Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi Set a Real Estate Record With $70 Million Carpinteria Purchase

Real estate power couple Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi just broke the record for the most expensive deal ever closed in Santa Barbara County, according to a report from Dirt. The former talk show host and actor dropped about $70 million on two neighboring parcels of Carpinteria land totaling 10 acres: a 3.4 acre plot with a Tuscan farmhouse-style manse priced at $41.7 million and an adjacent 6.6-acre lot complete with a lake for $28.2 million. Previously, the record-holding transaction for the area was the $63 million sale of a 237-acre Montecito ranch two years ago. 

Easily outdoing that sale in spite of its smaller acreage, DeGeneres and de Rossi’s new property sits atop an oceanside bluff with its own trail down to the beach and 9,066 square feet of interior living space, including a sprawling five-bedroom and eight-bathroom main house clad in stone and a guest house with an additional bedroom and bathroom.

The main house, which was structured in 2007, is a true mid-aughts Tuscan-style mansion, complete with stone archways, rustic exposed beams, mosaic tiles, and an integrated sound system with “iPod docking stations” in each room. The expansive abode also sports copper gutters and bronze windows and doors, which were custom-made and imported from Italy. Other interior highlights include a great room with a huge antique marble fireplace, a home theater decked out with leather recliners, a wine cellar, and a primary suite complete with dual bathrooms and walk-in closets, a private terrace equipped with a spa and a fountain.

Outside, the grounds host a marble mosaic swimming pool flanked by Renaissance-style statues, an additional spa, an outdoor kitchen, 150-year-old olive trees, raised garden beds, numerous firepits and alfresco dining areas, and 100-year-old imported granite cobblestones on the driveway.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, who are known for their ambitious real estate flipping habits, also currently own the $5.8 million Montecito cottage that they listed last month, a $29 million Bel Air home designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra, the $14.3 million Montecito ranch that the couple already previously flipped before buying again, plus two smaller Montecito properties.