A Timeline Of Ellen DeGeneres And Portia de Rossi’s Real Estate Portfolio Growth
4 min readA successful talk-show host, Ellen DeGeneres, moonlights as a home renovator with wife and actress Portia de Rossi. The couple has owned more than 20 properties over the years that are worth $450 million. Since Ellen DeGeneres’ career took off in 2003, the talk-show host actively purchases properties. What first began as a habit of buying homes has become a second income source for her as she decorates the houses with her wife and sells them for a higher profit margin. The couple purchased their first property in 2004 and continued growing their real estate portfolio.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have explored every part of California when buying properties, from luxury mansions to sleek condos. With each home having its unique decor and personality, let’s take a look at the real estate portfolio of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.
10 2003-2004
After The Ellen Show took off in 2003, Ellen DeGeneres purchased her first big property in Hollywood Hills for $6 million, which featured four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. She sold the property to Will Ferrell for $9 million in 2006. The following year, she purchased a new home with Portia de Rossi in the same neighborhood for $1.275 million. After selling the house to late-actor Heath Ledger for $2.1 million, it was later sold to Josh Hutcherson.
9 2007-2008
Between 2007 and 2008, the couple bought three stunning properties in California. The first property was a $15.75 million mansion in Montecito that sold for $20 million, and it was also the location of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ wedding. The second home was a 9,200 sq. ft. property worth $29 million, which Ryan Seacrest purchased for $37 million. The third property was a Thousand Oaks ranch property sold for $10.85 million in 2013.
8 2011-2012
In 2011, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi bought a Malibu beach house previously owned by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, as noted by Business Insider. The couple lived in the home for a year before selling it for $13 million and making a $1 million profit. The following year, the couple bought an estate in the Trousdale neighborhood, designed by Hal Levitt and sold for $20 million, making a $3 million profit.
7 2013
Another Montecito property on the list, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, purchased a home designed by Wallace Frost for $26.5 million. Featuring a sunken tennis court, lap swimming pool, and badminton court, the couple lived in the property for five years before selling it in 2018 for $34 million.
6 2014
One of the couple’s most successful flips was a Holmby Hills mansion purchased for $39.88 million, built-in 1949, and voted one of LA’s most beautiful homes. Seven months after moving, they sold the lavish home for a whopping $55 million to Sean Parker, founder of Napster, as stated by NY Post. DeGeneres and de Rossi also made an experimental purchase when buying two condos in LA for $13.2 million. However, they sold them for $11.85 million three years later.
5 2015
Following the loss with the condo, they made a considerable profit in 2015 after purchasing a Beverly Hills villa for $16 million. The couple lived in the four-bedroom eight-bathroom home for three years before selling it for more than 50% profit for $35 million.
4 2017
A historic property in Montecito, Ellen DeGeneres, and Portia de Rossi purchased Rancho San Leandro for $7.2 million in 2011. It sold it a year later to Sean Rad, the founder of Tinder, for $12 million. As mentioned by Yahoo News, the second property purchased was an oceanfront home in Carpinteria for $18.6 million, which sold three years later for $23 million.
3 2018
The first property purchased in 2018 was a five-bedroom Hollywood Regency-style mansion for $15 million, which they sold less than a year later for $15.5 million. The second property was a Santa Barbara ranch costing $6.7 million. In 2019, the couple sold the property to Brian Robbins, the founder of Nickelodeon.
2 2019
In 2019, the couple first purchased a $27 million Balinese-style Montecito mansion at the Salt Lake Estate and sold it for $33.3 million a year later. DeGeneres and de Rossi then purchased a newly renovated Beverly Hills estate from Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo for $47 million and sold it in March 2021 for reportedly $47 million.
1 2020- 2021
Just days later, Ari spent $6.75 million on Ellen Degeneres’ former Montecito tudor home known as the Porter House. (Unclear if Gomez arranged this deal too.) It is comprised of two separate barns originally built in Surrey, England, aka where Kate Winslet lives in The Holiday. pic.twitter.com/23rBwKGCZy
— 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 (@treytylor) December 20, 2020
In 2020, the couple made their most unique purchase, a three-bedroom Tudor home in Montecito, initially built in England in the 1700s. According to Architectural Digest, the couple renovated the house during the pandemic and sold it for double their buying price of $3.6 million to Ariana Grande. The same year, they purchased a four-acre property in Montecito for $49 million. In 2021, the couple purchased the historic Rancho San Leandro property again for $14.3 million and a $2.9 million two-bedroom bungalow near Butterfly Beach.
Along with flipping and selling properties, the couple also rent their renovated homes to their celebrity friends. The couple has spent more than $145 million buying properties and made millions in profit from selling them. As The Ellen Show premieres its last season in 2022, the couple will now be seen flipping houses more frequently.
Sources: Business Insider, NY Post, Yahoo News, Architectural Digest
