Ellen DeGeneres paid $49 million for a California compound in the wealthy enclave where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live
- Ellen DeGeneres has been revealed as the buyer of a $49 million estate in Montecito, California, Katherine Clarke reported for The Wall Street Journal.
- The off-market deal, which closed in September, was the comedian's most expensive home purchase ever, according to Variety.
- The property spans 4.3 acres and includes a 9,000-square-foot mansion, a guest house, a pool house, a detached garage, and a barn designed by award-winning architect Tom Kundig.
- DeGeneres has already owned homes in Montecito, the exclusive Santa Barbara enclave where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle bought a nearly $15 million home this summer.
- The comedian is known for flipping pricey California homes, often in deals with other celebrities.
Ellen DeGeneres has spent much of 2020 entangled in controversy, but that hasn't kept her from her hobby of dropping millions on luxury real estate.
The comedian has been revealed as the buyer of a $49 million Montecito estate that belonged to former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Dennis Miller, Katherine Clarke reported for The Wall Street Journal.
The off-market deal, which closed in September, was an all-cash transaction, Clarke reported. DeGeneres has bought and sold many multimillion-dollar homes over the years, but her September purchase was the comedian's priciest ever, according to Variety. DeGeneres has an estimated net worth of $370 million, according to Forbes.
The talk show host's new property spans 4.3 acres and includes five structures that are tucked away behind walls and gates, including a 9,000-square-foot mansion, a guest house, a pool house, a detached garage, and a barn designed by award-winning architect Tom Kundig, Variety reports.
While the transaction was off-market with no official listing, snapshots of the lavish Montecito home can be seen on the Instagram account of Miller's wife, Carolyn Espley-Miller.
The main house was built in a South African Cape Dutch-style.
Representatives for DeGeneres and Miller did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the sale.
DeGeneres is no stranger to extravagant California real estate
In an interview on The Today Show in 2018, the comedian said she grew up poor and always lived in apartments.
"Now, I just buy as many houses as I can," she said.
Indeed, DeGeneres has been snapping up and flipping luxury homes in California for years with her wife Portia de Rossi, as Business Insider's Hillary Hoffower reported. It started in 2003, when DeGeneres paid $6 million for a Hollywood Hills home that she then sold to Will Ferrell in 2006 for $9 million.
Other homes the comedian has flipped over the years include a 26-acre horse ranch, a Malibu beach house that was previously owned by Brad Pitt, and the estate where Kim Kardashian married Kris Humphries in 2011.
In 2019, DeGeneres and de Rossi sold three mansions and bought two others, one in Montecito for $27 million and another in Beverly Hills for $45 million. And just last month, they sold one of their Montecito estates for $33.3 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The comedian seems to have a particular fondness for Montecito, an upscale enclave of Santa Barbara County that's been home to fellow A-listers like Oprah Winfrey and Gwyneth Paltrow and even former royals. In August, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dropped $14.65 on a gated compound in Montecito. The value of a typical home in the area is $3.4 million, according to Zillow.
2020 has been a year of controversy for DeGeneres
While her real-estate activity shows no signs of slowing down, DeGeneres has faced backlash for various controversies over the course of 2020.
In March, comedian and podcast host Kevin T. Porter started a Twitter thread asking for stories about DeGeneres "being mean" that quickly went viral, garnering nearly 2,000 replies. In April, DeGeneres faced backlash for comparing spending her quarantine in her $27 million Montecito home to being in prison.
In July and August, BuzzFeed News reporter Krystie Lee Yandoli published two investigations in which former employees of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" alleged it was a toxic workplace rife with racism, sexism, and intimidation.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News at the time, show executives said they took the allegations "very seriously" and that they were "heartbroken and sorry" to learn that any employee had a negative experience. Insider's request for comment to DeGeneres' representative was not immediately returned.
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- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just bought their first house. Here's what it's like to live in Santa Barbara County, their new home in California.