Meghan and Harry have quietly gone up the coast, buying a house in the Santa Barbara area, sources told The Times.
Prince Harry and former Meghan Markle have bought a house in the heart of Montecito, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Tabloids first reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved to the exclusive, full-fledged coastal town that stood between the Pacific Ocean and Mount Santa Ynez – but offered a few details.
Area brokers refer to a $ 14.65 million estate that closed in an off-market sale in June. Tax records for the 7-acre property, which was reported last year for $ 34 million, correspond to limited liability companies previously created by the Duchess of Sussex, according to records obtained by The Times.
The 7-acre estate, which is fenced and gated, includes a guest house, a swimming pool, a tennis court, gardens and a playground.
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Built in 2003, the sprawling estate is hedged and gated off the street and reached by a winding drive paved with hand-cut, locally sourced stone. In addition to the entrance-covered entrance, there is a room with a ceiling, a billiards / games room, a living room, spa facilities, a lift and a gym.
There are nine bedrooms in the roughly 14,500-square-foot main house. A two-bedroom guest house, a tea house, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a custom jungle gym are among the facilities on site.
The seller was a limited liability company bound to Russian investor Sergey Grishin, records show. Grishin is the former owner of another Montecito mansion, the so-called Scarface estate.
The move marks a year-long saga for the royal couple, which began in January when the couple announced they would step down as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and become financially independent.
Deciding to divide time between Britain and North America, they called for space to raise their son Archie, who was born in May 2019, as a primary reason for the highly controlled movement.
They spent the first months of the year on Vancouver Island, Canada, after living in a French-inspired mansion worth roughly $ 14 million, with plans to eventually move to LA. The outbreak of coronavirus accelerated those plans, and in March they temporarily moved to Tyler Perry’s place in Beverly Hills until quarantine.
Tyler Perry’s Beverly Hills estate, where Meghan and Prince Harry lived, has more than 24,000 square feet of living space.
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The dramatic Tuscan-style estate occupies 22 acres in Beverly Ridge Estates, and has eight bedrooms and 12 bathrooms – slightly larger than its new location in Montecito.
However, the retreat did not bring the privacy they were hoping for. In July, Harry and Meghan filed a lawsuit in LA County Superior Court, alleging that unnamed paparazzi flew drones overhead and cut holes in the trunk to photograph their family.
Compared to densely packed LA, Montecito and the neighboring communities of Santa Barbara and Hope Ranch have long served as a quiet, picturesque, scattered haven for those who can afford it.
However, there is a price for privacy. Zillow puts Montecito’s median home value at $ 3.276 million, more than LA’s third median home value of $ 752,000.
Over time, famed Beach Boys member Mike Love, “Sopranos” star Michael Imperioli and actor Rob Lowe have listed his 3.4-acre estate in Montecito on the market. set for $ 47 million in 2018. Jeff Bridges sold his vineyard estate there for $ 15.9 million in 2017, and this summer Ellen DeGeneres sold a Tudor-style English home to pop star Ariana Grande for $ 6.75 million.
Oprah is perhaps the most famous owner of the area. She dropped $ 50 million on a 42-acre spread, known as the “Promised Land” in 2001 and has since renovated entire properties, including a nearby horse farm, which she auctioned in 2015 for $ 28.95 million at auction. bought.
