Santa Barbara’s most famous house thief is back! Nearly two years after Ellen DeGeneres spent $70 million on two side-by-side properties in the exclusive oceanfront enclave of Carpinteria, the former talk show host and her wife Portia de Rossi have now sold their neighboring parcels, which are in the Top of a cliff overlooking the Pacific. As first reported by The Wall Street Journalthe clandestine off-market deal was signed for a whopping $96 million.
Records reveal that the buyer is billionaire mining magnate Robert Friedland – chairman of Ivanhoe Mines and business mentor to the late Steve Jobs – who is widely reported to have an estimated net worth in excess of $3 billion. Avid real estate watchers will remember that this isn’t the first Santa Barbara-area real estate transaction between DeGeneres and Friedland. Earlier this year, Friedland and his longtime wife, Darlene, paid DeGeneres and de Rossi a hefty sum US$32 million to a reconstructed 1919 property in Montecito known as Pompeii Court, only to repurchase the 8-acre tract a few months later for the exact same amount.
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When DeGeneres and de Rossi paid retired hedge fund manager and billionaire Bruce Kovner a sum of less than $70 million for two neighboring lots in Carpinteria in 2022, they doled out $41.7 million for a Tuscan hacienda-style mansion situated on 3.4 acres and at the same time paid another $28.2 million for the nearly empty 6.6-acre lot right next door, which currently contains a small lake and vast lawns. Together, the two parcels create a fully contiguous 10-acre complex with a private path leading to the beach below.
While Friedland’s new Carpinteria complex is a pretty impressive property, it’s actually less than half of the original 22-acre complex that was shared by Kovner and his wife Suzie starting in 2007. According to WSJKovner built the massive site over several years, spending about $110 million to buy adjacent properties as they became available.
After securing the land, it took several years to obtain permission to build and complete the private complex, which came to be known as the Sanctuary at Loon Point. Construction and other improvements cost about $50 million, according to Kovner himself, and when completed, the vast estate comprised two custom homes, each on their own lots, plus three additional landscaped lots connected by a gated private road with a guardhouse. Before DeGeneres and Rossi purchased the portion they just sold to Friedland, the Kovners’ entire spread was put up for sale in 2021 for a hefty $160 million. The remaining house and two additional lots still owned by the Kovners are currently up for grabs. US$75 million.
The new Friedland complex features a five-bedroom, eight-bathroom home with just over 9,000 square feet of living space on three levels. The beige-hued, terra-cotta-roofed structure is adorned with high ceilings with exposed wood beams, hardwood floors, stone arches, and marble accents. There’s also a one-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse and an attached three-car garage flanked by a cobblestone courtyard.
Standing out especially on the main level is a stunning great room displaying a massive antique fireplace, along with a family room and dining area that connect to a gourmet kitchen equipped with professional-grade appliances, a center island, and a duo of pantries. butler. Five en-suite bedrooms can be found upstairs, including a master suite that comes complete with a spa-equipped terrace and double walk-in closets and bathrooms; and the lower level has a wine cellar and movie theater with leather recliners.
Surrounded by olive trees, the picturesque grounds are home to a marble mosaic pool, two spas, an outdoor kitchen, multiple fireplace seating areas, elevated herb and vegetable gardens, and several ideal spots for relaxing and entertaining outdoors. . A private cliff-top beach area also has a fire pit, tiki torches, an antique rowboat, and a large stone dining table with a custom umbrella wired for phone and Internet access.
In addition to his properties in the Santa Barbara area – which also includes an oceanfront property in Carpinteria that he paid to TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle, just below US$47 million last February – Friedland also owns two side-by-side properties in Beverly Hills, as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor’s former estate in Bel Air, a luxury apartment in Singapore and a beachfront home in Thailand. As for DeGeneres and de Rossi, they still own several properties in the Santa Barbara area, including several homes scattered throughout Montecito.
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