Price of freedom: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s $20.5m US hideaway mansion
With nine bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a cinema and a meditation hut, it sure beats Frogmore Cottage.
The pink mansion stands among rose gardens and lush green lawns, with views of the Pacific and the Santa Ynez mountains. It is a paradise hidden from prying eyes, says a local estate agent.
Records that give details of its sale this summer suggest that this 1765 sqm house is the new residence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and is their starter home in the US.
It is listed as passing from one anonymous-looking company to another for a price of $US14.7 million ($AU20.5 million).
Outside there is a swimming pool, a tennis court and a hut for meditation. Indoors there are nine bedrooms and 14 bathrooms. The rooms have wooden floors and bare beams, and large windows that look seaward or over the gardens. There is a small cinema, a sauna and a gym.
An estate agent’s video for the property shows that the previous occupant had a games room with a poker table and pool table, as well as a bedroom in the style of Louis XIV.
The Sussexes may feel they have found a bargain. The house had been valued at $US27 million ($AU37.7 million).
It was bought by a limited liability corporation that appeared to be linked to previous companies created by Meghan.
Property records show the purchase was made with the aid of a dollars $AU13.2 million, 30-year mortgage.
Montecito: place celebs like Ellen call home
The house lies in Montecito, a wealthy enclave east of Santa Barbara that has been the base for a rotating cast of Hollywood celebrities and is home to Rob Lowe, the actor, and Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, the talk show hosts.
House prices have fallen slightly in recent months. In Santa Barbara, in June, the average sale price was $AU2.23 million, according to a market report.
In Montecito, the average sale price that month was nearly $AU7 million.
“All the largest properties are there,” said George Yatchisin, 57, a local journalist who has lived in Santa Barbara for 26 years. “It’s where John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned in the San Ysidro Ranch, which is owned by Ty Warner, the Beanie Babies toy company billionaire.”
Residents are accustomed to seeing film stars going about their business in Montecito. “If you are up on a hiking path and you see Ellen and Portia de Rossi [DeGeneres’s partner] are coming the other way you just keep on going,” Mr Yatchisin said.
“Back when he lived here I would see John Cleese come in and get his takeaway. One day I walked into the local cheese shop and looked over and saw him in the queue. I thought, ‘Oh, is he going to do the [Monty Python] routine?’ ” He did not.
Mountains to beach in 20 minutes
Residents think of the area as the American Riviera, because of its place on the ocean with the mountains behind. The temperature is seldom above 27C, and it is possible to reach the beach from the mountains in 20 minutes.
“The weather is almost always moderate,” said Mr Yatchisin. “If it gets into the nineties [more than 32C] people freak out, but it only happens once or twice a year.”
Montecito is also on the edge of California’s wine region. Were the duke and duchess to take a drive to the vineyards, they would have room for any purchases in their chateau. Their home’s wine cellar can take thousands of bottles.
The couple moved across the Atlantic at the beginning of the year, staying first on the west coast of Canada as part of a plan to step back from royal duties and split their time between Britain and North America. In March, apparently hastened by the coronavirus pandemic, they moved to California, staying in a home that was said to be the property of Tyler Perry, the comedian.
Last month they moved in secret to their new home in Santa Barbara. A spokesman for the couple said they had enjoyed falling temporarily off the radar. “They have settled into the quiet privacy of their community,” he said.
The Times
