Ellen DeGeneres shells out $21M for another California home

Ellen DeGeneres is the talk of another California town.

The longtime daytime host, comedian and actress has spent nearly $21 million for a Moorish-inspired spread in Santa Barbara County, California, according to Realtor.com.

Located in Montecito, Villa Tragara’s design influence comes from the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. The nearly 12,000-square-foot property, on 2.45 acres, asked as much as $35 million in 2019, according to reports at the time — meaning the 64-year-old got quite the deal.

DeGeneres — whose show will end this year — and her wife Portia de Rossi, 49, aren’t strangers to Montecito. Dirt notes the couple own a $14.3 million ranch there, as well as a small cottage too.

Also in Montecito, a property that DeGeneres and de Rossi bought in September 2021 for $12 million off-market, which now asks $13.9 million for sale. (Dirt also notes that latter pad seems to have found a buyer, but is “tied up” in escrow.)

The wives also own a midcentury modern home in Beverly Hills, which DeGeneres shelled out $8.5 million to get last August.

Kinka Usher, a French director of television commercials, whose film credits include 1999’s box office bomb “Mystery Men,” designed and built this just-sold Montecito estate in 2014.

Only one listing image is available, showing a red-tone exterior accented with candy cane-striped arches similar to ones on the Mezquita cathedral in Cordoba, Spain.

The estate stands on a knoll with views of the Pacific Ocean. The property has a formal motorcourt for arrivals, and a hand-carved front door. The floors, radiant-heated throughout, were imported from Europe. There are also bathrooms inspired by Turkish hammam spas and decorative accents of Corinthian columns.

Outside, the fully landscaped grounds include a heated pool that reportedly cost Usher $400,000 to install. There’s also courts for pickle ball, bocce and tennis, a covered pergola that seat 16 and koi ponds. The listing additionally notes the land also has a fire pit and an olive orchard.

Nancy Kogevinas of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties repped the listing, and Riskin Partners Group at Village Properties represented the buyer.

Dirt first reported news of the sale.