More Ellen Real Estate Intrigue

Poor Ellen Degeneres. Not only did she catch a lot of flak and break down in tears on her talk show over those nasty adopted dog doings, the glossy tabs are now reporting that she and her lesbian lover Portia di Rossi are headed towards splitsville. Say it isn't so. Seriously, Your Mama does not want to see these two lovebirds bust up. Your Mama has no inside sources with Miz Degeneres and we don't even pretend know a thing about either of those matters that has not already been reported far and wide.

More intriguing to Your Mama than whether Ellen did the right thing with the dog (we fall on the side of the dog's best interest), or whether she and the Missus are getting a dee-vorce (we hope not), is the ever changing make up of her Southern California real estate empire.

Yesterday Your Mama briefly discussed the newly renovated Beverly Hills house that the talk show queen and her acturuss lady friend have recently purchased from Will and Grace co-creator Max Muchnick,which got us looking into some of the other properties the real estate maven currently owns, sold and/or has on the market.

The last of Ellen's Woodrow Wilson Drive collection of properties was recently sold off to 25 year old soap stud Adrian Bellani who took over the role of Miguel when uni-brow Jesse Metcalfe left the jaw dropping daytime drama Passions in a not very successful attempt to move on to bigger and better things. The sale price was not disclosed, but the asking price for the modestly sized and envy producing house was $1,995,000. Another of her Woodrow Wilson properties was sold to dee-vorcing couple Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, so it'll be interesting to see if that place comes back on the market as part of that settlement.

Just a few miles from Oprah Winfrey's $50,000,000+ fiefdom, Ellen and Portia are still attempting to cash in on their massive Montecito mansion which remains on the market for a spine tingling $24,000,000. The children will recall that the couple reportedly purchased this house for $15,750,000 (property records do not disclose the purchase price) in late 2006 and before they could even get their bras and panties into the dressing room drawers, put the place back on the market for $8,250,000 more than they paid for the meticulously renovated and landscaped 4-acre estate.
A little father north, Ellen and Portia owned two Santa Ynez ranches. According to property records, Miz D. purchased the 20 acre bucolic and picturesque getaway ranchette on Roundup Road (pictured above) in December of 2005 for $2,800,000 and sold it 13 months later, in March 2007, for $3,050,000 to a couple of infomercial entrepreneurs.
Now children this is where things get complicated and interesting. Property records indicate that Miz D. had purchased another much larger ranch in Santa Ynez in May of 2005 when she paid an undisclosed amount of money for a 119 acre property on Armour Ranch Road (pictured above). The sprawling complex includes a 2 bedroom 2.5 bathroom main house, a 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom guest house, a 2 bedroom and 1 bath manager's house, equestrian facilities, a lap pool, and and entertainment pavilion overlooking the tennis court. It has been widely reported, including by Your Mama on this very blog, that Miz D. sold this equestrian estate, which had been on the market for $11,900,000. And indeed property records do indicate a sale in December of 2006 to an business entity in Gig Harbor, Washington for an undisclosed amount.

Interestingly, the gor-gee-us hideaway is back on the market for $16,500,000, and even more interesting is that it's being marketed with all the same information, photos and magnificent interior design as when it was sold by Miz D. Hmm.

Here's were things get really perplexing. In November of 2005, Miz D. purchased a Marmol Radziner designed quasi-ranch style house on Zorada Drive on a private knoll in the Hollywood Hills for an undisclosed sum of money. It is widely believed this is the house Miz D. and her lady friend Portia called home for the last couple of years.

In March of 2006 Miz D. purchased an adjacent property, also with a Zorada Drive address, and also for an undisclosed amount of money. The 2,755 square foot house was given the usual and spectacular Ellen D. interior make over and was back on the market in May 2007 for $2,300,000. The listing disappeared from the MLS after several weeks and Your Mama presumed it had been sold.

And it appears that is has. Property records reveal that in September 2007, ownership of BOTH Zorada Drive properties were transferred to a business entity in...are you ready kids?...in Gig Harbor, Washington. In fact, they appear to have been sold to a business concern with the very same Gig Harbor address associated with the Santa Ynez property on Armour Ranch Road.

Which is strange and puzzling. Could it be that Miz D. simply transferred all the properties to another private trust? Or could it be that all three properties were purchased by the same person or business concern? That would certainly appear to be the case. Which of course has Your Mama wondering, why? And who? An investor? A super rich fan? A Microsoft executive? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

Whatever the case in term of why and who, it supports the information we received earlier this week about Ellen and Portia moving to a never on the open market and newly renovated house in Beverly Hills. Bitches gotta live somewhere, and the Montecito mansion is waaay too far for Ellen to commute to her talk show day in and day out unless by helicoptor. And everyone knows Ellen drives a Porsche and not a helicopter.