A timeline of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's $600-million property portfolio

Ellen DeGeneres’ love of renovating, design and luxury property is no secret. Along with partner Portia de Rossi, the pair have garnered a reputation for being two of Hollywood’s most prolific buyers and sellers of multimillion dollar homes in Southern California.

During the 17 years The Ellen Show has aired, the comedian and actor duo has amassed a huge property portfolio worth a reported $630 million (US$450m).

DeGeneres recently announced her talk show will wrap in 2022 after its 19th season, but her property portfolio – which has netted Portia and herself a cool $90 to $100 million in profits – has been separate to her The Ellen Show earnings.

The celebrity pair currently own $90 million worth of holdings: Rancho San Leandro and Dennis Miller house, both in the Santa Barbara region of Montecito, California.

Here is a run down of Ellen and Portia’s extensive (and envy-inducing) property portfolio.

Current: Rancho San Leandro – $20 million (US$14.3m)

Ellen and Portia bought and sold the gorgeous Rancho San Leandro three years ago in Montecito. They sold the sprawling ranch for US$11 million in 2018 to Tinder founder Sean Rad after purchasing it for US$7.2 million in 2017.

That sales regret means Ellen has it back – but after paying double the cost of what she initially bough it for.

The 5.8-acre estate dates back to the 1800s and has been carefully restored and cared for over time. It has two houses – including one of the oldest and most authentic adobe homes in California.

The adobe home has a single master suite with two bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, a breakfast room, a subterranean wine cellar and a game room.

The ‘Monterrey’ house offers three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, a dining area, a formal library, a gym and a terrace with a fireplace.

Situated atop a ridge in Montecito, the historic property commands stunning views of both the Pacific Ocean and Santa Ynez Mountains. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and offer olive groves, rose gardens, private courtyards, and professional quality equestrian facilities (which includes a tack room and fenced dressage arena).

The home is next door to Oprah’s ever-expanding ‘Promised Land’ estate.

Current: Dennis Miller’s Cape Dutch compound – $70 million (US$49m)

In 2020, DeGeneres dropped US$49 million in cash to secure this stunning and extremely private 4.3-acre estate in Montecito, designed and developed by talk show host and political commentator Dennis Miller and his wife Slim Paley over nearly a decade.

As it was never listed on the open market, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms is unknown.

However, the walled and gated property includes a guest house, garage, infinity pool, pool house and barn designed by Tom Kundig, principal and owner of Olson Kundig Architects.

There is also a 9,000-square-foot mansion built in the South African Cape Dutch architectural style, explains Dirt.

If Slim Paley’s Instagram posts of the property are anything to go by, this is one dreamy estate that the pair poured their heart and soul into. The word ‘picturesque’ is an understatement.

Paley says she looks back “with such great fondness at the last kitchen I designed,” and that her lush and impressive garden full of protea, lavender and hummingbirds is “my heart, my joy, my therapist.”

The buildings surround a lily pond complete with fish and a rowboat. The estate – which enjoys both mountain and ocean views – also has walkways, organic vegetable gardens, parking for over 30 cars and hidden outdoor seating areas.

SOLD 2021: Adam Levine’s former Beverly Hills home – $66 million (US$47m)

In early 2021 Ellen and Portia sold this Tudor-style ivy-covered 1930s home, which once belonged to Adam Levine, for a whopping US$47 million – US$6.5 million under their original US$53.5 million asking price. They still made a US$2 million profit, though.

The beautiful two-storey home has five bedrooms and nine bathrooms, steel doors and windows and wide-plank reclaimed wood floors. There’s a 50-foot living room with stone fireplace and white plaster walls, a large dining room with a bar, a panelled library, two kitchens (one which Levine gave a US$200,000 facelift), a gym and a theater with a bar.

The outdoor areas are just as charming, with rolling lawns and gardens, a resort-style pool, sunken tennis court, guest house and an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven.

The home has a storied Hollywood past, being near Meghan and Harry’s sprawling mansion and formerly owned by the likes of Will and Grace creator Max Mutchnick and tennis player Pete Sampras.

SOLD 2020: Ariana Grande’s English Tudor mansion – $9.5 million (US$6.75m)

Another Montecito buy, the power couple purchased this legitimate English Tudor property – as in, it was originally two barns built in Surrey in the 1700s and brought over to the US in the 1980s – for US$3.6 million with the aim of flipping it.

According to Mansion Global, this was the first time Ellen and Portia bought a house with the intention of renovating and selling it, without living in it.

The update proved to be fruitful, with the pair selling the historic home to megastar Ariana Grande for US$6.75 million in 2020 – making a tidy US$3.15 million mere months after they purchased it.

The unique home features an octagonal library, exposed brick fireplaces, wood beam ceilings, two kitchens, a gym and a workshop.

Set on 1.35 acres, the lush gardens are designed by landscape architect Tom Nielsen, and feature brick terraces, mature trees and stone pathways, according to Architectural Digest.

SOLD 2020: Salt Hill house – $47 million (US$33.3m)

Nestled in the hills of Montecito, this contemporary Balinese and Asian-inspired estate was bought by Ellen and Portia in 2019 for US$27 million.

The five-bedroom, 10-bathroom, two-office compound was built in 2011 and has large glass doors that open to a veranda with a panoramic vista stretching nearly 50 miles along the coastline.

There’s also a large pond, a guest house, an infinity pool and a cabana with gym on the 8.2-acre property, according to Realtor.

Why did they sell? After a break in during 2020, the pair offloaded the home.

SOLD 2019: Nickelodeon House – $9.8 million (US$7m)

In 2018, Ellen and Portia bought this mountainside property for US$6.7 million.

The four-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom home sits on 40 acres in the Santa Ynez mountain range and Toro Canyon Park.

The 2010-built-home is designed with “functional minimalism with expanses of retractable and Vitrocsa Invisible Wall glass,” according to Realtor.

The couple sold it to Brian Robbins, president of Nickelodeon, in 2019 for US$6.98 million.

SOLD 2019: John Elgin-Woolf house – $22 million (US$15.5m)

This Beverly Hills home was designed by architect John Elgin-Woolf in 1962 in the glamorous and dramatic Hollywood Regency style.

The half-acre lot offers city and ocean views from the grand living room, curved patio area (complete with columns and bay windows) and outdoor areas.

DeGeneres bought the three-bedroom, four-bathroom home in 2015 for US$15 million and restored and updated it before selling it for US$15.5 million in 2019.

The rare offering brings together old world Hollywood charm with modern fittings.

SOLD 2019: Carpinteria beach house – $32 million (US$23m)

DeGeneres purchased this 6,000-square-foot Santa Barbara County beach house from late real estate developer Robert F. Maguire III for US$18.6 million back in 2017.

Built in 1979, when Ellen and Portia bough the home it was already “extensively renovated”. The four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom house has a cedar-shingled roof, contemporary sophisticated interiors, window-lined walls house, a large guest house, clay tennis court and plunge pool.

The pair sold it for US$23 million in 2019.

SOLD 2018: Anthony Goldschmidt house – $49 million (US$35m)

Back in 2015, Ellen and Portia purchased this midcentury property from famed movie poster designer, Anthony Goldschmidt. It sits on almost an acre in prime Beverly Hills.

Built in 1966, the home has four-bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Ellen and Portia made substantial upgrades to the property, including concrete floors and a chef’s kitchen with marble countertops and backsplash contrasting with a teak island and surrounding custom walnut cabinets.

Sliding glass doors take in the beautiful city skyline views and the grounds are designed by esteemed landscape architect Mark Rios, showcase a stunning pool, large grass area, and covered patio.

Degeneres and de Rossi sold it in 2018 for US$35 million, and that owner has now listed it on the market for US$38 million.

SOLD 2017: Beverly West residences – $17 million (US$11.85m)

Degeneres bought two house-sized condos at the luxurious Beverly West tower along LA’s Wilshire Boulevard, with the pair of residences taking up the entire 12th floor.

She dropped US$13.2 million in 2014 on the condos, and then in a bid to sell them in 2017, lost over US$1.3 million, releasing them for a combined US$11.85 million.

This seems to be the only time the pair haven’t turned a profit on real estate.

SOLD 2017: Wallace Frost house – $48 million (US$34m)

Back in Montecito, this Italian-style stone villa was built in 1934 by famed architect Wallace Frost. Degeneres bought this house for US$26.5 million in 2013 and said she never wanted to sell. In fact, she wrote in her interior-design book Home, “I really do hope we live here forever.”

However, they sold the house for US$34 million in 2017.

The 17-acre estate has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a media room, multiple libraries and a guest annex. Features include the barrel-tiled roof, terracotta tiling, exposed beams and stone walls sourced from local quarries.

There’s also an entertainment pavillion dubbed ‘Jordan Hall’, plus two pools, walking trails and a tennis court. Oh, and ocean views, of course.

SOLD 2016: Barry Shwartz’s Hollywood Hills home – $14 million (US$9.9m)

Rancho San Leandro isn’t the only home Ellen has also double-dipped. The TV host first purchased the Hollywood Hills 1950s ranch-style home in 2005, then sold it (plus a small neighbouring residence she owned) for US$10 million in 2007, only to buy it back in 2014 for US$8.75 million, according to property records.

She later leased the five-bed, three-bath property to pop star and actor Nick Jonas, before offloading it for US$9.9 million to an LLC associated Barry Schwartz, Calvin Klein’s longtime friend and business partner.

Sitting on 1.63 acres, the midcentury home was rebuilt and redesigned in the early 2000s by innovative architecture firm Marmol Radziner and enjoys panoramic canyon and city views.

SOLD 2014: Brody House residence – $77 million (US$55m)

This sprawling 12,500-square-foot house was originally built for modern art collector Frances Brody and her husband, real estate developer Sidney. Commissioned in 1949 to A. Quincy Jones, they sold the house in 2010 to an investor, who worked with LA Conservancy to restore the house, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Ellen and Portia purchased the Midcentury modern meets Hollywood modern restored estate for US$40 million in 2014 – selling it just six months later for an incredible US$15 million profit. They snagged US$55 million from Napster founder Sean Parker.

SOLD 2013: Skouras residence – $28 million (US$20m)

Originally the home of the president of Fox West Coast, Charles Skouras and his wife Diane Skouras from the 1950s until 1997, Ellen and Portia bought the Beverly Hills property from a pair of producers in 2012 for US$17.4 million.

Designed by famed architect Harold Levitt in 1956, the midcentury masterpiece offers a light and airy design with five bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms.

The high-ceilinged foyer makes way to the living room with floor-to-ceiling windows, bar, lanai and game room. A music room leads to a library. The kitchen comes complete with butler’s pantry and opens to a family room. The primary bedroom suite has double bathrooms and has views of the fountain in the yard.

The pool and outdoor lounge area is the crowning jewel of the yard, and there are beautiful views to boot.

Ellen and Portia sold this home for US$20 million in 2013.

SOLD 2013: The one with horse stables for Portia – $15 million (US$10.85m)

DeGeneres nabbed this eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom house in Thousand Oaks, California in 2008 for US$8.5 million, right after DeGeneres and de Rossi tied the knot.

De Rossi is a horse enthusiast, so the 7,000-square-foot home sitting on a vast 26 acres of pastures, horse stables and riding trails, would have been quite the prize.

The pair undertook extensive renovations on the home, which was originally built in 1929, and sold it for US$10.85 million in 2013 to fashion designer James Perse.

The estate includes eight farmhouse cottages, an art barn, a romantic barn, yoga pavilion, tree house, tennis court and more. There are state-of-the-art horse facilities with six double-sized stables that can be turned into 12, a dressage arena, turnouts, hay barn, tack room and more.

SOLD 2012: Ryan Seacrest house – $51 million (US$36.5m)

DeGeneres bought this home in 2008 for US$29 million and then bought two surrounding homes to incorporate into the estate. This is where Ellen and Portia tied the knot after California legalised same-sex marriage the same year.

“It was a really beautiful property and we loved it there,” DeGeneres wrote in her book, Home. “In fact, we got married there.”

The compound has a contemporary main house, two guest houses, a pool, a pool house with a gym and a garage. It offers reflecting ponds and city and ocean views across three acres.

In 2012, they sold the estate to Ryan Seacrest for US$36.5 million.

SOLD 2012: Brangelina’s beach house – $18 million (US$13m)

The couple scooped up Brad Pitt’s former Malibu home in 2011 for US$12 million and sold it one year later for US$13 million. Pitt had shared the beach house with now-ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

SOLD 2007: Spanish Colonial Revival in Montecito – $28 million (US$20m)

During 2007, the ladies acquired a mansion in Montecito US$15.75 million and sold it the same year to then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt for US$20 million.

According to Architectural Digest, the property went on to be used as the location of Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian’s lavish televised wedding in 2011.

The four-bed, six-bath home was designed in 1926 by architect George Washington Smith, known for his Spanish Colonial Revival style.

SOLD 2006: Will Ferrell house – $13 million (US$9m)

DeGeneres purchased this 1939-built house from Will and Grace producer Jason Nidorf “Max” Mutchnick (yes, they also both owned the Adam Levine house). She paid US$6 million in 2003, the same year she began hosting The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In 2006, she sold the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom home with botanical gardens and a pool house to actor and comedian Will Ferrell.

SOLD 2005: ‘The Treehouse’ – $3 million (US$2.1m)

The comedian paid US$1.275 million for a midcentury-style Hollywood Hills home nicknamed ‘the treehouse,’ thanks to its 2,000 square feet of outdoor living spaces. This is the same year DeGeneres and De Rossi reportedly began their romance.

DeGeneres then sold the 1951-built two-bedroom, two-bathroom property with natural textures, polished concrete floors, exposed beam ceilings for US$2.1 million one year later to late Aussie actor Heath Ledger.

It was then owned by Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson, who put it on the market in 2019.