Luxe Living

After her high-profile split from Ryan Seacrest, Julianne Hough reportedly has a new “Safe Haven“: a $3 million mansion purchased by Ryan as a parting gift when their two year relationship came to an end in March. According to our source, Ryan pulled a move similar to his American Idol costar Simon Cowell, who gave his ex-fiance a high dollar mansion in the wake of their split. Details on Hough’s new home are still under wraps, but the “Dancing With The Stars” dancer and budding movie star reportedly decamped to the new gift mansion shortly after moving out of the $37 million-dollar compound she shared with Ryan for the past year. Their former love nest was purchased from Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi in May 2012 and seemed to signal to the world that Seacrest was finally ready to settle down and build a family life with Hough.

Reports on their breakup cite his hectic schedule and inability to kick his workaholic ways as the main impetus for their split. He must have loved her in a major way though, since he allegedly spent some serious coin on her new bachelorette pad.

While Hough was mid break-up and likely closing on her new Los Angeles home, she found the time to list and sell her Nashville condo. Located at 900 20th Avenue in the heart of Nashville, Hough paid $649,000 for the 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1,829 square foot condo in 2009. She relocated primarily to Los Angeles in the past couple years, and likely had the property leased out to a tenant. Property records do show that she managed to dance out of the property and make a pretty penny. She sold the condo on January 7, 2013 for $900,000.

Images via the MLS.

Sometimes 2 isn’t better than 1. After more than 2 full years on the market, Christina Aguilera has finally sold the Beverly Hills mansion she purchased from Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Originally listed for $13.5 million, Aguliera never officially reduced the asking price on the home, but according to property records, she eventually ended up selling for $11.5 million – a full $2 million less than the diva wanted for her palace. The deal closed on April 29, 2013, and the buyer’s identity is still unknown.

Aguilera has since moved on to another Beverly Hills mansion in the exclusive guard-gated Mulholland Estates community. Her new 11,000-square-foot estate was reportedly purchased from multi-billionaire and global private equity mogul Tom Gores for an even $10 million.

Her just-sold home was the stage for Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s reality show “The Osbournes” many years ago and is in the heart of Beverly Hills on Doheny Drive. The estate is gated and extremely private and has 6 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms spread out over 10,000 square feet.

Vince Vaughn, comedic actor and everyone’s favorite “Wedding Crasher” is settling down a bit more these days. On the heels of the news that he and wife Kyla Weber are expecting baby #2, the Chicago native has just scooped up a 5 bedroom, 6 bathroom, 5,563 square foot home in La Cañada Flintridge on April 25, 2013 for $3,925,000.

The Vaughn’s new estate sits behind gates on an approximately 3/4 acre lot. Very, very traditional up first glance, the Colonial-style home combines classic design with fine craftsmanship. The large gourmet kitchen is fully equipped and each of the five large bedrooms comes complete with their own bath. The home also has a library, family Room, formal dining room and living room. The park-like grounds include sweeping lawns, swimming pool and sport court – perfect for their growing family!

Glee starlet Naya Rivera is flipping her home in Beverly Hills, asking $2.1 million for a home she paid $1.475 million for on April 4, 2012. If she gets her full asking price, Naya is set to make $625,000 for less than a year’s ownership, minus what she paid to remodel this stunner. This kind of return isn’t common in every market, but in this celebrity-infested Beverly Hills neighborhood, buyers will pay big bucks for the 90210 zip code.

Rivera is making her house flip a family affair – she’s employed her mother Yolanda Rivera as the listing agent on the home, which hit the market in mid-March and already has “sale pending” sign hanging out front. Nice work, mom!

Rivera’s almost-sold home is on a cul de sac and has been remodeled. It features 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and is a spacious 3,300 square feet.  The home includes a formal living area and dining room overlooking the courtyard and pool. The library includes a wet bar with its own kegerator! The master suite includes dual walk-in closets and a built-in sauna and steam room. The backyard includes a completely remodeled salt water pool, jacuzzi and fire pit.

Rivera is decamping to a 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 4,186 square foot East Coast traditional estate in Los Feliz that property records show she purchased on April 15, 2013 for $2,600,000.

Lance Armstrong, the disgraced former 7-time Tour de France cycling champion who has fallen hard and fast from glory, has just parted with another trophy of his former life – his massive family estate in Austin, Texas.

Reported by The Austin American-Statesmen and Candy Evans, the deed of trust filed with Travis County last week showed that the home found a buyer by the name of Al Koehler. Koehler is founder of Royalty Clearinghouse, an oil and gas royalties and rights company. The final purchase price is still unknown.

Armstrong has owned the 1.7 acre, 7,850 square-foot estate since 2004 and invested heavily in a full renovation and design project, which he debuted in a 2008 issue of Architectural Digest. At the time of publication, he told the magazine, “when I walk into that house, I heave a sigh of relief: I am home. I take off my shoes, walk around barefoot, just feeling the rugs, floors. Home is very private; here, nobody’s going to mess with me. It’s a very comforting feeling.”

Amid his personal and professional turmoils of the past couple years and his admission to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his illustrious career, Armstrong decided to decamp to a new refuge and sell the home. Several media reports suggest that Armstrong may be required to return money to his former sponsors that generously supported him during the years he was doping.

Images via Robert Reck/Architectural Digest

Katy Perry is selling her “California Girl” estate for $6,925,000. Purchased by the songstress on June 24, 2011 for $6,500,000, Perry intended to make the 3-acre estate compound near the famed Chateau Marmont her and then-husband Russell Brand‘s marital love nest. Amid rumors of an impending divorce and before the moving vans could even get in the front gates, the duo split for good – and the home remained vacant. Perry was reportedly secretly hoping to find a buyer for her unlucky love nest without having to officially list the home for sale. Perhaps she was asking too much money or people just didn’t want the bad juju associated with the home, but Perry couldn’t find her buyer.

Now, the home, dubbed “Park Hill,” is officially for sale, as first reported by The Real Estalker. Built in 1921, the estate is comprised of a significant Mediterranean residence with two-story grand entry that continues into two-story living room overlooking all of Los Angeles and the city’s dramatic skyline.

Additionally, the property has a separate two-story guest house that was formerly a caretaker’s apartment on the lower level and a Carriage House on the second level for auto storage. In 2004, another guest house was built and could be used as a private residence, as it comes complete with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.

The lushly landscaped backyard has a lagoon-style pool with waterfall and small bridges. Adding to the allure of this property, the home neighbors Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed Storer House.

Casey Kasem, longtime host of ‘American Top 40′ and one of the most iconic voices of all time, is saying goodbye to his Beverly Hills home, which comes complete with one of the romantic details we’ve ever seen – a heart-shaped pool! First reported by The Real Estalker, the home is newly listed for the sky-high price of $42,000,000. The estate sits on 2.4 acres and has 8 bedrooms, 11.5 bathrooms and 12,000 square feet.

Described as a “Classic Revival,” Kasem’s home has gone through a recent renovation and expansion. Now, the home includes a living room, salon, formal dining room, English-style library, bar room and a family-style kitchen. Double master suites feature  2 bathrooms, a hair salon  and dressing areas.

Outside on the expansive grounds, you’ll find the ‘love’-ly heart-shaped pool with 2 swim pavilions, a sunken, North/South tennis court and guest House.

Love Kasem’s house but don’t quite have the funds to afford the $42M price tag right now? Well, take Kasem’s signature advice to “keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars” – and maybe you’ll own it someday.

Images via the MLS.

‘King of Queens’ star Kevin James is selling his palatial Encino mansion for $5,495,000. Just listed, the incredible 11,291 square-foot home on Bertella Drive in Encino, CA has 5 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. Property records show that James purchased the home on August 14, 2003 for $3,200,000.

Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle, was recently called “The Nation’s Most Avid Trophy-Home Buyer” by the the Wall Street Journal. Since becoming one of the biggest earners in America while at the helm of Oracle, Ellison has spent hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring incredible properties across the globe. According to the WSJ, Ellison’s known property roster includes multiple adjacent lots in Malibu, a Newport, R.I., mansion formerly owned by the Astor family; a historic garden property in Kyoto and an estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with a private, 19-hole golf course and a $200 million estate in Woodside, CA. He’s currently building and adding a North Lake Tahoe compound to that incredible line-up.

And now, we’ve learned that he’s subtracting his existing East Lake Tahoe compound from that lineup as he awaits the completion of his newer, upgraded pad on the north side of the famous lake that straddles the California and Nevada borders. As first reported by the WSJ, Ellison has just listed his Lake Tahoe home in the tony enclave of Glenbrook for $28.5 million dollars. The property includes a 9,242-square foot main house with 6 bedrooms, and 8.5 bathrooms. In addition to the main house, there is a 1,326 square-foot, 2 bedroom, 3 bath guesthouse, and another 2,934 square-foot lakefront home with 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.

Other amenities of the homes include a gym, billiard room,  library, sound-proof screening room and a sauna. With a private crystal clear harbor and white sandy beach, Ellison’s Lake Tahoe spread sits on 2.62 acres with 230′ of lake frontage.

Actress Brooke Shields is under contract to purchase a charming Southampton hideaway for $4.3 million, as first reported by the New York Post. The owner is former NFL tight end Vyto Kab, who played for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions during his career.

Beautifully renovated, the home reflects all of the charm of an historic home but comes complete with every modern convenience and amenity – perfect for Brooke and her family.

The 1920 classic shingled home has 6 bedrooms, including a master suite with tray ceiling and fireplace, and 6 full and 2 half baths. A gourmet kitchen opens to the dining area/great room with a fireplace and French doors giving way to expansive terrace, separate formal living and dining rooms with fine wood finishes, library, state-of-the-art media room, and mud room/laundry.

The half acre, beautifully landscaped private grounds feature specimen trees, flower and vegetable gardens, 20 x 50 freshwater heated gunite pool, and pool house with full bath, kitchenette, cathedral height living area, and laundry.

While not beachfront like some of her Hamptons neighbors, Brooke’s new home is perfectly located in the heart of the village with immediate access to shopping, dining and ocean beaches.

Back in the city, Brooke and her family live in an incredible townhome they overhauled and recently showed off in Architectural Digest.  In January 2012, she sold her NYC Chinatown co-op for $2.95 million.