The homes celebrities buy are expensive, expansive – and of perennial interest to the rest of us. If we can’t live in these opulent palaces, we can at least drool from a distance, can’t we?
So what exactly are celebrities looking for in a house? Plenty.
“Given all that cash–not to mention fame and accompanying paparazzi–there are certain requirements when it comes to celebrity housing, “ reports Forbes magazine.
One key requirement is security. Celebrities take careful steps to ensure their safety and privacy. “In the City of Angels, many home-shopping celeb clients bring their security detail to check a potential home from every vantage point–including for views that could potentially be reached by drones,” adds the magazine. “…. Thanks to the popularity of this technology, celebs are increasingly desiring backyards with outdoor rooftops that protect them from prying eyes. Also popular: gates, hedges, and multiple entrances where getaway cars can escape undetected.”
“I like to call it stop-arazzi,” Billy Rose, president of Los Angeles-area luxury real estate firm The Agency, told Forbes.
Forbes also notes that panic rooms that protect a person during a home invasion are popular with celebrities, as are home gyms that allow residents to work out in private. “One celebrity home even had what one agent referred to as a “doctor’s chair” for facial beautification treatments like Botox injections,” notes Forbes.
Other celebrity home-buying trends?
Stars often buy from other stars. Eva Longoria paid $11.4 for a Hollywood home that once belonged to Tom Cruise. Jennifer Lawrence bought a five-bedroom home in LA for $7 million from Jessica Simpson. And, in turn, Jessica Simpson bought Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne’s 6-bedroom house for $11.5 million.
Meanwhile, some celebrities prefer to remove themselves from the Hollywood-LA housing merry-go-round altogether. Consider Justin Timberlake and his wife Jessica Biel, who bought a home in Big Sky, MT at the Yellowstone Club, “a private ski resort with a buy-in of $300,000 and membership dues reported to be $30,000–and that’s before the price of the home,” according to Forbes.
Whatever celebrities are looking for, you can bet they’ll pay top dollar once they find it. For a look at Zillow’s list of some of the hottest celebrity homes of the past 10 years, click here.