Celebrities|News

@Copyright

Madonna recently opened up her London home—which she shares with her six children: Lourdes, 20; Rocco, 17; David, 11; Mercy, 11; and 5-year-old twins Estere and Stella—to talk about a variety of things, including what it’s like being a mother to such a large brood. Apparently, being part of Madonna’s family is as fun as you’d imagine. There are dance parties (Moana and Sing play on loop in their house), Madonna makes choreographed videos of her kids (evidenced on Instagram), and her four youngest children have even given her a cool nickname: Mambo, like the dance.

Her family, and these routines, will now be relocated to a new home, however: an 18th-century Moorish Revival mansion outside of Lisbon, Portugal. Madonna has reportedly purchased the 16,146-square-foot house, which includes 4 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a guesthouse, and a caretaker’s cottage, for the equivalent of $8,927,470. She announced her Portuguese move on her Instagram over Labor Day weekend. The family’s new home is actually the historic Quinta do Relogio estate and is in the beautiful hilltop village of Sintra, about 30 minutes from Lisbon by car. But while a mini-palace on a hilltop may be perfect for the Queen of Pop, her kids just see it as more room to dance around. She says they’re oblivious to her fame—at least that’s true of her 5-year-old twins, who she adopted from Malawi seven months ago. For instance, when her hit song Holiday came on at dinner, 11-year-old David informed the pair that the singer was their mother. “They were like, ‘Huh?’” Madonna says. “They don’t have a clue,” she says, “and that’s a good thing. I’m just their mother.”

READ MORE 

@Copyright

It hasn’t been quite the chart-topping year as was 2016 — when prices were sent into the stratosphere by two $100-million sales — but the upper crust of L.A.’s housing market continued to move at a healthy clip in 2017.

Beverly Hills and Santa Monica registered median sales prices that rank among the highest in the country, and coastal communities such as Malibu and Manhattan Beach saw price records reach new marks.

Of the 40-plus home sales of $20 million or more, there were seven deals north of $40 million and a pair in the high $80-million range, according to PropertyShark. Here’s a closer look at L.A. County’s biggest sales of the year.

$88 million — Bel-Air

Hip-hop power couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who have a long history with the Westside rental market, became new L.A. homeowners in August with the purchase of a newly built mansion on Cuesta Way.

The modern showplace sits behind walls and gates and comprises six structures with about 30,000 square feet of living space. Features of the monolithic-vibe compound include spa and wellness facilities, a media room and four outdoor swimming pools. The windows and pocketing glass walls are bulletproof.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s new home in Bel-Air has 30,000 square feet of living space, four pools and a wellness center.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s new home in Bel-Air has 30,000 square feet of living space, four pools and a wellness center. (Splash News)
Patios and terraces create an additional 10,000 square feet of outdoor living space. Also within 2 acres of grounds is a full basketball court.

The property, developed by Dean McKillen, was never publicly offered for sale but carried an asking price of $135 million, according to real estate sources.

$85 million — Malibu

Entertainment mogul David Geffen set a Malibu record in May with the sale of his oceanfront compound on Pacific Coast Highway. The off-market transaction is the most expensive sale historically in the city, records show, besting the previous high-water mark set four years ago at $74.5 million.

Sitting on Carbon Beach, a desirable stretch known for its wealthy homeowners, the estate previously made headlines when Geffen fought the California Coastal Commission over keeping closed the public beach access point that lies next to the compound.

It includes a main house, guesthouses and a pavilion/screening room. Gray shingles and white trim give an East Coast vibe to the exteriors. Outdoors are an oceanfront swimming pool and spa, lawns and a patio.

$69.9 million — Malibu

An investment group led by real estate developer Mauricio Oberfeld sold the former bluff-top home of Teodoro Nguema Obiang, son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, in a deal finalized off-market.

The investment group acquired the 16-acre compound a year ago for $33.5 million in cash after Obiang agreed to sell the property and other assets to settle charges of corruption and embezzlement alleged by federal prosecutors.

The 15,000-square-foot mansion, with six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, was renovated and quietly shopped at the beginning of the year. It sold to an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, records show.

$65 million — Beverly Hills

The onetime home of late comedian and actor Danny Thomas, once listed for as much as $135 million, sold in February to business scion Evan Metropoulos in another deal finalized outside the Multiple Listing Service.

Sitting on 2 acres at the end of North Hillcrest Road, a stretch coveted by tech titans and billionaires, the sprawling estate takes sweeping city and canyon panoramas from all sides.

Hot Property | Former Danny Thomas estate
The former Danny Thomas estate in Beverly Hills has come on the market. (Berlyn Photography)

1 / 21
The 11,880-square-foot house, built in 1970, boasts such gilded details as Baccarat chandeliers, gold-leaf ceilings and ornate tile work. A ballroom, a rotunda dining room, a media room, seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms are among the living spaces. Moorish arches feature prominently inside and out.

Metropoulos is the son of billionaire investor C. Dean Metropoulos and is a principal in his father’s company. His brother, Daren, bought the Playboy Mansion last year.

Aaron Kirman of John Aaroe Group was the listing agent.

$48 million — Malibu

Billionaire Larry Ellison struck an off-market deal in March to buy the Carbon Beach home of Lisette Ackerberg, widow of Minnesota developer Norman Ackerberg.

The 73-year-old co-founder of Oracle Corp. has long maintained a sizable footprint along this coveted portion of the Pacific Coast Highway, buying more than a dozen homes in the area over the last two decades.

His new house, built in contemporary style in 1986, is one of the few oceanfront homes in the area with a regulation tennis court.

Although details are scant, tax records show that the property has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and more than 7,700 square feet of living space. Extensive decking, a swimming pool and spa, lawns and landscaping make up about half an acre of grounds.

$41 million — Bel-Air

In December, a property with ties to blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay sold to billionaire real estate developer Jay Paul.

The roughly 1-acre site on Stradella Road is where Bay owned a modern mansion designed by Jack Warner, whose architectural firm worked on the Bel-Air Country Club. The “Transformers” producer sold the house in 2014 for $11.45 million, and it has since been renovated and expanded to 15,000 square feet, or about double its original 7,919-square-foot footprint.

READ MORE

@Copyright

With a net worth of $95.3 billion, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates is the second-richest man in America, behind fellow Washington resident Jeff Bezos.

It shouldn’t be too surprising that one of the wealthiest people in the world also has an insanely extravagant home.

It took Gates seven years and $63 million to build his Medina, Washington estate, named “Xanadu 2.0” after the fictional home of Charles Foster Kane, the title character of “Citizen Kane.” Medina, a suburb of Seattle, is also home to Bezos, making it home to some of the wealthiest people on the planet.

At 66,000 square feet, the home is absolutely massive, and it’s loaded to the brim with high-tech details.

We’ve rounded up some of Xanadu 2.0’s most over-the-top features here.

It’s worth at least $127 million today.
It’s worth at least $127 million today.
According to the King County public assessor’s office, the property is worth $127.48 million as of this year. Gates purchased the lot for $2 million in 1988.

It has 7 bedrooms and a whopping 18.75 bathrooms, according to public records.

Half a million board-feet of lumber was needed to complete the project.
Half a million board-feet of lumber was needed to complete the project.
Reuters
The house was built with 500-year-old Douglas fir trees, and 300 construction workers labored on the home — 100 of whom were electricians.

A high-tech sensor system helps guests monitor a room’s climate and lighting.
A high-tech sensor system helps guests monitor a room’s climate and lighting.
Kevork Djansezian / Getty
When guests arrive, they’re given a pin that interacts with sensors located all over the house. Guests enter their temperature and lighting preferences so that the settings change as they move throughout the home. Speakers hidden behind wallpaper allow music to follow you from room to room.

READ MORE

@Copyright

Self-help entrepreneur, master motivator and always positive guru to the stars, Tony Robbins is a man who thinks everyone should be the master of their own success story. There’s no doubt, though, that Robbins practices what he preaches. As a highly successful businessman, Robbins has amassed a sizable ($480 million at last count) fortune, and with that hard-earned cash, he’s also been able to indulge in his interest in fabulous real estate. Case in point is Tony Robbins house in glamorous (and ultra pricey) La Quinta, California.

[ Related: If you want to find out which Tony Robbins book is the best for you – Go here for my latest book review. Also, you can find out more about Tony in the Tony Robbins Wiki]

Tony Robbins House in Florida
In 2013 Tony bought a $24.75 million mansion in Lantana, FL. The property sites on 2 acres and the actual area of the house is 16026 square feet with private ocean front stretching the backyard for a magical distance of 172 feet. The design contains a first floor master suite and 5 bedrooms upstairs. There is also a media and club room on the second floor. For the finishing touch, the backyard possesses an oversize infinity pool and spa.

Tony has plans to improve the property by gutting the already updated interior. The estimated improvement will cost between $8 million and $10 million.

READ MORE

@copyright

While it is common knowledge that Oprah Winfrey is a media mogul (and philanthropist, though she doesn’t really advertise this fact), you may not realize that she is also quite the real estate tycoon. In fact, with homes all over the country, from an equestrian estate in Montecito, CA to rural farm property in East Maui, HI and a gorgeous, yet over-the-top $14 million mansion in Telluride, CO, she has plenty of places to call home. However, it’s her large estate in Montecito, often referred to as the Promised Land, where she can most often be found.

A Quick Look at Oprah’s Montecito Property

Oprah originally purchased the 42-acre estate for $50 million in 2001. (Today, it’s estimated to be worth $88 to $90 million, according to a 2012 tax assessment.) In 2016, she had the opportunity to purchase an adjacent 23.26-acre parcel of land, known as Seamair Farm. For $28.85 million, she picked up the property, which included a 5,000 sq. ft. ranch-style house, a pool, top-of-the-line horse stables, caretaker’s cabin, an equestrian ring, and fruit and avocado orchards. On the other side of the property is a 44-acre dedicated preserve, meaning Oprah doesn’t have to worry about getting any new neighbors, at least on that side. Seeing as Oprah already has an extravagant mansion on the older portion of the property, it’s highly doubtful that she will be moving into the second home.

READ MORE

@Copyright

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch is on the market for nearly 70% off the original price  — here’s a look inside the 2,700-acre property with its sprawling mansion and Disney-themed train station

Michael Jackson’s famed Neverland Ranch is back on the market for $31 million, less than half of its previous listing price of $67 million.

In 2015, the 22,700-acre property hit the market for a whopping $100 million under a new identity as Sycamore Valley Ranch.

But the 12,598-square-foot French-Normandy style residence located in Los Olivos, California sat on the market for two years before its price was slashed to $67 million in 2017.

Jackson, who bought the property for $19.5 million in 1987, defaulted on a loan after financial hardships and entered Neverland into an ownership agreement with private investment firm Colony Capital in 2008 for $23 million, according to ABC News.

After millions of dollars in renovations, the 2,700-acre ranch boastsa main residence with five bedrooms and eight bathrooms, two guesthouses, a four-acre lake, a 50-seat movie theatre, a tennis court, a 14-foot lagoon-style pool, a dance studio, barns, and separate staff facilities.

The listing is held by Suzanne Perkins and Kyle Forsyth of Compass.

For $31 million, the King of Pop’s former home could be yours, although you’ll have to pass “extensive prequalification,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Here’s what Sycamore Valley Ranch has to offer.

April Walloga and Alyson Penn contributed to an earlier version of this story.

READ MORE