A Fast, Dramatic Flip by Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi

Four months after closing on 210 Miramar Avenue in Montecito’s Hedgerow, Portia de Rossi and Ellen Degeneres have fixed it up and put it on the market with a name befitting an old house and a price befitting a new one. That’s only appropriate, given the house was built in 1986 with two 18th-century barns shipped over from England.

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Bedrooms: Two.
Bathrooms: Two full, two half.
Size/Acreage: 5,500 square feet / 1.35 acres.
Price: $6.9 million.
Last sold: In January 2020 for $3.6 million.
Listing agents:
 Riskin Partners.

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The Porter House, as it’s now being called, has only two bedrooms, but this is no cottage: It’s 5,500-square feet, with soaring ceilings in the former barns—and one of the best chimneys in town.

Degeneres and de Rossi have applied their signature high-contrast, black-and-white style, grafting a sophisticated, big-city feel onto the the Tudor architecture. It’s extremely photogenic—I’d like to see their warehouse of staging materials—but whether it’s livable will depend on your feelings about the eccentric floor plan (not online yet). Degeneres and de Rossi may have smoothed out that wrinkle by adding a new kitchen.

The 1.3-acre lot is full of magical moments. Thinning out the trees might let a bit more light into the house….

This is a quick flip at any time, let alone during a pandemic, and the house didn’t show badly before, so buyers might balk at the ambitious asking price. (Can you even do enough work in four months to justify a $3.3 million increase?) Then again, the market is said to be heating up with folks from L.A. and San Francisco desperate for a getaway, and the house looks fabulous and move-in ready. It’ll be fascinating to see when and where this one lands.

Contact Riskin Partners for a showing—and be sure to tell them Siteline sent you.

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