You Can Be Harry and Meghan’s Neighbor in This “California Versailles”
All you need is a cool $29.5 million.
Oprah. Ellen. Gwyneth. What do they have in common? Besides being media moguls, they’re all neighbors with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their exclusive Montecito, California neighborhood. And now you can be, too—as long as you’ve got the cash to make it happen.
If you’re in the market for a grand estate, there’s a nearby property for sale for $29.5 million.
The five-bedroom, 10-bathroom property is in the Birnham Wood neighborhood of Montecito, located in what’s known as the “Golden Quadrangle,” which the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties blog describes as “a celebrity paradise under the radar.”
But what listing agent Sina Omidi describes as a “Montecito chateau estate” isn’t your average home. The largest in the neighborhood, this 12,205-square-foot house is modeled after the Palace of Versailles, once home to Marie Antoinette. And it’s a work of art.
“This bountiful estate,” the listing describes, has “carefully-selected, rare and luxurious features including imported blue French marble countertops, gold bathroom fixtures and historic chandeliers.”
Walk in the front door, if you’re lucky enough to get an invite to the property, and you’ll immediately be greeted with a full-service bar in the foyer. Beyond, there’s a home fit for royalty, with soaring ceilings, marble columns, intricately patterned hardwood floors, and glittering antique lighting overhead.
“French marble and brick materials from Italy were imported and used in construction and design, worth millions,” the blog adds.
The home also has five fireplaces, and—wait for it—a secret staircase.
In the professionally equipped kitchen, there are luxury appliances, a butler’s pantry (complete with a Swiss bank vault for keeping valuable tableware safe), and a dumbwaiter.
Three elevators will transport you to the wine cellar, guest suite, library, and secured underground closets with woodwork inspired by Titanic. There’s even a subterranean tunnel leading to a safety room—which, given that a man illegally trespassed on Harry and Meghan’s estate twice last December, is more important than you might think. There are also caretakers’ quarters, and a home gym with a sauna and steam room.
Outside, there’s a rose garden with a 1,000-year-old Carrara marble fountain as its centerpiece. But it’s not just any flower garden. The roses planted at the chateau are an exclusive breed patented by the estate, not grown anywhere else in the world.
There’s also a custom inlaid swimming pool, an outdoor kitchen, a sculpted hedge maze, and an eight-hole putting green. And it’s all set against gorgeous views of the Pacific and the Santa Ynez Mountains. The shops and restaurants of Montecito are only a few minutes away, so if you can’t score an invite to the Sussexes’ home, you might well run into Meghan while she’s out shopping in the neighborhood.
