CELEBRITY HOMES
Though Meghan Markle claims she will never live in the United States as long as Donald Trump is president, this medieval-cum-French-chateau castle couldn’t be a more perfect home for ex-Royals. Though the Oregon couple who took seven years to build it ended up going their separate ways and using it as an Airbnb at $2,000 a night, the Sussexes could do the same as a first step to their financial independence from the Crown
After being first lady and JFK’s tragic death in 1963 and her second husband, Aristotle Onassis, died in 1975, Jackie Kennedy Onassis did something she had never done before.
He was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright but with the overpowering drive to do things his own way and his way of approaching design was so successful his homes are as sought after today as when they were originally built. Upon leaving Wright’s tutelage, John Lautner told him that he would always be available to help him at any time he was needed. In future years he helped fix many of Wright’s projects that had gone awry, salvaging many Wright commissions from the brink of cancellation.
One of the most-seen homes in television history, the fan-popular Victorian house representing the home of the Tanner family in the 1980’s sitcom Full House has returned to the San Francisco real estate market with a price cut, from $6 million to $5.5 million.
Keeping Up With the Kardashian’s Scott Disick now has his own spin-off on E!, Flip it Like Disick, and has recently put this example of his new house flipping business on the market, listed at $6.89 million. Apparently inheriting his passion and ability from his attorney-developer grandfather, David Disick, this Hidden Hills contemporary farmhouse demonstrates Scott’s home-design talents.
A New York country estate, Black Hole Hollow Farm, where former British intelligence officer-turned-author, Ian Fleming, wrote parts of his James Bond thrillers, Diamonds Are Forever (1956) and Goldfinger (1959) is for sale. It was then the home of his dear friend John Felix Charles Ivar Bryce, also a former British intelligence officer, whose wife was an Atlantic & Pacific heiress, Josephine Huntington Hartford. Ian was joined by other illustrious guests such as Princess Margaret and Jackie Kennedy, but Fleming was a long-term houseguest on numerous occasions. The farm has recently been listed for sale, priced at $2.95 million.
A Los Angeles home where Katharine Hepburn lived early in her Hollywood career and Boris Karloff at the height of his career is for sale. Hepburn, who was the queen of romance movies, and Karloff, who was the king of monster movies, occupied the home that is still owned by people with film-industry connections. The 5,000-square-foot, hacienda-style home has recently been placed on the market, priced at $8.995 million.
Delivering a blend of contemporary sound and theatrics, Adam Lambert’s style has propelled him from an American Idol superstar singer-songwriter into an international celebrity. The house he bought in 2009 that overlooks the Sunset Strip, the same year he appeared on American Idol, reflects his personality along with his penchant for drama. Now traveling the world almost full-time performing in tours and major guest appearances, the Grammy-nominated vocalist has recently put his West Hollywood Hills home on the market for $3.35 million.
Since the early days of Hollywood, celebrities have been buying each other’s houses, either as a moving-up status symbol or to be assured of being in the right celebrity neighborhood equal to their peers. As neighborhoods close to the studios became heavily populated, Calabasas and Hidden Hills in the western end of the San Fernando Valley became more exclusive with their protected gated communities and homes that provided more breathing space.