Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Ellen DeGeneres has made millions buying and selling luxury properties - here are some of the most lavish homes she's flipped
Ellen DeGeneres has made millions buying and selling luxury properties - here are some of the most lavish homes she's flipped
Melina GlusacOct 18, 2018, 21:58 IST
Kevork Djansezian/GettyEllen DeGeneres is a self-proclaimed lover of architecture and design.
Advertisement
It's an open secret in Hollywood that Ellen DeGeneres - America's beloved talk show host and comedienne - moonlights as a successful house flipper.
Over the past 15 years, DeGeneres has amassed nothing short of a real estate empire. She buys and sells luxury California properties, sometimes living in multiple houses per year, and making huge profits from fixing them up. DeGeneres usually garners millions from her flips, selling her renovated homes to fellow A-listers like Ryan Seacrest and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
But she rejects the term "flipping" to describe her endeavors, insisting that her real estate gains are borne through sheer enjoyment, more than anything.
In a recent interview with The TODAY Show, DeGeneres said on the matter: "We buy a house and we love it, and we stay in it. Then we get a little bored because we like a different style or different aesthetic - and I love furniture and decorating - so if I find something else, and we make money, why not move to another house?"
Advertisement
DeGeneres documented her housing journey in a book published in 2015, called "Home." She and wife Portia de Rossi have bought everything from an upscale "treehouse" to a traditional horse ranch - and loved one property so much she ended up buying it twice.
Here's a chronological guide to some of DeGeneres' coolest - and most lucrative - real estate projects since 2004.
This property in Laurel Canyon — nicknamed "The Treehouse" — has an impressive lineup of past owners. But DeGeneres started the trend in 2004, purchasing the hidden, woodsy bungalow for just over a million dollars.
This sprawling Montecito estate is Southern California at its finest — so fine, in fact, that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt bought the property from Ellen in 2007 for a whopping $20 million.
It has since become infamous for being the location of Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian's 2011 wedding. Schmidt reportedly considered selling it afterwards, as the mansion — which had been a popular wedding venue — was suddenly viewed as unlucky.
DeGeneres and de Rossi bought this estate's original property for $29 million — until they decided to merge it with three adjacent homes, nearly doubling its value.
In 2011, the DeGeneres couple made a cool million on this chic Malibu property, which was previously owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Despite its amazing amenities — including backyard beach access, a private beach cove, and a tennis court — the couple stayed there for less than a year, eventually "quietly" selling in 2012.
Located just north of Los Angeles, this 26-acre horse ranch had a rich history long before DeGeneres and De Rossi decided to call it home in 2008. Built in the 1920s as an estate for actor William Powell, the ranch, according to Vogue, was both a monastery and a rehab center in the past.
The house was a personal favorite of DeGeneres', and she told the Times blog in 2013, "I love everything Hal Levitt did. And to be in a community where people feel the same way about architecture is fantastic."
One of the DeGeneres' most successful flips to date, the Brody House in Holmby Hills, California, is nothing short of legendary.
It was built in 1949 for the wealthy, art-collecting couple Sidney and Frances Brody, who personally commissioned a Matisse for the backyard. The executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, Linda Dishman, told The New York Times it is "one of the top five homes in the city."
The couple snagged a $4 million profit from this recent, off-market sell in 2018. The rustic Santa Barbara estate is located in a notoriously pricey area — and is neighbor to Oprah Winfrey's "The Promised Land" estate.
Ultimately, Ellen DeGeneres has spent at least $145 million flipping houses — and has profited millions in return.
In her TODAY interview, DeGeneres remarked on how thankful she is that she now gets to own homes. Growing up, her family didn’t have a lot of money — which sparked a reverence for real estate in the young star.
"We lived in apartments," DeGeneres said. "We would look at houses every Sunday, we would go to open houses, but we could never afford a house. As a kid, I thought — 'That’s going to be my house.' Now, I just buy as many houses as I can."