As we heard this week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have purchased a family home in Santa Barbara, California. I’m actually kind of suspicious about the timing of the announcement – the Sussexes’ spokesperson confirmed the news on what was technically the day that Finding Freedom came out. And they released the news about the house six weeks after they moved in? It’s very curious. It’s possible that the Sussexes’ confirmation was trying to get ahead of someone tipping off Page Six. I don’t suspect a royal conspiracy on this one – I think it’s far more likely that some California real estate agent leaked something and that’s what got Page Six on the case.
As for the home itself, a lot of people are throwing out a lot of different numbers and theories. TMZ reported yesterday that the home is in Montecito, and that it’s worth about $10 million.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have left Los Angeles for greener pastures … in the lush, super-exclusive city of Montecito … and the Oprah connection seems undeniable. Montecito realtors with knowledge tell TMZ, the couple went into escrow in July and the deal closed about a week ago. We’re told they spent around $10 mil, which got them a lot more house than they’d get in L.A.
It seems Oprah may have helped guide their path. We’re told she helped put them in contact with Tyler Perry, who let them live in his Beverly Hills estate while they got their SoCal sea legs. Oprah, who has a massive, incredible estate in Montecito and clearly loves it, has a connection to Harry … they co-produced a documentary on mental health.
Montecito is a relatively small, quiet community near Santa Barbara. Interest in living there has exploded since the pandemic hit the U.S. Lots of people from L.A., Dallas and New York are picking up and moving there. Lots of celebs live in Montecito, including Ellen, Scooter Braun, Dick Wolf, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Stewart, Rob Lowe and many others.
As for Meghan and Harry, we’re told they bought a secure, gated estate. These properties have plenty of land … in some cases up to 50 acres, although most of that is hillside. But, the properties have lots of flat land, so Archie can play away.
I looked it up – Montecito actually is part of Santa Barbara County, so technically the Sussexes could have bought a property in Montecito and then just said “Santa Barbara” vaguely. Is anyone else tired of media outlets spinning conspiracies about the Oprah Connection though? My God, we get it. Meghan and Harry are “friends with Oprah!” They’re being “advised” by Oprah. They sit at Oprah’s feet and ask for her mentorship and wisdom. Or maybe they’re just friendly and Oprah was like “Montecito is really nice!”
Anyway, the British papers are still having a full-on meltdown. They were so used to gleefully ripping Harry and Meghan to shreds for Living In Tyler Perry’s Mansion, and now they’ve got a new line of attack. Plus, they get to continuously dust off the hysteria asking WHEN will Harry and Meghan “pay back” the money for Frogmore Cottage.
There were questions asked about the expense after the pair had agreed to pay £18,000 a month to repay £2.4million used to refurbish and renovate their previous Frogmore Cottage residence. Royal expert Ingrid Seward told MailOnline she understood why people were asking about the price spent on the new home.
She said: ‘I think people at this moment of time when Meghan and Harry do anything to do with money, it isn’t going to be looked at very favourably. People will not like what they do when it involves a lot of money.’
Question: how do these fussy, puckered, salty, disgusting people know that Harry and Meghan haven’t already “paid back” the cost of Frogmore Cottage? They said they would. Maybe they already did. And besides that, they shouldn’t have to pay back anything. The Queen “gave” them a decrepit little cottage with the understanding that they would restore and renovate it for modern use, and it remains part of the Windsor Castle property. What should actually happen is this: Harry and Meghan suddenly announce “actually we’re not paying back sh-t and f–k you, we’re never going back to that cottage.”
Oh, and this Page Six story broke overnight – they say that the Montecito home is nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms (which is insane), 18,000 sq. foot and that H&M paid $14, 650,000 for it. The grounds include rose gardens, a tennis court, a tea house, a children’s cottage and a pool, as well as a two-bedroom guesthouse. Sources also denied that the money for the home or down payment came from Charles: “Meghan and Harry finally feel like they are on their own, and it feels great. They bought this house without help from his family, they aren’t using it on loan from a friend as they had before. It’s truly theirs and they can’t wait to make it a home.”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I’m happy for them.
Me, too. First time home buyers–congratulations!
They choose well, I used to live in that neighborhood, mumsy still does and it’s lovely, very quiet and peaceful with really nice hiking trails above it. Remember when it got hit by floods a couple years ago? That was awful but that area can afford to rebuild. If that house wasn’t hurt then it will be fine in future rains. That year was a bad one for floods there. Montecito is one of the best places to live in SoCal for the wealthy imo because it’s more of a private small town vibe than further south.
I never understood the need to have more bathrooms than bed rooms 🤷♀️
You see it all the time in Florida especially if you have a guest house and/or proper pool house.
I mean I kinda get it to an extent. Let’s say you have a 2 story home with a basement. Ideally you’d have a powder room on the ground floor and a bathroom in the basement so that people down there don’t have to travel to another floor. Take that logic a little further, if you have a pool, well it’s nice to have a bathroom that’s accessible to the pool where you don’t have wet dripping kids running through your house getting chlorine all over. Take that logic even further, and you have a situation in a sprawling mansion where bathrooms are close to things like an arcade, a library, etc for convenience.
I’m not saying it’s not extravagant lol but I see how it spirals out of control and then suddenly you’re the crazy person with too many bathrooms.
If you have a home movie theater then there will be powder room right outside the viewing area.
@Sierra same for me! It always makes me laught when I see a place with twice as much bathroom as bedroom : why????
Inverse Versailles.
A couple of half bathrooms scattered around the first floor because its so big. A full bath in the basement. Maybe they also included the bathrooms in the guest house.
I am weird about it-I have to have enough bathrooms that no one ever needs to wait to shower or use the restroom. I grew up as an only child in a 2.5 bathroom house, but when guests came, they used my bathroom regularly and I hated it.
I believe there should be as many toilets as there are asses living in the house. But I live in a normal middle class house.
Fluffy_bunny
Exactly what I said about our house. We bought a new build and it originally had 1 full bath and 1 en suite upstairs and a WC downstairs, meaning 3 toilets.
So I had them swap the en suite one to a bidet instead as I wanted one and being only 2 of us living the house, we would only need 2 toilets.
In a perfect world everyone would have their own loo, bathroom or as I like to say, powder room : ) I especially don’t like to share them with men because, how shall I say it…splashes?
I can understand having 1-2 more (like fluffy bunny said maybe they included the guest house bathrooms, or half-baths) but having nearly twice as many really makes me chuckle…if this is even true, of course.
I suppose it would be handy if you have big parties with lots of guests, but the amount of water that would be needed would make me cringe, especially in California.
Your last sentence – so silly. Think about it. People pee. They are going to do it somewhere, and the number of times per day isn’t going to increase just because the home they are at has more bathrooms to choose from. 😆
Because the more toilets, the better, lol. Seriously though, if you have a 4 bedroom house and there are 6 or 7 people who live in the house, having 4 or 5 bathrooms is a nice perk.
But this isn’t the case with Meghan and Harry! It’s just the two of them and Archie if we are to believe in Harry’s not wanting live in help. So most of the time the three of them are rattling around with sixteen bathrooms between them. LOL.
But there’s 3 of them and 16 toilets.
But they didn’t design or build the house, lol. Also, given the house’s size, more bathrooms make sense too. If I’m in the movie room, I’m not running up to the master bedroom that’s 10 miles away because I need to pee.
Please note my house has 2 bathrooms and I desperately want a third so I’m jealous of their bathrooms, ha.
but in general I don’t know why people are so hung up on that aspect of it. In really large houses like this, it would be weirder to only have 5 bathrooms.
@Ines @Chaine I don’t think Meghan and Harry are cleaning the house themselves. They’ll have staff during the day, who will need facilities.
Also, this wasn’t a custom build. Perhaps they purchased the place due to other features besides the excessive bathrooms. 🙂
The house may be a long-term investment. I also suspect they wanted a larger house to entertain friends and Doria for more than an evening or two. I wonder if they’re planning to have fundraising dinner parties as well. Bringing people together for a greater cause or work is their thing.
Do you guys not take into consideration that they have security living with them 24/7. I’m guessing at least 3 bodyguards. It’s not just them. They also have staff.
My brother has 5 kids. They live in a 6 bedroom 9 bath house. 5 bedrooms upstairs each have their own bath, plus there’s a guest bathroom. The master suite on the first floor has its own bathroom. There’s a bathroom next to the office on that floor too . Then the media room in the basement has its own bathroom.
Some people just live more luxuriously. .
I don’t get the raised eyebrows over the number of bathrooms. In addition to the guest room suites, there are probably lavatory facilities for each activity area in the house and on the grounds. Right or wrong, this is what rich people want–convenience. And, as someone else said, the Sussexes didn’t design the home.
They will need room for staff and security and l think that they got the property for a bargain price, and when they decide to sell the price will increase because of the association with them , so they cannot lose.
The simple reason for that is that the number of bedrooms isn’t the number of rooms in the house. Just the bedrooms. There may be 5 or 6 or even 10 more rooms in the house that aren’t being counted in the number of bedrooms.
Someone on another site posted an old real estate listing on this house stating there are 12 full baths and 7 powder rooms on the complete estate. Sounds about right.
I would guess the master suite has His & Her master bathrooms.
Because of visitors and staff. Rich people entertain and do business at home, more than us.
This. My sister-in-law’s parents lived in a house like this – designed for very substantial, formal entertaining. The “small family parties” they hosted would be 50 or 60 people. I think there were 100 people there for my niece’s christening. And you never left the ground floor. There were two powder rooms off the (enormous) entry hall and another one between the kitchen and the laundry room. There was also a bathroom with a shower by the swimming pool. Every bedroom upstairs had an attached bathroom. The whole house was gorgeous, but it was all insane.
My townhome has 5 bathrooms (3 full and 2 half) and 3 bedrooms. It’s common. The article didn’t say full baths. If your home has a lot of entertaining spaces, then more bathrooms would be available for that.
Ugh the more I think about frogmore’s renovations the lore pissed off I get. I wish they wouldn’t pay it back. But also, that line about “isn’t going to be looked on favorably” who the hell cares?! Honestly, they live in the US they’re making their own future and their own living. Who cares what the firm or the courtiers or the British public think about it? They left for a reason, die mad about it.
The Daily Fail was really on fire about this yesterday. I left a couple of post and was amazed that my posts were replied to by a non-bot (probably paid posters as comments were articulate).
I have looked at this Frogmore Cottage mess from every angle with the facts that I have and I can see no legitimate reason why the Sussexes should pay for any renovations on a dwelling they have no plans to live in and cannot control the occupancy.
I apologize to my fellow CB Brits for my thoughts regarding all this but the English public in general, especially Royal watchers, seems to very unhinged on this matter.
It’s not all the English themselves at all. Most of them don’t even care about the royals and I’ve seen more support for Harry and Meghan especially since they left and many see the media agenda against the Sussexes. It’s a select loud bunch of looney tunes and a media that is vengeful. They already reported about the Frogmore payments, they’re just mad because it’s becoming clearer that their obsession isn’t coming back.
@Brit – I am so glad that the Sussexes have support in the UK and the that The Daily Fail is just blowing this out of proportion to feed their Looney Tunes reader$hip.
The RRs are pretty unhinged about all of this. Richard Eden decided to get nasty about Omid and claim he lied about his age. I mean how is that relevant? I don’t recall the authors of royal biographies getting attacked like this before (except maybe Lady Colin but she’s an actual mess).
The jealousy is palpable and childish.
“lied about his age. ”
Maybe Richard Eden attended the Donald J. Trump School of PR??? LOL!
Abusers indeed. HM have to pay back the renovations simply because a black person cannot occupy a white space fairly. He or she must be fair to the rest!
But please do not mention the treasures and jewels the white people took from their colonies.
The abusers are angry because they want to control their every move even in America. They’re just mad all their narratives and hopes and dreams aren’t coming a reality. It’s going to be a mess when that one year review comes.
I hope at the one year review they ask Harry to show up for some duties and he just gives them the card to call his agent. He offered to work for free and you threw it in his face so now you can pay for his time.
I know, right?! Who the hell cares?! Thank gosh Meghan is American and that they have this option of living far away from all that toxicity. I’m not sure wherever they formalized their agreement to repay the cost of renos of Frogmore or whatever, but I’d be having my lawyers look into whether they can walk away from that agreement. I wouldn’t be forming over any cash for a place where I effectively wasn’t allowed to live.
As if the British media has ever looked at H&M favorably.
They probably paid it off already. And I’m sure the media knows this but they need SOMETHING to attack the Sussex’s with.
H&M paying back the renovations in full right now for Frogmore Cottage makes no sense to me because they dont own it. It belongs to the state so it’s not like in a few years they can sell it and recoup the costs. The renovations to the house doesn’t increase their wealth or equity because they dont own it so it makes no sense for them to be fully on the line for it.
I think that the increased rent of 18k a month to include the home value adjusted for renovations makes sense though it does seem financially wasteful to spend that much on a place they’ve probably spent 2 weeks at in the last 10 months. I have a feeling once QEII and Phillip are gone H&M will officially get rid of Frogmore Cottage.
Exactly, those renovations increased the value of that property and many of them were necessary. Since they don’t own it whoever does can rent it out for a lot more money, but not M&H. This whole story is so bad, I don’t understand the fuss. I am an English ex-pat and nobody I know from there seemed so preoccupied with the RF, why now, or is it just the tabloids?
The Queen doesn’t own Windsor Castle or any of the buildings on the Windsor/Frogmore estate. It is all Crown Estate property and provides a number of royal residences. Frogmore Cottage was offered to the Sussexes as an alternative to a Kensington Palace apartment. The £2.4million renovation was paid from Crown Estate funds. What the Sussexes are paying is the market rent plus running costs and a monthly sum towards the refurbishment costs. This arrangement is so that they can keep the house as their UK base. If in the future they decide they don’t need it, they can stop paying the monthly sum and the house will be available as a royal residence.
They should say they will sign the check the day AFTER William pays back updates on KP and AH.
Oooooooh, Lizzie! I LOVE it!
If H & M have to pay Liz? Chuck? for the improvements to Frogmore, which was grannie’s gift to them, shouldn’t they be able to collect rent from whoever next uses it? Or do they get to keep it forever as their pied-a-terre in case they ever visit? Can they lend it to their friends to use for vacays? Maybe Oprah could stay there on her next trip to England? Or Serena?
Maybe it’s locked up tight & nobody will use it, certainly no Yorks or Cambridges.
Paying for the renos in a house somebody else now gets to use seems grossly unjust. I wish they could rent it out or do an AirBnb, just to bug their royal neighbors.
I would happily fly to the UK and shell out a shit ton of money if they rented out Frogmore on AirBnb.
Oh, they should def. rent it out!
They’ll get to use it when they visit the UK. The taboids never tak about the fact that the house needed repairs and that it was Harry and Meghan who paid for all the appliances, and to fix the grounds. If they never go back, they should get that money back.
Variety has pictures up on twitter and its GORGEOUS. the playground! the movie theater! the views!
Ingrid Sewer can jump off a cliff, honestly. People aren’t going to like what they do if it involves a lot of money?!?!? *some* british people really think they own H&M, don’t they? (I said “some” don’t @ me lol)
I think someone at Page 6 or TMZ etc figured out they were no longer at TP’s house, and has been combing real estate listings trying to figure it out, they got close, asked the Sussexes, so we got the announcement.
Also, re: Frogmore – people realize they aren’t going to see that money, right? Its not like the average person in the UK is going to get a check when they pay it back.
I don’t think they really care— it’s just something to beat them over the head with.
Yep and even then they already reported about the payments. It’s clear the outrage isn’t working.
@Becks! -You are so correct. The money is not going back to HMRC to be used for the NHS or for COVID-19 support payments. The money will go to the Crown Estates to be used on other renovation projects on other properties controlled by the Crown Estates.
I just saw the photos. WOW. That is an incredible place and it looks so private. I am super stoked for them. Living their best lives indeed!
OMG – thank you for pointing me to those pictures. It is stunning and reminds me of Andy Garcia’s house in The Book Club. Despite it’s size, it’s warm and not a cavern or musty like everything royal in the UK. I wish them and their family the best!
I would say they got a bargain because that property is breathtaking. Those grounds! Those views! The house isn’t really my taste but I’m not living there.
I’m sure the house is gorgeous and if they obviously wanted privacy with this house. What I think is a bit odd is that it’s 1.5 hours away from LA….and it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere when it comes to traveling, especially internationally. I’m kind of surprised they didn’t choose somewhere closer to LAX, but this probably means they’re going to be very selective to the places they travel to for work.
Heck, if I was in their position, this is exactly the kind of place I’d buy. Gorgeous, semi-remote and private AF.
My first thought was helicopter. I wonder if that’s their plan or if they just fell in love with the house and property and decided to go for it and figure the rest out later.
Vertes, JFK honeymooned at San Ysidro Ranch, a beautiful hotel, which is in Montecito. I got married there many years ago.
No helicopter pads allowed in Montecito.
Santa Barbara has its own airport you know. (From the looks of it, it’s kinda like Burbank Airport, a small airport I would fly out of instead of LAX when I could). They can fly out of there and get a connecting flight at a larger airport (and not necessarily LAX – my connecting from Burbank, if I had one, was usually in O’Hare) if they have to fly overseas or something.
And I wouldn’t call that area the middle of nowhere at all. It has its own thing going on, plus the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is there, so there is definitely a college scene going on there as well.
Santa Barbara airport also seems to have regular flights down to LA or up to San Fransisco for commuters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara_Municipal_Airport
Alaska Air has non-stops from Santa Barbara to San Diego & United goes to San Francisco. There’s no particular reason why they need to go to LA for anything. Santa Barbara is a beautiful community with lovely shops, restaurants, etc. Julia Child lived there.
It’s also near Ojai, where JFK honeymooned. Plenty of vineyards & wineries around too.
We use that airport a fair amount (pre covid). It’s a bit of a hassle to coordinate flights out of lax with flights leaving SB. We usually drive to LAX if we’re flying internationally. They will probably fly private out of that airport so I’m not to worried about them. It’s a supercool airport- Spanish style and very uncrowded.
Not really. Santa Barbara has its own airport. So they can fly anywhere. It’s about a 90 minute drive from LA. Considering the number of celebrities and media moguls that live there, it’s clearly accessible enough to commute in when necessary.
Santa Barbara is a beautiful, well-established community with endless amenities including its own good sized airport. Residents are obviously wealthy, businesses and services are there to accommodate them.
Variety is saying the house was actually $14.7m, and they put $5m down, leaving them with a $9.5m mortgage. They got the info from public records: https://tinyurl.com/y4uk8fw3
Which means it was likely appraised at 9.5 or 10 mill, making it as Kaiser said, a $10 million home.
That’s not how it works… nobody is paying $5 million extra.
Yeah, uh, what @Gina said. No one is paying $5m extra.
It says right in the Variety headline as well as the article: the house’s total worth is $14.7m. That was the value when they purchased it with $5m down (meaning the paid $5m up front) and will pay the remaining $9.5m via a mortgage. That’s $14.5m total.
That house looks amazing.
Thanks for posting that link! Lovely place and the grounds look amazing!
Just googled the house and it’s 2.5 miles from where I live. Looks like they have some oceans views which is great.
Lucky you!!…..You are practically neighbours…2.5 miles is nothing.
First of all – so jelly you live in such a gorgeous area and second of all you are practically neighbors!! So cool!
I saw the house online and it was bought for $25 million dollars originally by a wealthy Russian who sold it at a great loss but put a lot of money into the property.The estate has the most amazing grounds and a fireplace in practically every room. They got a great deal actually, the house is beautiful and very private. Montecito is exactly the kind of place a prince would live in if he had to live in America. Haters are going to hate. I know the Royals and British press have been throwing H&M under the rug now for years because of the race issue and to deflect the fact that the Queen’s son is a pedo with ties to child sex trafficking. THAT for some reason they seem to forget and have no comment on.
Gorgeous!
This makes Anmer Hall look like a shithole. The RRs and Cambridges are so mad that H&M can buy nice things for themselves, so they will harp on the Frogmore renos to make a point and do anything to put them at a financial disadvantage.
Let’s not drag innocent architecture into this! As much as I think its a fine home for the couple and a seemingly sensible choice, an 1800s English manor compared to an aughts mcmansion? Well, to each their own I guess.
The British royal reporters want a homeless, lonely, divorced Harry to come crawling back to them, holding his hat in his hand. It’s not going to happen.
How hard must Harry laugh at those reports? He is living a DREAM life. Anyone who had a job go to sh!t then leave to go out on thier own would laugh at the idea of returning. William is green with envy that Harry is is own boss.
I agree, the British tabloids wish that for Harry. I doubt that would happen even if the marriage fails. I don’t see him returning to being a senior royal/ royal work even then, I think he would continue his private philanthropic work as there would be fewer restrictions.
As for he and Meghan I think they will both, with time and people realizing their value and appreciating their work, will spend more time in Britain especially when his father becomes king. I think his father appreciates what they bring to the table even as unofficial royals (worldwide popularity, serious philanthropic credentials) and will want that help.
The ratio of 9 bedrooms with 16 bathrooms doesn’t even make sense. That’s 9 en-suites plus and extra 7 bathrooms just randomly throughout the house?
They have a library, gym, wine cellar, movie theater etc., I can see how they ended up with 16 bathrooms.
I would say there are at least 3 powder rooms, an additional two bathrooms in the pool house if they have one, at least one full bath plus one powder room in the guest house. If there are service quarters for live-in staff then this would account for another powder room and full bath. There also may be a bath with shower only off the garage (A mud room) for outdoor staff usage. This type of bedroom-bathroom ratio is very common in large Florida estate houses.
Factor in that this home will function as “action central” for their foundation. They’ll probably have at least a dozen daily staff and need a huge amount of entertainment space to accommodate fund-raising events, etc.
I wonder what else they had to possibly pay back, does anyone know if she gets to keep her ‘royal wardrobe’?
Is she supposed to donate her clothes to goodwill?
Errmm no bit because they have been so harsh and petty I was wondering whether she keeps them or they havemade up another new rule for her.
I would have boxed up all the clothes and sent them Kate with a very nice note.
I would have tossed those clothes over the gate at BP on my way to the airport! But I am petty, lol.
Harry and Meghan will be spending time in the U.K. They will attend events in the U.K. They will be seen in public with other members of the RF. The RF knows that they are the stars of the family and that pushing them out was a huge mistake, and as the years pass the mistake will be more evident. William is a silly fool and anyone can see through the new found faux warmth between Charles and William. Charles definitely prefers the Sussexes but everyone has to keep Willnot happy and prevent him throwing his toys out of the pram.
I wonder if it’s really finally going to sink in to the haters, courtiers and BM that Harry and Meghan aren’t returning 😂. They bought a home and lived in for 6 weeks before anyone found out and they were still complaining about Tyler’s mansion. Good for them and they’re already making payments to Frogmore. This is has been a bad week for everyone excluding Harry/Meghan because everything has blown up and reality is setting in. No more access, no more fashions, no more leaks, no more international gigs and they’re still getting SUED. They’re going to be angry for many many years to come.
I am not saying they will definitely return but nobody can see into the future. I have a hunch that they may still undertake some official royal duties.
The pictures are GORGEOUS! I love the landscape and Archie has a whole playground to himself. I think TMZ said drone shots will be difficult because of all the trees which I’m sure was a factor for them when buying the home. The whole area seems extremely private. I hope they have many happy years there! Charles should pay for Frogmore if anything.
The landscape and the terraces/pergolas are gorgeous! I’m not that keen on the looks of the interiors (a fireplace in the bathroom?) but I come from a country with an architectural tradition with a VERY different aesthetic, which is partly rooted in climate (mostly cold and damp – though that is changing, we’re in the middle of an intense heatwave now and your buildings aren’t designed for it at all).
I do think having a gym, a movie theater, a library and a wine cellar is awesome and I would love to have that if I had the means. Honestly, I would love to be able to buy a modest home and move out of my tiny apartment sandwiched between two horrible neighbours – a couple of aggressive drunks and a mentally ill man who yells and kicks at his walls for hours on end. It has become incredibly stress just to be in my home.
I’m obsessed with having a fireplace in the bathroom. I saw one in the house in AHS: Coven and it’s been my goal ever since. I don’t know how practical it is, especially because I don’t live in a cold climate and will never really need both a fireplace + hot bath for warmth. But it just seems like it would be so cozy.
We all have our preferences and dreams. I, for one, would absolutely love to have a library! I have always loved libraries and I have too many books for the space I actually have. 😉
Based on when the house was built, the developer probably threw everything in there. I know a few people who develop and flip high end houses, and they put fireplaces in master bedroom, and some in master baths as well. They all have those massive 8 burner chefs stoves, and as many bathrooms as they can squeeze in. Also putting in 2 laundry rooms, upstairs and downstairs is common, as well as extra dishwashers. It’s more house than most of us need, but there is a market for it. In H&Ms case, that property makes a lot of sense,especially considering the amount of stalking and media attention they get.
I always wanted to have two dishwashers in my house: one dishwasher for the clean dishes and one dishwasher for the dirty dishes!!!!
I would like ocean views, a nice infinity pool, big master, nice kitchen, and an indoor slide or pool slide. Yah I’m easy.
I don’t want seafront, ocean views are good enough thank you.
Art Historian- I agree, the interiors were incredibly disappointing.
I’m so sorry that you have such terrible neighbors. There are some actions you can take to reduce noise- like cloth wallpaper, placing carpets on hardwood floors, incorporating a lot of clutter into your decorating style (the more fabric the better), and playing soothing music for yourself. I’m guessing with your vocation that you’ve tried or considered all of these? Is there nothing the landlord or legal authorities can do?
No Charles should not pay for Frogmore Cottage!!!!! The renovations are still at Frogmore Cottage as the renovations did not travel to Hollywood and stay with Tyler Perry’s house.
QEII needs to rent it out, allow some other Royal to live there or use it to house Windsor Castle staff.
H&M are (reportedly) making monthly payments on the cottage; they paid for all of the interior fixtures and furnishings – they paid for the all the work that wasn’t already scheduled to be done to the building (which the crown was going to have to have done anyway since they let an historic building almost collapse). Why should anyone else but H&M live there? It’s nonsense that they should have to pay for necessary building renovations when they don’t own the property, but they agreed to do so anyway. Why isn’t that enough? It’s certainly more than anyone else in the RF has done.
I do not think Meghan and Harry are ever coming back for a long term stay.
If I understand the “gift from the queen” business correctly, the Sussexes have no control over occupancy of Frogmore Cottage; meaning they cannot not rent it out or allow friends to say there if they are not in residence,
They’ll be back to work with their patronages. Travelyst is based in the UK. Doesn’t matter how many days a year they are in the UK, they’ll need a private place to stay. It’s literally full of stuff they paid for, they’ve agreed to pay a monthly fee for the place. Nobody else should be able to use it at this point – especially if they are going to the trouble to pay back the money that would have been spent on the building whether they moved into it or not.
So, check it, Royal Homes and Variety did the research and they got it at a HUGE discount.
The house was originally bought in 2009 for $25 million. Then, in 2015 it was put on the market for $34 million. They couldn’t sell it, so the price kept dropping. It had dropped to a little under $17 million but Harry and Meghan bought it for $14.7 million under an LLC connected to Meghan’s business manager. They secured a mortgage for $9.5 million.
Variety has the pictures and the place is STUNNING. There is even a PLAYGROUND for Archie! Also very private and secure.
Was going to say that is a lot of house and land for just $15M. Sister lives in Palo Alto, I live in DC, $15M is a great deal for everything the house offers. An even better deal if it came pre-furnished. And they probably got a great interest rate on the loan, what with the Fed at near zero interest rates.
Likewise, know people in northern and southern CA, agree that’s a great deal for $15M. I’m curious why the owner had trouble selling it. A $35M price tag was overly optimistic, but you’d think in the $20M or so range it would be extremely attractive, especially given the location.
Could have been affected by mudslides which brought prices down in montecito for awhile. Any property located near the creeks that come down from the hillside can he in high risk zones. But that was a one in 500 year disaster so hopefully montecito will be fine for awhile. They’re now going back up because everyone wants to move there and work remotely away from big cities.
Interesting, thank you. Saw on the Luxatic site someone linked above that the original listing price circa 2015 was actually $49.5M, which seems ridiculous. Perhaps by the time the price dropped to a more realistic number, the mudslides hit, and people were leery of buying in the area.
Still, that’s a $35M difference between the original asking price and what Harry & Meghan paid. The pictures circulating seem to be the ones from 2015, so I wonder if you’re right, and it was affected by mudslides. Or could be after 5 years (and with the current Covid economy) the owner just needed to get out from under. In any event, I’m sure Harry & Meghan did their research, and even if some work is required, it still seems like a great deal and worth it for a place they plan to stay in long term.
Seems like a dream house. Im so happy for them. Living the good life with no constraints. Way more better than any palace or title in the Uk.
I had the feeling they would not have accepted any help from Charles because they knew exactly what the Press would say.
and also, because the right answer for Clarence House when asked if it was the case that Charles had bought for them would have been ” the Prince was delighted to have helped his youngest son, his grandson and his daughter in law purchase a new home as he had financially helped his older son before in much the same way. No taxpayer money was used in the transaction.” instead of a ” no comment.”
Clarence House’s official line is no comment but yesterday, royal sources were saying that Charles was helping Harry and Meghan pay for for their house. Later on the Telegraph reported that Charles was not helping they pay for it. He’s also not paying for their security but he has sources telling the media that he’s helping them financially.
Why all this double talk and contradicting leaks? It is not making the future Charles III look good.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they have already paid back the money for Frogmore. However, it would be in the Palace’s best interest to let people think that they have not paid back the money so that the media would have something to talk about and distract them from other stories, like Andrew. Remember, the Palace let the media speculate for months about the use of Sussex Royal when it was already agreed in January that Harry and Meghan would no longer use it.
Frogmore is neither tiny nor derelict.
Compared to the other royal residences, it is very small.
It was so derelict that it needed millions in repair work before it was even habitable – which is what was budgeted before it was “gifted” to the newlyweds by the queen.
Frogmore was fairly run down, and divided into apartments, so need to be turned back into a home. It’s a decent size but compared to the other royal residences the Queens family live in, it’s small. I’m sure it’s lovely inside after renovations but it’s not palatial like the piles the Queens kids live in. I think with this home purchase, Frogmore is now a nice base near London/Heathrow. They’ll probably expand their real estate portfolio in the next few years.
why are people so obsessed with the Sussexes finances? we saw the same thing with the Obamas…………ENOUGH!
Is it jealousy/envy? with so many problem going on in the world right now, who cares where they live? why don’t they complain about where the others live?
My goodness, it must be tiring for H&M; to always be afraid that someone will leak your business to the tabloids! it must be bloody dam tiring!!!!
jealousy and envy. And outrage at the thought of black people having nice things. Funny how nobody cares a bit about Pedo Andy’s royal spread that he “rents” from the Crown cheap.
Black people aren’t allow to have nice things (and definitely not nicer than the average white person!), don’tcha know??
I know you are right; it is just infuriating to have people speculate about the Sussexes finances; they have left the UK; why not focus on the other royals? weren’t they supposed to be more important than H&M?
It is like the boyfriend you broke up but who keeps telling you that he is over you and doesn’t care about you but continues to check on what you are doing!
The Sussexes are gone; they said no to the tiaras; why aren’t people happy about it? my goodness, they get all the attention because people can’t stop talking about them!
Yep. EXACTLY THIS. Pathetic.
@Royalwatcher…well said! 😆
Exactly this. Just the other day, I saw some bitter post about the Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard place. They were outraged that Tyler Perry has an $18Mil mansion. They’re always obsessed with the finances or the things of people of color. No one cares about the amount of real estate or value of property the other Royals, or former presidents own.
Seriously. But it’s fine for Donald and Melania to have their gold plated bathrooms and sh!t. Please.
They deserve so much mockery- I wish someone would tell them that an 18 million house is modest for the fortune Tyler Perry has earned.
Gorgeous home and grounds. Now Eff off BM! Leave them alone. They aren’t coming back.
The Daily Fail generated 15K comment$ in 14 hours with their $tory on the Montecito Hou$e. The British Tabloid media is not going to leave the Sussexes alone anytime soon.
Ugh. I know.
After seeing the stunning photos, I suspect Will and Kate will do an about-face and decide they need to patch things up with Harry and Megs. They will keenly arrange a foreign tour to America to get in on that sunny California lifestyle under the guise of the cousins needing to bond with Archie.
The gardens are fabulous, and I imagine Oprah steered them to her very discreet realtor, who wouldn’t say a peep for fear of losing Oprah’s favor and commissions. From what I’ve read, there are so many celebs in the area and the paparazzi get squashed if they come anywhere near them.
I’m looking at the pictures again now and man….I would take this house any day over Anmer or even Sandringham, lol. (I would keep Balmoral though, I like the idea of having a Scottish castle for a summer home.)
That was my thought too, petty as it may be. This makes Amner Hall look like a shack…
Anmer always looked “off” to me architecturally. There are so many charming homes and estates in England, but Anmer’s exterior looks like a basic McMansion that you’d see here in the states.
Will and Kate are probably very envious of all the patios at Harry’s new place; we all know how much they love to sun themselves outside.
This house puts Anmer to shame. Wow. It’s so vibrant and lush.
I am sure Andrew is shitting bricks being that he defaulted on the mortgage of his house in Switzerland.
I generally prefer contemporary design,but also like mid century/craftsman but for that area, the design of the house is perfect for the area. I visited Santa Barbara a few years ago and seriously, would move there in a heartbeat if it made sense for my life ( it doesn’t). It definitely has a wealthy vibe, and can tell there’s a lot of money here, but it’s also a college town with UCSB, so it has a fun vibe and nightlife as well. It’s really not that far from LA.
They have a rose garden—William will definitely want to check that out.
Well played! I think you just won the comment of the day!
Oh my, now my filthy mind has the image of William actually “fertilizing” the rose bushes!
hahaha..he’ll be coming (over)
Morrigan mentioned public records search. Once the area where they purchased was known it was easy to find the home. Oprah has three homes in Montecito, beautiful and exclusive area. Mudslides and fire in the area in 2018. I love my California but, yes here comes the but, raging fires and earthquake activity is the norm. I have no doubt they’ll be happy in the area, beaches, mountains, boating, boardwalks, hiking. Hoping we see baby number two on the way before long.
I would looove to live there. What a beautiful house!
How do we know what they paid for, and why is Ingrid Seaward spewing bullshit? Is it her money? How much do all the huge Palaces the other royals live in cost? Ingrid, and Daily Mail; ‘Take the log from your eye, before you come and remove the lint in mine’. They thought H&M, would be destitute, but much to their disappointment, it is not happening, I have never come across a country, full of envious people like England, I am embarassed to be born here.
When property is purchased, how much it is purchased for becomes public record. The same goes for when the name on the Grant Deed of a property changes if a person is gifted a property, or if you file for probate and property is involved wrt the probate.
All that info becomes public record that anyone can look up.
Ingrid Seaward spewing bullshit because she’s full of it. So it’s all she can do.
LMAO 16 bathrooms. Just what ???
And now I want to play the Sims and built a giant home again lol
I’m in Orange county. IF this is the property, it’s been on the internet (and Pinterest boards) since at least 2015. Called the Chateau of Riven Rock, it was listed at 49.5M, then 34.5M. So If M&H purchased this property it for 18M-or less, they did great! Hope it’s true.
Shit! You’re right!!! I found it!!
https://luxatic.com/the-chateau-of-riven-rock-is-a-true-montecito-wonder/
Wow I thought Archie just had a playground but there’s a children’s house too 😳 Archie needs a playmate!
Thank you for sharing! What a beautiful property.
Ooooh, thank you for finding this! The Variety article didn’t have pictures of the kitchen, which is what I always love to see. Meg is going to lose her mind being able to cook in such a glorious space! Archie is going to have such a beautiful childhood growing up there. And any siblings, of course! I don’t see that furniture as being reflective of their taste, if they bought it furnished, but that’s a huge house to fill, so I’m sure Meghan will put her own stamp on it gradually as she turns it into a home. I am so happy for them! Take that, haters! They are never going back to the UK permanently. You don’t buy a property like this if it’s temporary.
Thank you Snuffles! I loved seeing more of it.
That place is gorgeous. They really lucked out getting it at that price. I hope they have many years of happiness there.
And on top of all of that luxury and sun…it also has a tennis court. Ha-ha, Kate.
Sorry, I am feeling very salty towards the RF right now, particularly W&K.
It’s a gorgeous house. Love the Spanish Mediterranean look. Probably included some of the furniture with the sale. I don’t like the fusty staging decor, but I’m sure they’ll incorporate their own style and decor into it.
Link was taken down, so that’s the place!
The link is gone from half a dozen different sites. It’s still on Evil Beet, but it probably won’t be for much longer. They seem to be scrubbing the pictures of the house, my guess is for security.
The fact that the BM are bitching about this is hysterical. It doesn’t cost the taxpayers a single cent, no money from Charles ( they have a mortgage) but they are still having meltdowns. They want them to live in a box by the side of the road. They want them struggling so they will beg and plead to come back. They hate that they are thriving and showing that life outside the royal bubble is pretty sweet.
I think it’s hilarious how salty the Rota is about this house purchase. They were caught flat footed and look like idiots. They really are out of the loop. All this time they’re moaning about Tyler Perry’s house and they’ve been soaking up the sun in Santa Barbara in their own home, putting down roots. I noticed that at the Travalyst conference, Harry was in a new location with lots of trees and coastal fog, but didn’t make the connection.
They deserve to be safe & happy. Full stop.
All these haters are salty they have to live in drafty old ass palaces covered with portraits of dead people, or in dreary old England, while these two are living it up in a Cali mansion.
Wow, I live in the UK. Stereotype much? Goodness.
Dreary old England? Oh my!
England is a beautiful country. You can wish Harry and Meghan happiness without insulting an entire nation. As lovely as California is, they will also get to deal with wild fires, earthquakes, landslides etc. Those aren’t bonuses, whether you live in a mega mansion or not.
It’s called “History”, Helen.
American here, but I love the portraits of my ancestors. I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for them, and they remind me that I belong, that I’m always part of something. Empires rise and fall, but the family lasts forever.
I’m guessing that Helen was referring to the dreary microculture that Harry and Meghan fled when she said ‘dreary England,’ but can’t be certain.
A question for real estate people–what issues could cause a house to be on the market for so long and drop so significantly in price. There was a beautiful, newly renovated house in my old town that was on the market for years, I never understood that.
I’m not a real estate person, but I’ve been dealing with some real estate issues for a few months now, and have discovered some things wrt the question you asked:
Sometimes a house will not sell because there is something not-so-pleasant that happened in the house. Take for example the house Sharon Tate and her friends was murdered in by the Manson Family. NO ONE wanted to buy that house for YEARS after the murder happened. One person, a musician, finally did in the 90s or something. Sharon Tate’s sister confronted him about why he bought the house (I think he’d said in an interview the event gave the house character or something), and he ended up selling it back to a realtor a few years later. It was finally just torn down.
You also have to disclose if a house might be considered “haunted.” That will also keep many people away from buying it.
Also, the house can look beautiful on the outside, but the inside of the house can maybe be not all its cracked up to be, and people don’t want to put in the work to fix it up. They just want a house they don’t have to put much work into when the purchase it.
Maybe It’s haunted!
Not a realtor, but I have invested in property before and huge price drops on property could be due to incorrect pricing in the first place. It’s odd but if you come out of the gate pricing too high and don’t get it and the property stays on the market, you end up getting less than those who priced it more accurately. I think consumers are just thinking something is wrong with a property which has been on the market too soon. Also, very few people can wait a long time for their property to sell. At some point even those who can wait are done with it and they drop the price dramatically to get rid of it. Which sounds like what happened to house you are talking about or conversely it could be haunted!
Probably priced right before the 2008 financial collapse. We moved to SB in 2010 and lots of houses were still overpriced. Stuff in that really high bracket also tends to sit a lot longer and after the mudslides people freaked out. Now everyone wants to move to Montecito/SB a to get out of LA and feel safer. And with remote work, I’m meeting people moving here from all over the country…
Some of y’all clearly don’t get the concept of half baths/powder rooms lol. Completely normal thing here in Florida.
If I had a house that size I would want one near the gym, library, pool, playground, tennis court, tea house, game room, theater. I suppose some of spaces could share one, but you still need a powder room by the main entrance.
Montecito is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It would be a dream to live there.
So this might be a silly question, but when these houses are purchased, are they fully furnished?
I doubt it. Lots of money flows into Southern California from (pre-Covid) overseas buyers, as well.
Just an educated guess. Most houses like this get staged with furniture so the home buyer can picture themselves in it. It’s quite possible that they agreed to keep all the furniture so they can move in immediately and just redecorate later to their personal tastes.
Sometimes the previous owner throws it in. In my paltry little townhome, the previous owner let me keep all of the appliances and a big screen TV as a part of the price.
Didn’t they say they didn’t want any live-in help? How are they going to manage without, in a property that size? And before you jump on me, I’m not throwing shade. I grew up in a much smaller house than theirs (5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, family of 7) in South America and my mum had a live-in gardener, a-live in maid, and both a cook and a maid who went home in the evenings.
I’ve since moved to the UK and keep seeing posts on Facebook from my former school friends asking if anybody knows of a good live-in maid, lol, life is certainly different in the UK!
Anyway, yes, I think they will for sure need live-in help.
They don’t need gardeners and maids to live there. They can come in, do their job and go home.
Yeah, this.
I mean, maybe I just haven’t looked close enough, but I don’t know any wealthy people in the US who employ live-in help. They’ll have gardeners, maids, housekeepers, nannies even. But they don’t live with the family. They come to the house, do their job for however many hours they are needed, and then leave.
I mean, I’ve been racking my brain and the ONLY people I can think who ever have live-in help and staff are . . . The President of the United States and Governors of States. And *that* is because the President and the Governor of a State all live in Executive Mansions, not their own private houses. And even now I’m kinda thinking, the staff of those places don’t have live-in staff, but they DO have night-shift staff.
Does anyone know of any wealthy Americans in the US who have live-in staff? IS that even a thing here?
Well, yes, I think so. Not in my circles, lol, but I went to college with a lot of rich people and a lot of them had live-in help growing up – not a ton like the royals have, but live-in housekeepers were pretty common. And obviously live-in nannies when they were younger.
@morrigan01 – Yes I know a several people in Florida that have live-in help but the live-in help are either custodial care home healthcare workers or nannies/governesses not chefs, cleaners, drivers, secretaries or gardeners
In a city very expensive like London or San Francisco you get a better quality person if live-in room & board are included as part of salary. Most domestic staff (not chefs) cannot afford to live in an expensive city (again London or San Francisco) on domestic service wages.
Or you could be a retired school teacher or graduate student working as a paid companion (dresser, secretary, driver and etc…) working for widowed Mrs. Alfred Moneybags the American sister-in-law of Duchess Rootintuttin von Moneybags. I have met several of these in Florida.
@Becks1 and @BayTampaBay Yeah, okay, nannies, housekeepers, and of course live-in home health aids. Makes sense.
And yeah I guess there are a lot of old money New England families that have that kind of live-in help too. Didn’t think of that. Plus the cost of living in places like New York and San Francisco would likely call for such things too, great point.
True. A former college roommates mother was a housekeeper for a celebrity living up by that area. Most “help” in this area tends to be Hispanic. They live in the Santa Maria/Oxnard area or Ventura and commute to the estates, do their business, and then go home.
Live-in isn’t really “done” much in SoCal. I went to school in BH. Most house and landscaping staff were day workers.
Under-paid independent contracting day workers with no benefits.
The few “live-in” staff that I have known about tend to be nannies for the wealthy, mostly Iranian/Persian families in the BH area or elderly caretakers for white wealthy seniors – again in the BH/Palisades/Brentwood area.
Live-in staff for (non-Persian) families, not so much.
I don’t think they said that, I think a “source” said they would have a lot of live in help.
Looks like the property has spaces for staff to live on the property, but not necessarily in the family home.
It’s beautiful I love the grounds. The cost of $15M sounds very reasonable (and a great investment) considering what they got – wonder why the house didn’t get bought earlier by one of the oodles of millionaires in LA.
OMG that house is hideous! It’s like a faux castle winery.
I like the actual structure itself, but some of the interior rooms are dark, with too much heavy stone. It’s very much in the style of that area. Would redo the theatre and game room, and lighten up some of the walls.
I would *eliminate* the theater and game room, replacing them with a nursery/playroom and a library. Have a small TV room somewhere out of the way and *possibly* a pool table in the general bar area, depending on how large and inviting the space was. And books and music everywhere.
Darker rooms can be nice, depending on their use- but they are absolutely necessary for the best preservation of antiques and art.
Damn! I hope they enjoy it! Especially that playground which will be super fun for Archie and his siblings!
I’m not sure it was realtor, but six weeks is about the time real estate sales become public. Real estate transactions in the US are available to the public. Not sure about California, but on the east coast a lot of transactions can be found on the internet. It used to be a bit faster, but with Covid that timeline seems right.
Still hope they love it. The Santa Barbara area is beautiful, and I agree not sure why all these houses have double the bathrooms, obviously owners aren’t cleaning them or there wouldn’t be so many.
Ha! Ha! Ha! I should never have been drinking coffee when I read your write-up. I laughed so hard at your comment – “actually we’re not paying back sh-t and f–k you, we’re never going back to that cottage.” I spilled coffee all over me when I read this. I would soooooooooooooo love Harry and Meghan to just write off Britain forever. LOL. I would love them to say, “We’re not paying back sh-t.” After all, why should they? I love when the Brits say they’re money-hungry. LOL. Wow – if they were money hungry, they would have stayed at the palace. I just wish Meghan and Harry all the best in their new lives.
If they got the house and property for $9.5mil ( according to Variety), that is an amazing bargain! They have privacy, security, space, and that estate is gorgeous. Where I live, avg. 2bd condo can start $1.2mil at about 1300sq.ft. , and 2k sq.ft single family homes about $2.3 mil, in what used to be middle class neighborhoods in the city, and they rarely go below asking. At this point the tabloids need to take several seats. Their finances are no longer their concern and they took out a mortgage and will pay property taxes like we all do. Did they really expect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to live in a 3bd bungalow off the freeway or something? Also, why so obsessed with plumbing? The bathrooms are probably one for each bedroom, gym, guest house, pool house, as well as powder rooms. They should never have had to pay anything back on Frogmore if it was a gift in the first place. They go nuts every time the Sussexes say or do anything. Hope they can start to feel properly settled and get on with their lives.
In Toronto you are lucky to get a detached home for 1 million and it’s probably a shack that needs a lot of repairs. Sad but true.
I read from a few sites the price was 14.5 million and the loan was 9.5 million. I think that scenario is more likely based on the size, location and amenities with the home. Otherwise they got a steal, which is possible too. Just feel like it’s a bit more likely with the higher price.
Now as far as the plumbing is concerned, I just think people are surprised a bit about the bathrooms. As it really is the luxury market on those kind of things. Yes there is still the racist crap about them not “deserving” a nice home, but people interested in high priced luxury homes that most will never own, isn’t new and is a huge part of people’s comments. I admit I was excited to see a few pictures of it as I am with all high end houses. I’m excited for them too. Imagine the first home you buy is 10-14.5 million dollars. Wow that’s crazy to just think. I thought that about Kylie Jenner and her house was like 2 million dollars and she was just a legal adult..
Kylie Jenner’s most recent house is $30 mil and it is spectacular. Not to everyone’s taste but interesting design. She’s not even 25 yet.
Montecito is a weird hybrid of being part of Santa Barbara city and county. The main shopping area-Coast Village Road is part of the city-residential parts are county. Needless to say it’s right next to SB city. I live in the hills above downtown (area called the Riviera) and I go to montecito constantly-it’s a 10 minute drive. My husband is paddle surfing in Montecito right now. It’s all connected.
Tying together another exciting current event, Kamala Harris and her husband got married in Santa Barbara at the SB courthouse, a building that the American Institute of Architects called the most beautiful building in the country. It’s stunning inside and out.
It’s almost as if Montecito were just a neighborhood rather than a separate municipality. My parents live in Mission Canyon — an area of SB which is adjacent to Montecito and they are on the border. It’s so beautiful and peaceful up there. And with respect to the comment above about earthquakes and fires— I’ve lived in LA for 30 years and beyond feeling them , which is unsettling, they’ve had no impact on my life and same with my parents in SB. Fire is another story. We’ve (my sibs and I) evacuated them 3 times in the last 10 years. With respect to distance, we go up there all the time and going to and from LA is no big deal.
Yeah, I’ve been in two massive earthquakes-LA in 1971 and Bay Area in 1989. Neither were a problem, I lived in Silverlake hills and my parents house was fine. Same with our house in Menlo Park. The fires are a whole different thing. Thomas Fire was a nightmare-we had to evacuate for weeks because of air quality and then the mudslide was heartbreaking. Mission canyon has definitely been in the middle of the last three fires. We’re on lower Riviera and our home owners insurance just got cancelled because of fire. Anyway, I lived back east for awhile and I’ll take all this over snow and ice and thunderstorms and humidity and hurricanes. 🙂
We natives CA people get to a point with earthquakes that we’ll guess richter scale magnitudes when one hits, but wont move or panic during the actual shaking (unless it gets really big and goes on for a long time).
There are more earthquakes that I haven’t moved or even gotten out of bed for than not.
The worst wildfire I’ve been in is the Station Fire in 2009. I’d been close to wildfires near my house before, but *that* one actually scared me the fire was so intense. I can’t even imagine what being though the Thomas Fire was like, as I know it was way worse than the Station Fire, plus the mudslides on top of it.
I agree @morrigan01. I was already awake for the earthquake a few weeks ago but did not get out of bed. Waaaay too small to bother. The mudslides after the Thomas fire were heartbreakingly destructive. It was incredible to see the aftermath. I’d never seen such destruction. The watermark on houses was waist deep and higher. It was awful.
Each room will have its own bathroom. Then powder rooms scattered all over. Super common in sprawling estates. I mean, who cares. They didn’t custom build the home. The funny thing is it would use my entire bulk sized TP in just putting 3 rolls in each bathroom, including the one on the holder! 😂
I’m happy for them and I hope they get the privacy they deserve. I hope that they aren’t flying drones and choppers over their home for pics. I wouldn’t trade any amount of money for their lack of privacy.
Im really happy for them. I highly doubt its as extravagant as Page Six likes to paint it hut Im also sure it a big beautiful house.
Beautiful home and grounds. It’s up against the foothills which personally I like. Great for both privacy and entertaining. Just checked, lots of hiking trails, see Tangerine Falls. I’m happy they are happy and in Southern California.
Hey Ingrid are you concerned about the other houses upkeep?
It’s a really pretty house!
I always wondered if owners of such large houses really use all of the space or have a few favourite spots and forget that they even have a North Wing and a Japanese garden or something.
I am laughing so hard at the bathroom saga. All I can say is I was an acquaintance with a very wealthy ceo with numerous homes. His main home in Florida was built wth all masters-maybe 8 or 9 bedrooms & each with ensuite bathrooms. So that makes 9 baths. If you add 2 in the guest house, one each in the poolhouse, game room, gym, 1 each near home office, kitchen, basement and guardhouse. it’s easy to get to another 9. That makes 18.
Such a gorgeous home! I’d love to see how Meghan decorates and any upgrades they make. Crossing my fingers for an Architectural Digest spread in a few years, because I love Meghan’s style.
Oh yeah this would be very cool! I would love for Meghan to give a video tour of the house for AD or Vogue (or Teen Vogue!).
Congratulations to them both! I’m so delighted for them. I hope they have the best, BEST life there. They deserve that beauty, tranquility, security and peace.
If I were H&M, I’d agree to finish ‘paying off’ Frogmore once Andy was stripped of his military honours.
That pink princess room is going to generate “they are having a girl stories” in the DM for years.
I don’t understand the hang up about bathrooms. It’s a large property, if it were an office building that size you wouldn’t expect only 1 or 2 bathrooms in the middle of it.
I hope they have a lifetime of happiness and health in their home.
I don’t get the issue with the bathrooms either. Also, I’m sure they’re going to be entertaining and having large parties. I assume you’d want several guest bathrooms for that alone.
Yeah, most mansions have a lot of bathrooms so this isn’t anything crazy. I always assumed it was for convenience/ease of access with the amount of space and rooms these homes have.
I don’t even think it was necessarily the Oprah connection.
If you want to move to LA right now and are affluent there are only so many options where you get the houses of size you want, as much land you want (this is a biggie), and in this case it seems a quieter, residential more spread-out neighborhood was wanted.
In opposition to the the tighter neighborhoods in more traditional affluent spots that are way too close to LA than M&H likely wanted and much busier places like Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills. All of those are where paparazzi are always around too.
That left 2 neighborhoods, IMO. Montecito and Calabasas. (I thought maybe Malibu too, but that’s again still too on the press radar, very tight properties.) But Calabasas is closer to LA and the press. Plus it’s gotten a little higher profile/more visitors since the Kardashians came around and put it on TV.
So Montecito is a logical choice on its own. Which seems more their pace and is also more like the large landed, ritzy British country estates Harry grew up on than perhaps anywhere else in the general LA realm.
Yeah, definitely will be able to avoid paparazzi much more in Montecito. It’s very private and it’s much more old money and dotted with beautiful estates that were built in the early 1900’s by east coast family’s coming to winter here. Calabasas is nouveau LA money and barely existed until the late 70’s/early 80’s when families started exiting LA and new devolpments started springing up in areas that had been completely rural. Also hot as blazes in the summer.
I thought that area was kind of the Nancy and Ronald Reagan old money republican area? I get there are some celebrities there but it seems kind of sedate for a young couple like H&M. Not that they are club goers or anything.
SB and Montecito are very liberal with some few exceptions. It’s a pretty hip place and now with a kid and probably more on the way it’s a great family community. Really good schools, beautiful beaches, the best farmers market, some great shopping and good restaurants in Montecito and SB. My favorite part time resident is Julie Louis Dreyfus. Lots of people have houses here, Brad Pitt, G Paltrow. Rob Lowe and Billy Baldwin raised their kids here.
Their house is next to Lotusland, a really cool estate that has the best garden tours.
Supposedly Oprah befriended Doria; that is, gave her a place to escape to whenever the media pack swarming her house became too much. Can’t find where exactly in the book I read about it. But that could be the link, Doria had spent time there and liked the area.
The property is absolutely beautiful. Congrats to them.
What a beautiful estate, especially like the outdoor areas. I hope they’re comfortable and happy there.
If they are being forced to repay renovations to the cottage, anything they’re paying for should be ripped out and sent to them in California.
The place is beautiful. The grounds are gorgeous and the location is lovely. The photo of the outdoor space with the vines is my favourite photo. I googled the previous owner since one of the articles described him as a Russian oligarch (!!). His name is Sergei Grishin and he’s…scary… hopefully none of the kgb or his associates show up there looking for him. apparently he also owned the Scarface mansion near there and is losing $$ on that.
I think that Sergei guy bought those properties right before the housing bubble bust. Houses were WAY overpriced during that time.
Yes, the timing would tend to support that.
The house is very nice. It’s got beautiful flowers and lawn in the front. It’s a little castle-y for my taste but the bright sunny weather makes up for it. I wish Charles paid for it isn’t that what uber wealthy paretns do?
That area looks gorgeous if I think about it all too much I’ll get depressed! That said, my first thought when I saw the pictures was “Wills can go suck it”. I just know he’s seething with jealousy
Their new house is really beautiful. I read they have some of the best schools in that area-great for Archie-I am glad they did a mortgage to show people they are truly buying and working on their own terms-this is a super private area-you will not be rolling up in this area trying to take pictures and annoy the residents-these residents got clout-all it takes is a phone call-that is the reason the super rich move to an onclave like this for privacy and safety-this large property will require help with the yard and cleaning-I read somewhere that Harry especiallly did not like the help living in his house-the help will come in do their work and go home-Harry likes it that way. Also polo is popular in this area. If Oprah is showing them the ropes so be it-she’s a very good business person-If the Sussexes have paid back Frogmore renos the royal family should put out a statement to show they are being fair to the couple and not allow the tabloid press to make-up shit for headlines and clicks. When the royal family place statements to prove false stories regarding the Sussex family, I would truly be more nicer to them on the net-all they asked for is fairness-which they have not gotten from the royal family or the British press.
PS-this type house will be a big help when they have meetings or large dinner gatherings-I am so excited for them-God bless and keep the Sussex family safe.
lol people are being bichy about a house that was built in 2003!!! Didnt the tabloids also claim that frognore was a 20+bedroom cottage until we learned it was only 5 bed!!!They probably bought this because of its private road and the discreet location+security. Some of you are acting like they are living there alone and not with staff+security team
I feel like this is an investment and they may buy a bigger property in the UK. The fact that it was bought under Meghan’s company+paid $5mil (estimated worth) is a clue. We still don’t know if harry got back his investment into Charles’s projects. I bet he called to instruct him to pay him back and that’s why chuck ran to RRs to say he was paying for the house
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