Yahoo News Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom Buy $14.2 Million Montecito Compound
It’s looking more and more as though Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry plan to make the low-key but shockingly expensive seaside town of Montecito, Calif., their primary residence. The English actor and his pop music superstar fiancée — she a Santa Barbara native — have paid $14.2 million for an A-lister-worthy estate with nearly nine acres of manicured grounds, all of them with stunning ocean views from their perch in the Santa Ynez foothills.
Records reveal the property was sold to Perry and Bloom by high-profile businessman C. Robert Kidder, the former CEO of Chrysler and also the former CEO of battery juggernaut Duracell. Originally listed in spring 2019, asking nearly $20 million, the property’s pricetag eventually plummeted to just over $16 million before the Perry-Blooms scooped it up at a further discount.
Kidder and his wife Mary owned the estate for well over 20 years, and photos show they painstakingly maintained and preserved much of the property’s original spirit. Built in 1934 and designed by Edwards and Plunkett, the sprawling compound was later extensively renovated by pioneering architect Lutah Maria Riggs, the first woman ever named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Comprised of four separate but contiguous parcels of land, the gated compound is accessed via an exceptionally long, oak tree-lined driveway that meanders down to the main house, where a pea gravel motorcourt fronts a three-story Mediterranean villa. Beyond the home’s rotunda entryway, there are gracious public rooms with wide-plank hardwood floors and soothingly neutral decor. The living room offers five sets of French doors opening to a broad brick terrace shaded by ancient oaks, while the adjoining den has a fireplace and three more French door sets opening to a separate patio.
On the other side of the main floor, an open kitchen offers parquet wood floors and a uniquely wallpapered ceiling treatment that continues into the breakfast room, which opens directly to an al fresco dining area. There’s also a large kitchen island, separate butler’s pantry, and all the designer stainless appliances expected in this price range.
Back in the foyer are two separate staircases; one leads down to a partially subterranean lower level, where there’s a private office and conference room, the other leads upstairs, where all four of the main house’s bedrooms are located. The lavish master suite takes up more than half of this level and includes a fireplace with sitting area, dual bathrooms, a huge dressing room and separate walk-in closet. There’s also a private patio with mesmerizing views of the estate’s grounds and the Pacific Ocean.
Multiple accessory structures are scattered elsewhere on the estate, including a detached four-car garage that features its own powder room and sits below a guesthouse with a full kitchen, bedroom suite, private office and roomy living/dining area. And set far back from the main house, in its own hidden glen, is a swimming pool with gorgeous tilework, plus a covered patio and poolhouse with two more bedrooms and two full baths.
Some of the property’s numerous other amenities include a full-size sports court, a swath of grassy lawn, native plantings and formal gardens, sculpted hedges, and multiple fountains.
While they settle in Montecito, both Perry and Bloom are looking to unload L.A. homes. Perry has listed her Beverly Hills guesthouse with a hefty $8 million ask, though she still owns another nearby mansion, this one acquired in 2017 for $18 million. Bloom, for his part, just can’t seem to sell his own Beverly Hills home that’s been on and off the market for nearly two years.
Riskin Partners of Village Properties held the listing.
Launch Gallery: Inside Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom's Montecito Compound
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