hills home and gave a tour to Architectural Digest in 2011. They even got married in the home in 2008! The couple sold the house in 2012 and picked up another one to flip right away.
Manish Kuwar of UK quick sale experts Ready Steady Sell stated: “flipping property has always been a lucrative way to make money, especially on property of this scale”.
Another Montecito mansion
Ellen & Portia bought a 16.88-acre estate in 2013 for a mere $26.5 million. The couple spent almost four years restoring, updating, and expanding the property into the Italian villa-style compound that stands today. The house at the heart of the gated space was designed by architect Wallace Frost in the 1930s.
This Montecito property features a cobblestone motor court, sunken tennis court, and indoor-outdoor pool house in a style with “an air of old Hollywood glamour”. Portia & Ellen quietly sold the estate in 2018 for a tidy $34 million.
Rancho San Leandro
Ellen & Portia bought this historic property in 2017 for $7.2 million. The six-acre family compound contains a central fountain and 3,129-sq-ft home called the Adobe House as well as a 3,635-sq-ft guest wing, the Monterey House. With an ocean & mountain view, this property wasn’t hard for the couple to sell less than a year later to Tinder founder Sean Rad for a 52% profit at $11 million.
Final Montecito mansion
In 2019, Ellen & Portia dropped $27 million on this five-bedroom, ten-bathroom Balinese-style Montecito mansion. The 8,188-sq-ft main home is built with bamboo ceilings, flamed black limestone, and distressed oak floors in the style of traditional Balinese architecture. The couple still owns this gorgeous property; it’s unknown what their plans are for the future.
James Durr of UK real estate developers Property Solvers commented: “this is impressive work. Flipping at such a high level is often challenging and risky as costs can often spiral out of control.”
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What do you think of this hobby? Let us know in the comments below which of these fabulous houses is your dream home.
