Tennis star Naomi Osaka buys gorgeous LA mansion from Nick Lachey

Former World No. 1 tennis player, Naomi Osaka, has forked out $8.7 million (US$6.3m) for former boy-band star Nick Lachey’s LA digs.

This isn’t the first time the famed athlete has bought a home from a pop star. In 2019, Osaka splashed $9.5 million (US$6.9m) on buying Nick Jonas’ modernist 90210 pad.

The San Fernando Valley purchase happened off market, according to Dirt, and appears to be a tidy pay day for Lachey and wife Vanessa. The pair only lived there for a year after buying the house in late 2020 for $7 million (US$5.1m).

Nick Lachey is best known as the former 98 Degrees boyband singer, Jessica Simpson’s ex-husband and co-host of Netflix’s Love Is Blind.

Osaka is well placed to indulge in luxury real estate. Forbes estimates the Japanese-Haitian tennis superstar’s income reached $83 million (US$60 million) in a single year, making her the highest-paid female athlete of all time.

Located in LA’s Tarzana neighbourhood, the East Coast traditional-inspired manor was newly built in 2015 and boasts an outdoor feature Osaka was no doubt drawn to – a sunken sports court.

Behind a double-gated driveway, the home welcomes you with manicured front gardens and driveway parking for a dozen or more cars, plus a four-car garage.

Interiors feature a large gourmet eat-in kitchen with dual islands, a formal dining room sports wainscoting and a patterned wallpaper, a lounge area with beautiful coffered ceiling and fireplace and a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

There’s a media room that acts a second comfy, cosy lounge room and a “parlor [sic] games room” that in listing photos is equipped with pool table and wet bar that can easily seat five sports fans. There’s also a movie theatre.

All five of the home’s bedrooms enjoy ensuite full bathrooms, with an additional two powder rooms in the residence. The upstairs main suite comes with a fireplace, private balcony, private sitting room and dual closets.

Year-round outdoor entertaining is also on offer, with a covered loggia including fans and a fireplace.

Outside, the resort-style backyard has grassy lawns, a fire pit, stamped concrete patio and a dark-bottomed pool. Plus, there’s also a bar and built-in BBQ for summer get togethers. There are lovely views of the surrounding mountain ranges and kids can go gaga over the two-storey playhouse.

The best feature of the roughly 2,800sqm property, and no doubt part of the reason Osaka was keen to snag the home, is the aforementioned sports court.

The sunken and full-size sports court with lights for nighttime games is currently set up with basketball hoops, but tennis would be an easy conversion.

The charming home has a celebrity pedigree, according to Dirt. In 2018, it was sold for $6.6 million (US$4.8m) to Randall Cobb, the star NFL wide receiver who currently plays for the Green Bay Packers. It was Cobb who flipped the place two years later, selling to the Lacheys at a modest profit.