LOS ANGELES — Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi have made a quiet exit from their Montecito estate, selling the romantic weekend retreat in an off-market deal for $34 million.
The couple bought the 16.88-acre spread in 2013 for $26.5 million and spent about four years restoring, updating and expanding the property. They had asked as much as $45 million for the estate when they put it up for sale last year.
At the heart of the gated and forested estate is an Italian villa-style house designed by architect Wallace Frost. Built in the 1930s, the home features a cobblestone motor court, creeping vines and decorative ironwork that give it an air of Old Hollywood glamour.
Entered through a custom front door, the 10,500-square-foot house opens to a tiled hallway that ends in a beamed-ceiling living room.
The living room, with custom built-ins and curated artwork, has one of nine fireplaces. Contemporary pieces and fixtures create visual interest against the home’s solid stone walls.
Accompanying the main house is an indoor-outdoor pool house that was built by DeGeneres and De Rossi during their ownership. Stone excavated from the property was used to build the secondary structure, named Jordan Hall, which has a sunroom, an outdoor kitchen and a wet bar.
A sunken tennis court, a badminton court, a lap swimming pool and a Roman-style plunge pool complete the setting.
DeGeneres, 60, has won multiple Emmys for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which premiered in 2003. Last year she co-created and produced the show “Little Big Shots” with Steve Harvey.
De Rossi, 45, has television credits that include the legal drama “Ally McBeal” and the sitcom “Arrested Development.” She currently appears on the series “Scandal.”
The buyer, according to public records, is a trust associated with Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
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IT’S BEEN A FILMWAYS PRESENTATION
The Bel-Air home of Martin Ransohoff, the late writer-producer whose credits include such films as “The Cincinnati Kid” and the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies,” has come on the market for $7.5 million.
Built in 1941, the handsome Traditional-style home features a grand foyer with a sweeping staircase that opens to the living room. The roughly 6,000-square-foot interior also includes a garden-view dining room, a library with built-ins, a chef’s kitchen and an office/den. The master suite has dual bathrooms and a private deck with tree-top and city views. In all, there are five bedrooms and six bathrooms.
The home sits on a gated lot of more than half an acre. Lush garden courtyards, fountains, a gazebo and a swimming pool make up the grounds.
Ransohoff and his wife, artist Joan Ransohoff, bought the house from businessman and television broadcasting executive Joe Wallach in 2001 for $2.15 million, records show.
The noted producer, who died last year at 90, co-founded the production house Filmways in the early 1950s, focusing primarily on commercials before branching out into TV and film. At Filmways, Ransohoff produced the films “The Sandpiper” (1965), “Ice Station Zebra” (1968) and “Catch-22” (1970).
After leaving the company in the early 1970s, he produced the films “Silver Streak” (1976) and “Nightwing” (1979), among others.
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SALSA KING BITES ON MEDITERRANEAN
After four years on the market, a lavish Mediterranean mansion in Florida’s Coral Gables area has found a buyer: Marc Anthony.
The Latin singer-actor, through a corporate entity, paid $19 million for the palatial estate, which connects by waterway to Biscayne Bay.
Hilda Maria Bacardi, great-great-granddaughter of Bacardi founder Facundo Bacardi Masso, was the seller. She had it listed for $27.26 million two years ago before dropping the price to $25 million last August.
Dubbed Casa Costanera, the estate spans 1.3 acres in the affluent Cocoplum community. Arched doorways and designer finishes fill the interiors, which has 12 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms within its roughly 21,000 square feet.
Highlights of the home include an indoor-outdoor living room set beneath coffered ceilings, a double-island kitchen with cherry cabinetry and a master suite with a sitting room and fireplace. An elevator serves all three floors.
Outside, a loggia leads out to a resort-like backyard with a swimming pool and spa. The property sits on a corner lot and has 480 square feet of water frontage and a 100-foot dock.
Anthony, 49, has won two Grammys and five Latin Grammys during his musical career, which began in the ’80s. He has an East Coast-inspired Traditional home on the market for $3.25 million in Tarzana.
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MAKING SENSE OF THE MARKET
Logic, a rapper-songwriter-producer, has wrapped up a deal in Tarzana. He’s sold his home in a guard-gated community for $2.035 million.
The 28-year-old, born Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, bought the place two years ago for $1.9 million, property records show.
Built in 1995, the two-story house sits on about 2 acres with a swimming pool and spa, a basketball half-court and a two-bedroom guesthouse. During Logic’s ownership, a portion of the 2,000-square-foot guesthouse was used as a recording studio.
The main house’s 4,000 square feet of living space includes a center-island kitchen, five bedrooms and five bathrooms. French doors in the master suite open to a balcony with views of the surrounding mountains.
The property came up for sale in May and was most recently listed for $2.199 million, records show. In June, based on 25 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in Tarzana was $1.3 million, up 23.9 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic.
Logic released his first mixtape, aptly titled “Logic: The Mixtape,” in 2009. He put out three more before his debut studio album, “Under Pressure,” was released in 2014 by Def Jam Recordings. His seventh mixtape, “Bobby Tarantino II,” was released in March.
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MALIBU BY WAY OF CHICAGO
Drummer Tris Imboden, known for his work with rock band Chicago and Neil Diamond, has posted a “For Sale” sign outside his breezy mobile home in Malibu. The asking price is $3.495 million.
The one-story manufactured home takes in ocean views from its spot in the Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, an affluent and gated community with an easy walk to the surf.
Skylights and French doors bring natural light inside the 1,650-square-foot home, which has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Among features are splashes of custom tile and a kitchen adorned in teal-and-wood finishes. The coastal vibes continue in the dining room, which features a palm tree-inspired chandelier.
A spa and a secluded patio sit off the back of the home. The landscaped lot is filled with guava, orange and persimmon trees.
Imboden, 66, specializes in jazz and rock percussion. He’s played with Chicago since 1990 — a stretch when the band has released 13 albums — and boasts collaborations with Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, Steve Vai and Roger Daltrey.
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HE’LL PASS ON HIS SOCAL ACREAGE
When quarterback Philip Rivers bought 8 acres of land in Rancho Santa Fe two years ago for $4.7 million, the Chargers still played in San Diego. Now, with the Bolts in Los Angeles, Rivers has put the plot on the market for $5.299 million.
The property is one of about 40 large-lot estates in Rancho del Lago, a gated community with panoramic views stretching from La Jolla to a nearby reservoir.
It comes with plans for a 27,000-square-foot home designed by architect Don Edson. The blueprints were commissioned by the previous owner, Westfield Realty Inc. founder Stanley Westreich.
Records show that Westreich bought the acreage in 2007 for $9.6 million and eventually shopped it for six years before selling to Rivers.
Rivers, a seven-time Pro Bowler, is entering his 15th season with the Chargers. During that stretch, he’s thrown 342 touchdowns and led the Chargers to the AFC championship game in 2007, where he played through a torn ACL in a loss to the New England Patriots.